- 2000 – 40 Acres purchased with dreams of creating wine
- 2003 - Approximately 20 acres of vinifera grape varietals were planted: Merlot, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.
- 2005 – Rosewood Winery begins construction
- 2006 – First harvest and vintage for Rosewood
- 2007 – Additional 40 acres purchased for future expansion
- 2008 – Rosewood Estates opens doors to customers in Spring 2008
- 2009 – Long Rows Vineyard planting begins
- 2010 – To this day Rosewood has won 45 awards in three years of commercial wine competitions. Rosewood was nominated as being in the Top 25 Canadian wineries in 2008 and 2009.
Renata and Eugene Roman purchased 40 acres of land in 2000, which is now home of Rosewood Estates Winery & Meadery. Their goal was to start a small-batch artisanal winery and meadery. This property is located on prime Beamsville Bench terroir. At Rosewood, 15 acres make up the planted vineyard; approximately 2 acres for the apiary and the rest is part of the beautiful forested area of the Niagara Escarpment.
The Estate Vineyard, named Renaceau, on Mountainview Road was planted in 2003 with vinifera grapes; including: Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling, and Semillon.
Spring of 2008 mark the first release of the 2006 wines to the public. These grapes produced 8 different VQA wines most being crafted into single varietals. The first year production produced 1700 cases. The grapes are all hand picked at their peak and either whole cluster pressed or de-stemmed with the first in Niagara, Euroselect de-stemmer. In the spring of 2007 another 40 acres of land was purchased in Jordan on the Twenty Mile Bench appellation. In 2009 and 2010 25 acres of this land has been planted with different grapes, with several additional acres remaining under development. Varieties planted here include, Pinot Noir (clones 667 and 777), Merlot, Gewürztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling. This vineyard is expected to begin producing usable fruit n 2012 and 2013, due primarily to the thick, heavy limestone clay soils and cold winters.
Natalie Spytkowsky, the winemaker, is a perfect fit for this artisanal winery. With 14 years of experience, Natalie has garnered many awards locally and internationally for both wines and meads. In September 2008, Luke Orwinski, joined the Rosewood team as the assistant winemaker, having several years experience in Ontario with winemakers such as, John DeSousa, and Andrzej Lipinski. Luke’s strong and hard working ethic, along with Natalie’s expertise, passion and meticulous attention to detail blend well with the philosophy of the owners.
The Roman family has been beekeepers for 70 years. Eugene is a second generation Ontario beekeeper. His father gave him his first hive at the age of 6. Originally the family kept bees in King Township, Ontario. In the year 2000, the apiary operations were moved to Beamsville. The 6 apiaries are located throughout the Beamsville to Twenty Mile Benches. The honey collected from the Bench show nuances of tree fruit, wildflower and clover.
The idea of producing honey wines or Meads has intrigued Eugene since high school. Eugene and Natalie have combined their skills of honey production and winemaking to develop innovative handcrafted honey wines. Many hours of dedicated work and blending techniques have proven fruitful. March 2008 marked the release of the 2006 meads. Harvest Gold is traditional style mead with a nose of almond and vanilla. Mon Cherie, a specialty mead is made from Niagara cherries blended with Rosewood’s honey. It is a beautiful rosé coloured wine showing nuances of cherry and chocolate. Natalie and Eugene have been developing ancient style mead “Ambrosia” which was released in spring of 2009 after years of painstaking work and barrel aging. There still remains several barrels of Ambrosia waiting to be perfected before being bottled. These meads will continue evolving and improving with age.
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