My family has been growing grapes and making wine in Canada for more than 50 years. Over those years we’ve won some awards, and my uncle was a pioneer in Canada’s Icewine industry, founding one of our country’s first wineries after the prohibition laws were repealed.  We’ve always kept the finest wines to drink at home. Under a maple tree in summer; in front of a raging fire in winter.  

I’ve always believed that appreciating wine is something you back into, like a city kid who goes to the desert for the first time. First you get the colours, and the aromas; then you learn the terroir and the techniques. This was my life growing up – working in the vineyards in the summer, then the fall harvest, and in the winter picking icewine grapes in the snow.

Growing up and working on the land, it took me a minute to understand that you can’t write your own story without experiencing it first.  I started to love wine and to see that it was not just about the drinking. Eventually I realized that I knew enough to branch out on my own. I started with two rows of the very best grapes on our family estate, and I’ve asked Marco to curate the purest wines he can. 

These days, wine for me is about quality, about building friendships and sharing memories. It’s about family and working together in the vineyard. It’s about history and nature. Farmers, family, chefs and sommeliers have given us the knowledge to make truly sensational wines, and this is what I want to share with you with Unscripted.

Ultimately our wines are about an appreciation of the past, a respect for nature and a reflection of life that is pure and good. Nature makes us this way, because like a mirror it asks us to make our own stories, ones that are honest and respectful and appreciated for what they are.

Santé

Mike

Wine needs to tell its own story. As a winemaker it’s my job to let the wine speak for itself.  This is based on the time and experience it takes me to understand the vines and the land. I am just its servant in a process that has been going on for thousands of years.

I grew up in the picturesque wine region of Friuli Venezia-Giulia, Italy, and my passion for winemaking came naturally. As a teen, I worked in local wineries, and I knew then that I would dedicate my life to the art of winemaking. Master’s degrees in Viticulture and Oenology in Italy and Germany cemented my craft.

For 18 years as the winemaker at of one of Canada’s largest corporate wineries, I made crowd-pleasing wines that were always labelled "good." Nowadays, merely "good" means nothing to me.  I'm done with that.   With Unscripted, I aim for the most expressive version of a wine and allow it to be defined by the land that gives it its soul and this is where I want to live. I finally feel unleashed. 

The wines we make at Unscripted are both great to drink today and have the horsepower to age well.  I let the grapes truly express themselves, and they guide me in the process. When Mike came to me, I jumped at the chance to join him. He lets me make the wines I want, with no constraints.

Wine is how the terroir expresses its story.  Giving it its story gives it its soul.

Cin Cin

Marco