Drinks Farm

Marquette, planted 2023

Victory is ours. As of January 1st 2026, wines that are 100% grown and made in Ontario are finally taxed the same across the board. For hybrid and native grapes—like this Labrusca—that’s a huge shift. We’ve gone from about 71.5% provincial tax down to roughly 6%. For you, me, and sustainable wine growing - it’s a huge win. Vitis Labrusca is the most sustainable wine crop in the province, and in this case, one of our most historical plantings. This is 100% Fredonia from a vineyard in Beamsville, Ontario that is over 100 years old. That means that this vineyard was planted and bearing fruit before Chardonnay and Pinot Noir etc. made their way over to Ontario from Europe. It’s an honour to work with this fruit for the second year in a row.  In the cellar, it’s all whole cluster carbonic maceration for about three weeks. No added sulphur, or anything else. Just a blend of free-run and press. I picked the fruit a bit earlier last year, which shifted things nicely—the wine landed naturally at 7.5% alc./vol. Because it’s still young, there’s a bit of natural spritz, but it’s not sparkling. Fredonia shares genetic ground with some interesting grapes around the world - it’s fun to taste Labruscas on their own like this so you can pick out the characteristics across some more adventurous wine lists. Coming to Quebec soon via @vin.flor.vin ❤️

Prepping the Drinks Farm barn for some big changes :) This is an 1830s swing beam timberframe. It was used for livestock, but has been out of commission for about 40 years. The wild grapevines have woven themselves through the walls and although they are magnificent - they have to go.

Hi All! Bringing you some scenes from our super-interesting #regenerativebeverages @canarycounter talk with @drinksfarm ’s Drea Scotland, our host @ccmendz + me🤗 What does it mean for a beverage to truly reflect the culture + terroir of its region? Though generations of home winemaking families have pressed wine from the endemic Ontario #vitislabrusca 🍇, the Ontario Wine Appellation Authority (VQA) has refused to recognize it, preferring instead to confer status upon imported international grapes. Some things are changing, with the VQA recently modifying its rules to allow hybrid grapes as a concession to climate change. But still a big no to Labrusca🤨 It’s a shame. Think of Drea’s Labrusca (featuring whole-cluster carbonic maceration) as the sophisticated, pure, spritzy + patio friendly version of Welch’s grape juice. It will tap into the juice box-loving kid in you while satisfying your desires for a low-ABV refresher. We discussed the parallels between Drea’s work with native grapes + that of Celia’s dad Juan Jésus, whose life work @bodegasvinatigo has been identifying, vinifying + elevating the endemic grapes of the Canary Islands. It’s grapes like the Labrusca variety Fredonia—which Drea sources from Ontario farmers—or Marmajuelo in Tenerife that have evolved in symbiotic relationship with the flora + fauna around them + are best equipped to adapt to ongoing climate change. The same goes for the endemic agaves the ladies of @zinacantan.murzielaga.mezcal (who I write about in “Reaping What She Sows”) are working hard to preserve, along with their cultural legacy. Check out Drea’s great hybrid grape wines, too, a whole other story we’ll save for another time😅 Bonus 🎞️ from Puebla, Mexico! #regenerativebeverages #endemicgrapes #agave

Join us on April 12th for Words on the Counter, a chill Sunday afternoon conversation with wines, stories, the people who grow them. We’re stoked to welcome author @nancymatsumoto and winemaker Drea Scotland from @drinksfarm ❣️🌾 Nancy Matsumoto published ‘Reaping What She Sows’ last October, a book about how women are fixing our broken food system. Drea runs @drinksfarm in Prince Edward County, making wines and other beverages with hybrid grapes and a whole lot of care. They’re sitting down with Celia to taste through some of Drea’s bottles and talk about everything from what it means to make, sell, and write about things that are local and real (not part of the big corporate supply chain), to how to build soil, revive land, and let the insects, birds, and wild things do their work. And yes, we’ll taste all these beauties below! Not only the new release of Labrusca, but also some special cuvées from Drea’s own library cellar! 2025 Drinks Farm Labrusca 2024 Drinks Farm Jarel 2023 Drinks Farm Jarel 2023 Drinks Farm Giosue 2024 Drinks Farm Caravaggio Come through! We’d love to see you! 🍇🍇 The details Sunday April 12th, 2pm to 4pm Canary Counter, 322 Harbord Street, Toronto Only 10 spots. Tickets through link in bio! 🎟️🌞 @nancymatsumoto ’s 📷 by Travis Khatchatoorian 🎨🖼️ by @ayotsalithaba 💛

The @drinksfarm team lovingly refers to this maple & birch seltzer as “The Champagne of Trees” as it looks and feels like Champagne in stemware - which we recommend drinking it out of. 🥂 40 cals, 0.1% alc/vol

I do alot less in the winter so there’s not that much to show you.

I will enjoy this summer like never before.

Winter drinks farm stand 24 pack mixed case online.

🌲 FOREST WATER 🌲 Forest water is my first still botanical drink. It’s a cold tea of forest ingredients steeped until tannic and full of flavour. It’s a brew of balsam, Labrador tea, tamarack, white cedar, white pine and spruce. All sourced by @forbeswildfoods . Trying to keep the non-alch side of my business exciting during winter isn’t easy but I’m obsessed with this one and it’s something I’ve been wanting to try for a long time. I hope it acts a portal to the forest for you as it does for me. psa: I made a mistake on this label and had to do a tiny correction by hand on the nutrition table (last slide) I didn’t reprint because it’s such a small run and and it’s already maxed on ingredient cost. To be clear, Forest Water has no sugar and no cals :) Thanks for pretending there isn’t a sharpie scribble on your nice can.

🍁Sugar Bush🪾 New version of my maple and sea salt soda is out today. This time, I added tinctures of Birch leaf and Birch bark from @perfect_herbs . The birch bark adds a cola-esque spice and the birch leaf is so beautifully fruity. The dark (rare) maple syrup is from my hometown of Elgin, Ontario and is made by the lovely folks at @gunnebrookefarmsltd and of course sea salt from @vanislesalt . It’s the champagne of trees and this time I’m using the whole sugar bush :)

The tones of L’Acadie Blanc while racking