Heritage. Determination. Passion. Perseverance.
Like many Italian immigrants, our parents left Italy to pursue greener pastures in the New World and to get away from the hardships of living off the land. Ironically, we always noticed as kids that they were their happiest when surrounded by family and friends in their gardens, and while making food and wine from the fruits of their labour. Despite that, we were discouraged from having anything to do with farming and were encouraged to pursue professional careers. Although our careers have allowed a comfortable living, the call to the land ultimately proved too strong for us to ignore.
In 1995, we purchased a 8-hectare (20 acre) property atop the Niagara Escarpment in the Town of Vineland. We were drawn to our property because of the similarity to the landscape our parents had loved in Italy, and because of the old adage that the best grapes are grown on hillsides rather than in valleys and flatlands. Who are We?
We are Anna Gottardo and Mauro Scarsellone, siblings, and co-founders of Ridgepoint Wines. Together with our spouses and our children, we welcome you to the family!
From the beginning, we were determined to contribute to the Ontario wine scene. The more that critics questioned growing red wines in Ontario, the more we took up the challenge. We were also interested in bringing new red grape varieties to the Niagara Peninsula to try. With a lot of determination, we were able to secure new varieties such as Nebbiolo and Corvina. We have been humbled by Mother Nature in recent years but we persevere and look forward to sharing these wines with you. Our desire to produce wines that remind us of our heritage has also led us to practice Old World wine techniques such as Appassimento and Ripasso winemaking.
In our tradition, the joy of wine is completed with food. In order to offer a full wine experience, we decided to add a culinary component that would highlight how well our wines go with food. Our Dining Room offers a seasonal menu that focuses on local ingredients and continues our family traditions of making our own sauces and preserves to be used in the winter and spring. Our parents have taught us that nothing provides more satisfaction than cooking with simple, but fresh, local ingredients and we couldn’t agree with them more.
We often are asked if we regret going back to the land. We have only one regret – that our grandparents did not get to see what we have accomplished.