Local Wineries - Kawartha Country Wines

Before Kawartha Country Wines, John Rufa made wine at home. “After making lots of bad wine, I started to make good wine”, he laughs. After getting many compliments on his wine, he decided to open Kawartha Country Winery 15 years ago.

John loves making fruit wine. “If you don’t have a passion for it, you won’t do well. You have to want to create a good, quality product that people will enjoy. And the gratification is when people come in to sample the wine and really like it. Anybody can make wine. Making wine that people want to pay money for is the trick,” he laughs. John’s father was a great wine maker who forced John to help. John wanted nothing to do with it. He says “I wish I’d paid attention.” (he laughs)

The building is a historic log cabin built in 1866. It was owned by the Shannon family, and Sister Margaret (the last person to be born in the building) would visit, until she passed a few years ago. The Shannon family had their reunion at the cabin.

“We specialize in making unique wines and ciders that nobody else makes. People always look forward to our newest blends”, says John.

Rhubarb is their number one seller. A few of their other types of wine and cider are apple, pear, blueberry, black currant, elderberry, peach, plum, nectarine, cranberry, strawberry, pumpkin, raspberry and cherry. “At any given time, we have forty-five to fifty different wines and ciders,” says John.

“We are selling the wine, the experience and the story that goes behind the wine as well,” John says. They also specialize in fruit vinegars, grilling sauces, jams and wine jellies.

Does the fruit wine-making process differ from

making grape wine? John says, “We get this question all the time. It’s essentially the same as for grape wines. You crush the fruit, ferment the juice and the skins. The grape thinks it’s special. (he laughs) None of the other berries think it’s special.”

Kawartha Country Wines is open year round 7 days a week because they make wine 12 months a year. By staying open, they are able to keep their staff full time. Tours are available, and the property has plenty of scenery for photos.

They have a complimentary sampling bar. “We are confident that when people taste our wines, they

will like some of them. You don’t have to like all our wines, you just have to like one of them.” (he laughs)

The gift shop has hot sauces, BBQ sauces, giftwares plus much more.

They grow cider apples, pears, red and black currents, rhubarb and some grapes. The bears love the grapes, so they usually end up as bear food.

Cider is about 25% of their business. The main difference between cider and wine is the amount of alcohol and that ciders are carbonated. Wines are 12% alcohol, while cider is around 5-6%. Ciders have become very popular over last 4 years. John took a cider making course in England. “The English make cider very different than here. The taste is qualitatively better. If Robin Hood were alive today,

he’d be making cider the same way. It hasn’t changed in 1000 years, and that’s the way that we do it. It’s as authentic an English cider as you can get”, says John. Their cider products are available in varying sweetness and include flavours such as cranberry, perry, lemonade and their newest addition, concorde grape cider.

Stop by for a complimentary tasting. I can’t think of a better way to spend the afternoon.