A Taste of Honey

By Walter Kish

A  new winery by the name of Rosewood Estates officially opened its doors this past weekend in the Niagara region near the town of Beamsville, Ont.  Though such events have become common in recent years, this one was worthy of attention for a number of reasons.  For one, the winery is also one of the very few makers of traditional honey wine or mead in Ontario, or all of Canada for that matter.  It is one of only two such meaderies in the entire province.  Secondly, the owner of the winery is one Eugene Roman, a name well known to the Ukrainian community in Toronto. 

In his Monday to Friday life, Eugene is a busy senior executive (Group President, Systems & Technology) with Bell Canada Enterprises.  His extra-curricular community activities include being the Chairman of the Board of the Ukrainian Credit Union and a Board Member of the UNF of Canada.  When he can escape his official duties though, he turns to one of his long-time personal passions, namely beekeeping.  It is an interest that he inherited from his father and one that has run in the Roman Family for many generations.  Eugene has kept bees and made honey as well as honey wine for as long as he can remember.   

Having his own winery has also been a dream for Eugene as well as for his wife Renata, and he fondly recalls how he promised her shortly after they got married that one day they would have their own winery.  After some eight years of preparation and effort, the winery has finally officially opened its doors. 

The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place May 3 in the presence of a large crowd of family, friends, colleagues from work, local politicians and dignitaries and of course, wine aficionados who came to discover what Rosewood Estates has to offer.

The winery is located on Mountainview Rd. just west of the town of Beamsville on what is known as the Beamsville Bench, a narrow strip of land at the foot of the Niagara escarpments whose unique combination of soil, topography and micro climate, known as terroir, provide an ideal environment for producing high quality wines.  The impressive winery building sits on high ground overlooking the vineyards, and is well laid out inside with a wine tasting and retail area in the front and production facilities in the rear.  The main production area is a large, brightly lit space filled with an impressive array of stainless steel fermentation tanks, pipes and “high tech” equipment of all kinds.  It is capable of producing some 50,000 litres of wine annually. 

In contrast, the main aging room or “cellar” is a quiet, dimly lit wood, stone and stucco room decorated more in the vein of a medieval monastery or palace, providing a romantic and almost reverential atmosphere.  It is here where the wine is aged from two to five years in large French oak barrels until they are ready for bottling.

The Rosewood vineyards consist of a number of well-known varieties of vinifera grapes including Merlot, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Riesling, Chardonnay and Semillion.  Most were planted in 2003 with the first wines being produced in 2006 and laid away for aging in imported French oak casks.  The first of these wines finally went on sale in the spring of this year to great acclaim.  In fact, at the Ontario Wine Awards several weeks ago, two of Rosewood Estates inaugural wines came away with gold medals in their categories – the Merlot and the Pinot Gris.

I had the opportunity to sample most of Rosewood’s wines and they are indeed a class act.  Under the careful direction of local winemaker Natalie Spytkowsky, the company’s passionate dedication to quality rather than quantity is obvious.  Natalie has been making wines for some fifteen years, having combined formal courses in oenology with many years of apprenticeship at several Niagara wineries.  Given the opportunity to show her skills and creativity at Rosewood, she has demonstrated that she is indeed a gifted winemaker.

Rosewood combines traditional techniques with a strong dedication to furthering the art and science of winemaking.  The winery is experimenting with innovative new methodologies such as cool fermentation as well as whole berry fermentation.  It is obvious that Eugene Roman’s background in science and R & D are an important driving force in the winery’s operating philosophy.

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, one of the unique aspects of Rosewood Estates is its dual identity as a meadery.  Mead or honey wine is the oldest fermented drink in the history of human civilization, predating both traditional wines and beer.  The Roman Family has been keeping bees and producing honey in Canada for over seventy years.  Their current annual production of over ten thousand pounds of honey is now being channeled largely into the production of mead.  The winery currently produces two types of mead, Harvest Gold, traditional mead in the Scottish style, and Mon Cherie, a mead flavoured with locally grown sour cherries.

I have drunk mead in the past, primarily on my visits to various parts of Europe, but Rosewood’s meads were a new experience.  Most meads tend to be of the sweet variety, often overly so, but the two produced by Rosewood are an interesting concoction, similar to a good dry white wine with a distinct but not overpowering honey taste.  The Mon Cherie variation adds a delightful, though again not overpowering taste of cherry to the mix.   Both produce a sophisticated and pleasant drink.  The Harvest Gold mead recently won a Bronze Medal at the International Mead Festival in Colorado, testifying to Eugene and Natalie’s skills in making a premium honey wine.

Eugene is currently eagerly awaiting the maturation of what he hopes will be his signature mead, the 2006 Grande Reserve Ambrosia.  It has been aging in oak barrels for the past two years and should be ready for bottling by the end of this year.  The recipe passed down to him from his father, has been in the Roman family for over four centuries. 

Rosewood’s wines and meads are undoubtedly quality premium products, yet Eugene is committed to keeping them affordable.  Most of his wines retail at $18 a bottle, an exceptional value for the price. 

If Eugene’s track record in his other personal and career endeavours to date holds true, Rosewood Estates is bound to be a great success.  More information on Rosewood Estates can be found on the company’s website: www.rosewoodwine.com.