Rotarian Vintage

Wellington Rotary launches its own Private Label

It takes a village to raise a vintage. That’s not how the old saying went. But the adaptation does fit for how The Wellington Rotary Club came to launch their own red and white wine. It did take a village to get this wine made, and the people that pitched in did so because they want to help raise money for an important community cause—the building of a new hospital in Picton.

First came the idea, born from a request to join the Rotary that was politely turned down by a local winemaker, who then in turn, suggested that instead of becoming a member, he would make wine for the Rotary’s fundraising events and the Rotary could sell it. That got former Rotary President Mike Lattner thinking about a private label wine. They started doing some research and realized that there had been a precedent set once before where a Rotary club made a private label wine that was once available in the LCBO.

What the Wellington Rotary Club had to do was partner with a local vineyard to make the wine. Lacey Estates was chosen for the white wine. It was the first and natural choice because the oldest club member is Charles Lacey, the Patriarch of the winery. Lacey’s son Kimball is the winemaker now. Kimball and his wife Liz run the winery and are also long-time supporters of the Wellington Rotary Club. Lacey Estates’ end of the deal is to make the grapes into wine. So, where does the Wellington Rotary Club find the grapes?

Liz Lacey of Lacey Estates holding a bottle of the new rotary wine available this Thursday at the winery.

Enter winegrower Brian McGowan, who agreed to give the grapes at cost to the Rotary Club. They are able to get such a good price because the Rotary wine is not being limited to the VQA’s standards of production or their requirements for sugar content. It’s a great deal, but the grapes must be picked off the vines in order for them to get such a good break on the price. That’s where the Rotarians get their chance to jump in and get their hands dirty.

“We picked the Riesling and the Vidal grapes on Brian’s property last October. That was a really great experience for us as a club. We got to pick grapes and learn how backbreaking that work really is. It was tough, so give people something to look forward to, we had a picking-party afterwards to celebrate,” says Lattner.

Once the Rotarian’s completed their picking duties, the baton was handed off to Lacey Estates, who now has the job of turning those grapes into wine. Liz Lacey says she is always proud to be a part of any Rotary initiative.

“It’s such an important cause. We need a new hospital. We have a lot of new doctors here which is great, but now we need the facility for them. People buying this wine can feel good knowing that 100 per cent of the proceeds are going directly to fund this important piece of our community,” says Lacey.

But the Wellington Rotary Club wasn’t finished there. There was still a red wine to make and for that, the Rotary’s choice was Dave Gillingham from Domaine Darius, who was the polite winemaker mentioned earlier in the article who turned down the offer for membership, but suggested he make a wine for them instead. The red wine grapes were donated in the same way by Domaine Darius, which meant that the grapes had to be taken off the vines as well. So, the now well-seasoned Rotarian grape-pickers went back to work on the reds, which they found to be harder to pick than the whites because the of their size. The red grapes are much smaller and more difficult to separate. However, they must have done a good job because, by all accounts from Gillingham, the wine is doing very well in barrel and will be ready for a release next season. This year, it’s the Lacey Estates vintage that gets the focus.

What’s also important to note is that for both Lacey Estates and Domiane Darius, it’s not only their time and their facilities they are donating, it’s also the capacity for more business because the donated wine is sitting in their barrels for a long period of time—a capacity that they could be selling at full price to the public. It’s a large ask for these small wineries, but an ask that both are happy to accommodate if it means that a new hospital is on the horizon.

There are roughly 50 cases of the Rotary white wine available for sale starting this Thursday, May 16 at Lacey Estates. Because of the rules surrounding distribution of wine in Ontario, the Rotary wine must be sold at the vineyard where it was produced, so in order to purchase this wine and the support the cause, you will have to visit Lacey Estates at 804 Closson Road to purchase the wine. The same will hold true next year for Gillingham and Domaine Darius when the red is released.

These wines are a perfect example of how things should work when a common goal is realized. Wine grower donates the grapes, volunteers pick the grapes, winemaker donates the barrels and a product is made. A product that will help raise awareness and money towards building a new hospital and raising this community up a little higher. With only 50 cases made, it would be prudent to go and buy this wine while supplies last.