Business is buzzing with production of Spirit Hills’ honey wine in Millarville
Hugo Bonjean and his family tend to 300 beehives on their Millarville property. The honey they produce is not for sale, but used in the production of Spirit Hills’ honey wine.
Its success has reached well beyond the local market, with two pallets of honey wine on their way to Japan.
Bonjean has made wine from honey for the past five years, although his lineage includes generations of French winemakers who operated vineyards in the Auvergne region of central France. His family relocated to Belgium, where he and his wife, Ilse de Wit, grew up.
Bonjean’s career began in the hospitality industry and included many years of travelling. He spent 10 years with Holiday Inns and was responsible for 550 franchise operations in the Western U.S. and Canada. It was during this time that he moved to Calgary, away from home and his young family for a two-year stint at the Marriott International. He also spent time in South America, Mexico and the Caribbean.
Wanting to enjoy his home in the foothills he took to farming but lost his goats to cougars. Bonjean became a successful author and two bestsellers had him back on planes for signings and speeches.
His dream was to stay near home with his family and provide for his own food. They bake their own bread, grow all of their vegetables and make their own fruit wine.
Bonjean experimented with two beehives nine years ago, took courses on apiary management and began to study the behaviour and habits of bees.
Spirit Hills Honey Winery has blossomed into a family affair. The couple’s eldest son, Bjorn, is the winemaker and daughter Amber is responsible for sales, marketing and administration. Another son, Fabian, takes care of vehicles while setting up his own business.
The business also requires the support of organic farm workers who harvest dandelions used to make Dande wine. Other wines use a variety of fruits like Saskatoon berries, black currants, apples and rose petals.
The hives are located over pristine foothills farmlands, abundant with a variety of wild flowers free of any chemical pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and GMOs.
This year, Spirit Hills will produce 51,000 bottles of wine each containing at least 25 per cent honey. They are available in over 200 liquor stores in Alberta and Saskatchewan but Bonjean says he became very frustrated with trying to sell wine across provincial borders so sought out other markets.
He credits the Alberta government office in Tokyo with assisting him on his first trip there. Staff made appointments with importers, arranged a judging seminar and introduced him to the owner of Eleven International, who recognized the wine’s potential in introducing the varieties to high-end hotels, restaurants and luxury department stores.
The first shipment of around 112 cases are being packaged for the Japanese market.
Bonjean is hoping to double the size of his winery and add a new automatic line with the capabilities of handling 200,000 bottles annually. Meanwhile he says he is planning to plant an orchard and a vineyard on his acres in the unspoiled Spirit Hills.
Accessible Housing has announced Michelle Rhode as its new executive director. Rhodes bring 13 years of experience in the not-for-profit and public service sectors serving housing organizations and community development groups. Prior to joining Accessible Housing, she was director of family and volunteers services at Habitat for Humanity and previously served as executive director at Norfolk Housing Association.