In a Wine Region celebrated for its vineyards, Sunnybrook Farm Estate Winery is creating Award Winning vintages from Niagara’s renowned orchards.

      Sunnybrook Farm’s Gerald Goertz was the first of a new crop of Winemakers in Canada who believe that fruit wine delivers the best that Mother Nature has to offer. Sunnybrook Farm Estate Winery is Canada’s first Fruit Winery, specializing in wines made from 100% Niagara Peninsula grown tree fruit and berries.
      Sunnybrook Farm Estate Winery is owned and operated by Gerald and Vivien Goertz. Gerald was born and raised in Niagara-on-the-Lake and has been involved in fruit growing in Niagara-on-the-Lake all of his life, including involvement in his family’s tender fruit processing factory, Lakeshore Canning Company.
      Sunnybrook Farm initially consisted of 35 acres of peaches, cherries, plums, pears, and apple along the southern shore of Lake Ontario at Four Mile Creek on what was once a large river delta. The deep sandy loam soil and the temperature moderating effect of the Niagara Escarpment is ideal for growing the over 20 varieties of peaches produced on the farm.
      A devastating hailstorm on August 1st, 1986 destroyed the entire crop of fruit that year. There was no time to financially recover when more hail struck a few years later. The Goertz’s did not want to lose their land and so decided to diversify the farming operation, inspired by Niagara’s traditional grape wineries. Since Gerald is a fruit grower, it was logical for him to make fruit wine. The farm machine repair shop was modified and so Sunnybrook Farm Estate Winery, Canada’s first fruit winery, was established in 1993. It was, and remains, a family affair. Gerald is the Cellar Master and Vivien manages the office. For the first few years the children helped with bottling and labeling. Gerald and Vivien are very pleased that their daughter Rebecca is now the winemaker.
      Sunnybrook Farm currently produces about 3,500 cases of a wide variety of peach, pear, apple, plum, apricot, and berry wines, including distinctive iced fruit wines. The wines are true to the fruit that they are made from so, for example, you will taste the true peach character in the Peach wines, and true Cherry in that wine. The wines are light and balanced, naturally fermented, not fortified, and not grape based.
      Sunnybrook Farm Winery “Quality Certified” wines are your assurance that the wines meet Standards of Excellence determined by Fruit Wines of Canada and an independent, professional Tasting Panel. The QC designation is the fruit wine equivalent of Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) for grape wines.

Sunnybrook Farm wines are available only at the winery and On Line.
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            Rebecca was born on a sunny Friday February 13th morning. Our first baby, she changed our lives forever. Little Rebecca, and the creek that ran through our orchards, inspired us to name our property Sunnybrook Farm.

            Rebecca was mischievous, determined, and intelligent. She was eager to experiment and was unafraid to try just about anything. She took full advantage of the space and freedom that farm life offered. She was a horsewoman, a runner, and a traveler. She helped her dad build a paddock and stable when she was 12, she was the pastry chef in a local restaurant when she was 14. She loved animals, art and beauty. She seemed driven to pack as much as she could into her life and, by drawing us into her adventures, she enriched our lives.

            Sunnybrook Farm Estate Winery was established in 1993. When our original winemaker left, Rebecca, who was then in Grade 11, stepped in to help her father. She had talent and enthusiasm and went on to earn a degree in Biotechnology from Brock University. Rebecca’s last vintages won an outstanding six Double Gold Medals, eleven Gold Medals, seventeen Silver Medals and fourteen Bronze Medals.

            Rebecca had health problems for many years but she did not talk about it or let it slow her down. In her last year we began to notice that she was tiring more easily and cutting back on her activities. Her vitality was noticeably fading by early 2006 but we did not realize how ill she was. Her death by cardiac arrest on August 6th was sudden and unexpected.

            This is written almost 15 months after Rebecca died and, as we think of the past year we can hardly remember it. It feels like we are just coming back into the world. Our grief has been overwhelming.

            From a business perspective our daughter was one third of the winery and losing her was devastating. Her desk, her notes, her gloves, and the emptiness are constant reminders of our loss. We are a family winery and when we were emotionally unable to work, there was no one to step in and take over for us. We lost a whole year of production.

            We can never replace Rebecca, however we have found someone to take over her work and we are very pleased with the quality of the new wines. Our inventory is low now in the autumn of 2007, but we are getting ready to bottle several varieties and our selection should be back on track by next spring.

            We very much appreciate the many expressions of sympathy we have received from our customers and we thank you for your patience as we have been journeying through our grief.

The words that capture her spirit the best
were sent by Rebecca’s friend Kathy W.:

1976-2006
Beloved Daughter,
Extraordinary Winemaker

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Winery Store Hours of Operation
May thru October: Daily 10 am to 6 pm
November, December, March, April: Daily 10 am to 5 pm
January, February: Thursday to Monday 10 am to 5 pm
Closed: Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Day.
Tasting Bar Open during Store Hours.
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Tours
We have no facilities for tours or functions.
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