wineboffin

Sperling goes South(brook)

Southbrook Winery, Toronto's closest winery has announced that they have landed the Ontario Wine Awards' 2004 Winemaker of the Year, Ann Sperling as their new winemaker. Sperling is best know for her Malivoire Ladybug Rosé and was the first winemaker at Cilento Wines Wines. Colio's current winemaker Carlo Negri was the 2005 Ontario Wine Awards Winemaker of the Year.

News Release

Southbrook Winery Announces New Winemaker
Ontario's 2004 Winemaker of the Year Ann Sperling
A Sterling New Addition to Southbrook's Team


Southbrook Winery announces the appointment of Ann Sperling as Managing Winemaker, effective January 1, 2006. An esteemed Canadian wine professional, Ann will assume the lead in the production and management of Southbrook's extensive line-up of top tier, handcrafted VQA wines. She joins Southbrook's assistant winemaker, Steve Byfield.

"We couldn't be more delighted to have secured such an exceptional and talented winemaking professional," says Bill Redelmeier, proprietor of Southbrook Winery. "Ann has the right combination of skill, experience and instinct to lead us on our continued pursuit of winemaking excellence."

As the Ontario Wine Awards' 2004 Winemaker of the Year, Ann is a well-known and respected winemaking authority in Ontario and throughout the country. She practices her craft with the philosophy that fine wine is grown - not manufactured - and that the winemaker's task is to steward the wine from vineyard to bottle to most accurately capture the expression of the origin of the grapes and the vintage.

Southbrook Winery will make announcements in the coming weeks and months regarding new developments that will work towards further establishing Southbrook's position as a leading producer of handcrafted, VQA wines. Ann will play a lead role in these developments.

"I believe a gentle touch and minimal intervention make for wine of the utmost character and distinction," says Ann. "I am honoured to join with Bill Redelmeier to lead Southbrook's quest to set increasingly higher standards for Ontario wines."

Ann boasts nearly two decades of hands-on winemaking experience and successfully directing winery start-ups. Most recently, Ann held the position of Managing Winemaker for The Malivoire Wine Company in Beamsville. Early in her career, she held the position of Winemaker at CedarCreek Estate Winery in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, prior to commencing a consulting business that has worked with numerous top flight Ontario wineries, and as far a field as South Africa.

Bill Redelmeier

posted by modernmod @ 8:34 p.m.