MAITLAND —"We started (making) wine because we couldn’t stand the prosperity of farming," said Gene Countryman at his farm and winery in Maitland, east of Brockville. "We took quite a bit of a whitewash in the berries last year. We couldn’t get them harvested and sold fast enough."

Wine became the solution when Gene realized he was already 60 per cent of the way to having a winery.

Countryman’s Estate Winery got its liquor licence and had a grand opening June 10. So far, it has made 4,300 bottles and sells 10 varieties: strawberry, raspberry, crab apple, peach, cantaloupe, watermelon, wild grape, Tomato ’n’Spice, cranberry, honeydew melon. Prices range from $11.95 to $14.95.

"Everything we sell seems to be popular. Nothing is way out ahead," Gene said. "We have been selling about 35 bottles a day which is good for only being open a month."
While there are 190 Ontario grape wineries, Countryman is the 16th fruit winery in Ontario and first in Leeds and Grenville. "We have absolutely no competition. You can get raspberry and strawberry at the LCBO but it’s not the same," Gene said.
Gene, a retired dairy farmer in his early 60s, has been a full-time crop farmer for 10 years. His wife, Marsha, sells at the Brockville farmers’ market three times a week. Gene is also experimenting with new wines.

Tomato’n’Spice is Gene’s creations and cucumber could be on the shelf next year. He already plans to expand with 25 kinds of wine and a bottling machine. "We want to make rhubarb, current wine, ice-wine and blueberry wine. You can make wine from anything as long as you get the right texture."

Marsha’s favourite wine is Tomato’n’Spice and Gene enjoys raspberry and rhubarb. Wine has to ferment for at least six months before it’s aged correctly. "Fruit wine doesn’t have to be aged as much as grape wine," Gene said. "We use the whole fruit, not just the juice and ferment it slow to make a premium wine.

 We let it ferment at least 2-3 weeks, then its racked off and filtered into a 230-litre sealed barrel to go through its second fermentation for another month or longer. When I think it’s reached my desired dryness and alcohol level I stop the fermentation. Generally the higher the alcohol content the dryer the wine."
He checks the alcohol level (which varies from 8.9 per cent to 14.5 per cent) with a hydrometer. The barrels are stored in a metal room at their farm. One barrel makes 2,500 bottles of wine. The wine is kept in a walk-in freezer until Gene bottles it by hand.

"Starting a winery is more than people realize. You have to harvest and own a minimum five-acre farm. Selling wine isn’t an easy job and can be rather expensive with equipment costs," Gene said. "We didn’t invest a lot all at once. We will invest more over time."

Gene only had to buy a filter pump. The family had the crops and the facilities. Since food and wine can’t be sold together he built a 19th century-style store for his wine next to his produce store.

He bought equipment second-hand from local farmers. Each type of wine has to be sent away for testing before being sold. Permits and licences are also needed. Gene said starting costs could be around $150,000 but he did it for $15,000. "If I didn’t have my own resources and help from my neighbours I would never have been able to start," Gene said. Patience is also necessary. Grapes and blueberries need five years before the first harvest. Strawberries and raspberries need three years.

They will be selling homemade ice cream and Belgium chocolate, and creating gift baskets for special occasions. They will also supply to weddings and other big celebrations.

"I never plan to retire. As long as I’m able to get up out of bed I am going this," Gene said. "I might have to slow down a bit."

"We did market research to find out the demographic of the area, the population, the average wage earners and if they drink wine," Marsha said. They found that fruit wine is becoming popular and there are one-million adults within a few hours’ drive of the farm.