History and Canada 150 combine for EPIC 1867 wine series

A silver horseshoe lays in a wooden barrel, filled to the brim with red grapes, ripe and ready for wine.

That’s the scenery depicted on the label of a limited-edition bottle of Pinot Grigio produced by Mastronardi Estate Winery.

Mastronardi is one of 10 Essex Pelee Island Coast (EPIC) wineries that blended history with Canada 150 celebrations to create a limited-edition 1867 wine bottle label series.

The series gave “us a way to tell the story of winemaking in Essex County, because not a lot of people do know there is a long history there,” said Steven Mitchell, president of the EPIC Winegrowers’ Association.

The labels take the drinker through the history of the EPIC region’s vineyards and wineries. The 10 limited edition wines are available at the 10 participating wineries for $18.67.

Lynnette Bain, vice-president of tourism programs and development for Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island, said the label series recognizes Canada’s 150 birthday.

“When we looked at the numbers, the area has actually been growing grapes commercially for about 150 years as well,” she said. “So we thought, OK, let’s see what we can do.”

The vineyards each created a limited edition wine to mark the occasion.

“We’re celebrating 150 years of being around,” Mitchell said. “And a lot of things have happened in that time — and wine is a part of them. This is a great way to tell the story of wine during Canada’s history.”

To create the labels, EPIC Wineries and Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island dived into the region’s wine history.

They recruited Jason Lavin, a University of Windsor master’s of history student, to comb through historical archives and newspapers.

Talysha Abu-Dujold, a University of Windsor master’s of fine arts student, drew the labels.

“We wanted to bring history to life,” Bain said.

Melissa Muscedere, an EPIC 1867 organizer who works at Muscedere Vineyards, said that wineries in Windsor-Essex faltered in the years prior to prohibition because of land costs, but resurged in the 1970s.

“Everybody says we’re a new grape-growing region, but really, we have roots that are 151 years old,” Muscedere said.

Each label has a short story and an illustration bringing the vineyard’s history to life.

CREW’s (Colchester Ridge Estate Winery) label for its Sauvignon Blanc depicts a boat, tossed by waves, with three wooden wine barrels inside.

“That’s really representing how water — our water system in the 1800s — was used a lot to transport,” Bain said. “It transported grapes and wine, across from Pelee Island to the mainland.”

Another label, for North 42 Degrees’ Summer Chill, features rolling green vineyard hills framing a blue bike.

“That’s to represent how we enjoy the wineries today,” Bain said. “You know, cruising through wine country on a bike, having a picnic. Each story is a little bit different.”

A main reason the region’s wine industry took off a century and a half ago was to produce sacramental wine.

“So Sprucewood Shores Estate Winery, their label is actually a picture of Assumption Church,” Bain said.

There were once 1,200 acres of grapes in Sandwich Town, “which is hard to picture now, but it was quite a booming industry in Sandwich in the late 1800s, early 1900s,” Bain said.

Playing off the religious history, Sprucewood named its wine sacre blanc.

The EPIC 1867 wines went on sale Saturday. Muscedere said her vineyard sold between 50 and 60 bottles within four hours of opening.

“What I’ve noticed ... since we did the release is people are really clinging to the stories that are written on all the bottles,” she said.

So much history was uncovered during the research stage of the project that organizers decided to host a speaker series “where we could tell the story a little bit more,” Bain said.

The series will be accompanied by a Toast to the Coast — An EPIC 150 Years exhibit at Windsor’s Chimczuk Museum. The exhibit opens Aug. 4.