What a great way to cap off season 1 of the Food Careers podcast! Join me as I interview my uncle Denis Perrault a wine maker and dairy farmer near Navan, Ontario. Denis and his wife Lyse make a wonderful team along with their talented family in creating a extraordinary getaway only minutes from downtown Ottawa.

“The key is to create an atmosphere for guests to relax, relate, experience and taste the wine”

Imagine sitting under a large cascading oak tree with friends and family, sipping an assortment of the most delicious wine. This is how memories are made and instilled in our senses for years to come. The Perrault family have developed a booming business, hosting up to 10 weddings a year and an array of social gatherings throughout the summer and fall.

The impressive dairy farm nearby produces the other tasty liquid harvested on this farm. Yes, the milk business has been the primary staple of the Perrault family for multiple generations. The milk and wine business’ compliment each other in many ways. Once early morning milkings are complete in the barn, daytime hours can be spent making wine, hosting or in the fields or with the vines. Then the evening milking caps off the long days unless a social event is taking place at which time, the vineyard comes alive for a few more hours into the night.

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This family puts in an extraordinary amount of hours, but as you’ll hear in my interview with Denis, they love farming. The sons, daughters and grandchildren pitch in to do their part. Other expertise are brought onto the farm throughout the year for various jobs. For example, foreign workers come in for the grape harvest, a head winemaker works long hours through the winter with Denis to recreate the exact taste needed for a consistent wine year after year. On the dairy farm, extra help is at times needed whether it be contracting someone to put in a crop or the special needs working program that allows individuals to have a greater working connection with animals and nature. This 500 acre farm is stunningly beautiful and productive due to the dedication many hands have put into nurturing the soil to grow grapes and crops all the while supporting the animals who call it home.

What’s really special about this selection of wine is that many of the labels will be named after their daughters and grand daughters. Denis says that women have a great way of selling wine. My personal favorite wine is ‘Rosalie’, named after my cousin Dominique’s daughter.

Join us on Episode 9, as we walk through this dynamic family’s journey to producing milk and wine! Food holds a great power of bringing people together, perhaps wine holds the greatest aspects to do so. For more information on Domaine Perrault please visit www.domaineperrault.ca