The People of Featherstone Estate Winery
Featherstone people are the heart of the winery and vineyard. And by people, we mean humans, birds, animals, insects, and all the life that teems in the soil.
PEOPLE:
The Winemaker
The Associate
The Grande Fromage
The Vine Dresser
The Administrator
The Grape Hound
The Sheep Labourers
The Cuisine Artist
The Winemaker :
David Johnson
David's full title is Winemaker/Grape Grower/Owner/Tractor Driver Extraordinaire -- but that's a mouthful so we just call him The Winemaker.
There was a time in 2003, just after David was named The 2003 Grape King, and Featherstone was designated Vineyard of the Year, that we had to refer to him as Your Majesty. But that's all behind us now.
The Associate :
Kevin Panagapka
Kevin is originally from Guelph, Ontario, and is a graduate of the Niagara College Oenology and Viticulture program. He worked at wineries large and small in Niagara, as well as at Villa Maria in New Zealand, before throwing himself in with our lot.
As well as toiling endlessly on Featherstone wines, Kevin tends his own small vineyard and makes his own wines under the Twenty Twenty-Seven Cellars label.
The Grande Fromage : Louise Engel
As co-owner of Featherstone it is Louise's job to make sure the wine is chilled, the tasting room is restocked and your visit to Featherstone is memorable.
Louise also comes from a rural background and studied business at the University of Guelph, where she and David met in the mid 1980's . Louise runs the office, returns the emails, looks after the many, many government remittances and taxes associated with selling alcohol in Ontario- and will probably be behind the tasting bar when you visit.
PEOPLE:
The Winemaker
The Associate
The Grande Fromage
The Vine Dresser
The Administrator
The Grape Hound
The Sheep Labourers
The Cuisine Artist
The Grape Hound : Bocci
Bocci is an essential part of the team and supervises all operations.
He is a very special breed of Niagara Escarpment Grape Hound (a.k.a. Jack Russell terrier) and his job description includes escorting guests to the tasting room as they arrive as well as getting in a little after-hours mousing.
The Administrator :
Sandy Middleton
Sandy Middleton is our administrative assistant. She looks after shipping, receiving, LCBO contact, does some tasting room shifts, weeds the garden, returns all those empty wine bottles that we pour at the bar, and much, more. Louise thinks that Sandy's actual job description is 'Mini-Me'.
The Vine Dresser :
Emily Debenetti
As Dave's right-hand 'man' in the vineyard, The Dresser logs a lot of hours on our tractors and applies sunscreen by the bucketful. When she is not zooming around on the ATV or moving the electric fence that keeps the lambs enclosed, Emily Debenetti does double duty at the tasting bar. There, she is more qualified than most to tell you what is really going on in the vineyard.
PEOPLE:
The Winemaker
The Associate
The Grande Fromage
The Vine Dresser
The Administrator
The Grape Hound
The Sheep Labourers
The Cuisine Artist
The Sheep Labourers
We 'employ' a small flock of sheep to eat leaves from our grapevines: they enhance fruit quality by exposing the grapes to more sunlight and air circulation.
Sheep are ideally suited to the job of leaf-thinning: they are not interested in eating the tart, unripe grapes. Our sheep are seasonal workers: they come in early July and leave in early September.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice :
Bhreagh McNeil
Niagara College offers a two year Oenology and Viticulture program and a requirement of graduation is that each student must get their feet wet and acquire a bit of practical experience by working harvest at a winery.
We encourage our apprenticing student to shed their shoes, roll up their workpants and jump right in. A stint at Featherstone involves work in the vineyard, tasting room and cellar -- sometimes all three in one day. In 2010, we welcome Bhreagh McNeil.
The Cuisine Artist :
Brianne Kirbyson
Lunch is served on our veranda during the summer months and it is made even more memorable by our simple but tasty menu. From the hummous to the verjus salad dressing, our Cuisine Artist makes it all, in-house and from scratch. This year Brianne Kirbyson is behind the curtain, slicing and dicing and grilling her way into your heart.
