Comox Valley Record, February 06, 2014

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THURSDAY

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February 6, 2014 Vol. 29• No.11 ••• $1.25 inc. G.S.T.

A Strathcona Symphony Orchestra event this Sunday sets the mood for Valentine’s Day. page B1

Major Midget hockey is coming to the Comox Valley Sports Centre on Feb. 16 page B11

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‘High-profile’ mystery buyers for local winery ‘Plan is to develop a sizable agribusiness’ in Comox Valley Renee Andor Record Staff

Beaufort Vineyard and Estate Winery officially belongs to new “high-profile” owners today, according to Beaufort founder Jeff Vandermolen. Beaufort’s Jeff and Susan Vandermolen wouldn’t name the new owners when they spoke to the Record Tuesday, but confirmed ownership of the vineyard and winery would transfer Feb. 6, and the buyers have purchased other land here, too.

“The new owners are pretty high-profile people and they’ve bought several other properties in the Valley, and their expectation or their plan is to develop a sizable agribusiness here in the Comox Valley,” said Jeff, adding they would be considered “high profile in the world” when asked just how ‘high profile’ they are. “My understanding is that they really want to be a part of the community and they have a real commitment to sustainable farming and agriculture, so I think they’re going to be a huge positive asset to the Valley, and quite frankly, for these guys to step up and invest in the Comox Valley is huge.” The Vandermolens, who

Festival one part of a tactical plan Scott Stanfield Record Staff

The first WinterBites festival provided 16 days of music and family-based activities enjoyed by locals and visitors last month in the Comox Valley. The festival was the first in a series of events in a tactical plan to help drive awareness, visitation and economic activity to the region, especially during the ‘shoulder season,’ as stated by the Comox Valley Economic Development Society. CVEDS partnered with Vancouver Island MusicFest, Mount Washington Alpine Resort, the City of Courtenay and Comox Valley Minor Hockey. The latter hosted a pond hockey jamboree consisting of three weekend tournaments that attracted more than 20 teams from the Island and Lower Mainland. The Association Hotel Room Tax was the major funding agent of WinterBites, which kicked off Jan. 16 with a concert at the Filberg Centre. The featured band was Chilliwack. ... see COMMUNITY ■ A2

started Beaufort in 2006, will stay on at the awardwinning winery and vineyard as winemakers and consultants for at least the next year. “They’ve got a resident manager that takes over as of Friday afternoon, and we’ll be working with them indefinitely — at least through the transition period and the next harvest and vintage — and we’ll see where it goes,” added Jeff. “But, that’s what’s going to keep us busy over the next 12 months.” The Vandermolens put Beaufort on the market in the fall of 2012 in response to interest in their successful business. According to Jeff, they expected it would take three to five years to find a suitable buyer, as a winery and vineyard is not a “cookie-cutter” business. The new owners weren’t even looking to buy a winery — they were looking for land to develop their agribusiness — but their realtor brought them to the Comox Valley to show them agricultural land here, said Jeff. “So they came up in October, had a look around and really liked what they saw,” continued Jeff. “And then we met with them personally and spent an afternoon with them talking about the agricultural opportunities here in the Valley … and about two weeks later we got an offer, and we’ve been negotiating ever since.” The Vandermolens announced in the summer that they were looking at diversifying into beer-mak-

JEFF AND SUSAN Vandermolen close a deal today to sell award-winning Beaufort Winery in the Comox Valley to “high profile in the world” people. ing. This venture has taken a backseat to the Beaufort sale negotiations, according to Jeff, but they are still researching whether a microbrewery would be feasible in the Comox Valley. A small-batch brewery with a focus on selling local beer locally is what the Vandermolens had in mind, but Jeff said that model may not be viable; beer has a low profit margin, so dis-

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and wide now and their volumes are getting more and more significant every day and we really aren’t prepared personally to step up and put in the 80-hour weeks again,” said Jeff, noting a popular distribution option in Victoria is the brewpub model. Jeff said starting a micro-brewery here is certainly not off the table, and ... see MIGHT ■ A2

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tribution volume is important and the Valley may not be a large enough market. They visited Tofino Brewing Co. and Townsite Brewing, which are breweries the Vandermolens are considering modelling themselves after, and found that they are larger than the Vandermolens had envisioned their microbrewery being. “They’re distributing far

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