Handcrafted wines made from ingredients farmed right in the foothills continues to be well sought after overseas.
Since Spirit Hills Honey Winery’s first export of wine to Europe in the fall of 2018, the demand is growing beyond just a handful of some of the best fine-dining restaurants in Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands.
“We have a few more that have indicated they will start using our flower wines in 2020,” said Hugo Bonjean, owner of the Millarville winery. “Between February and March 2020 we will be meeting with some 60 to 70 top restaurants in Italy, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands to introduce our foothills honey and flower wines.”
Bonjean said it all began when the owner of a fine dining restaurant in Europe approached the winery, wanting to add something unique to their restaurant.
Soon the family was connecting with more restaurants in Europe.
“What happened was that once sommeliers tasted our products, they were so excited they introduced us to others,” he said. “Chefs and sommeliers in European fine dining restaurants decide on the wine pairings for their degustation menus, which is a great way of introducing a high quality, but new, wine product.”
Spirit Hills is targeting primarily fine-dining restaurants as part of its export strategy.
As a winery with a limited production, Bonjean said Spirit Hills can offer restaurants something exclusive that isn’t widely available in the retail market.
Among them is Belgium’s two-star Michelin restaurant, Vrijmoed, in Ghent, which pairs Spirit Hills’ Dande with one of their signature dishes.
Dande is a medium dry white dandelion wine that’s crafted from foothills’ wildflower honey and organic dandelion flower petals that are harvested by hand.
Vrijmoed owner and renowned Belgian chief Michael Vrijmoed, can’t get enough of it.
“It is incredible how with honey you can almost reach the entire flavour experience of wine,” he was quoted in a press release provided by Spirit Hills. “A complex aroma, medium dry arrival in beautiful balance with acidity and lots of length.”
Spirit Hills’ beverages are also served in the two-star Michelin restaurant, &Moshik, in the Netherlands’ city of Amsterdam and The Mirabelle in the five-star hotel Splendide Royal Roma in Rome, Italy.
“Our export strategy is not focused on large volumes, but on exclusive distribution within the fine dining world where professionals with well-trained palates recognize the structure, quality and uniqueness of our one-of-a-kind honey wines and are not afraid of offering something new and memorable to their guests,” said Bonjean.
“As a matter of fact, those restaurants stay on top of the culinary world because of their continuous search for new flavours and higher levels of excellence.”
Bonjean said wine is an expression of culture, rooted in the local land that’s often referred to as “terroir.”
“It is a product from nature that can be aged and therefor can travel, and so overseas consumers can get a taste of the pristine nature and magic of the foothills of the Canadian Rockies and through a glass of Spirit Hills honey and flower wines,” he said. “Getting recognition of the quality of our product from some of the top European sommeliers and chefs is rewarding for the time, care and dedication we put into crafting our honey and flower wines. It is something that, as a family, we are very proud of.”
Other Spirit Hills wines imported to Europe are Saskwatch (a dry red honey wine made from wildflower honey and black currents that ages for a year in Hungarian and French oak barrels), Wild Rosy (a semi-sweet rose honey wine) and Yeehaa! (a cowboy’s sangria).
The Millarville winery has its own beehives, which produce a pristine wildflower honey, and integrates organic herbs and berries with ancient honey wine fermentation methods to produce the highest quality of honey wines with a distinct Alberta flavour.
“From the beginning it was our goal to create a memorable wine product that would reflect the culture and terroir of Alberta and specifically the Foothills,” said Bonjean. “I never thought we would export Alberta honey wine to Italy or have our wines listed in some of the top restaurants in Europe.”
When it comes to wine, Bonjean said product quality alone is not enough.
“The pristine environment in which we harvest our ingredients and the cultural identity reflected in our products is a deciding factor for European chefs and sommeliers,” he said.
Spirit Hills serves its honey wines locally in Alberta restaurants, bars and ski hills including the Canadian Maple Leaf in Banff, the Nash, the Coop and Sky 360 in Calgary and the Butternut Tree in Edmonton. They’re also located in liquor stores across Alberta.
For more information about Spirit Hills visit www.spirithillswinery.com
