Disclaimer: I received a travel stipend and am paid for writing about Prince Edward County by The Great Waterway. This is one of five articles. The articles will also appear on The Great Waterway blog. I chose and organized my own itinerary and all opinions are my own. All photography is my own.
You might have heard that Prince Edward County competes with the Niagara region in the winery department. But there are a few other gems that come from that region. First up is 66 Gilead – a rather new distillery right in Bloomfield. Home on acres of land and using the historic Cooper-Norton house for their tasting room, the venue is spectacular. 66 Gilead produces hand-crafted spirits. You’ll find: gin, three types of vodka, shochu and rum. Opened in 2011 the venue is new and the owners are very friendly and eager to tell their story. A limited selection is available at the LCBO, others are only available for purchase at the Bloomfield location.
Right next to 66 Gillead, leasing some of their buildings, are Pete & Marla Bradford. They do two things there – Pete runs his Carriage House Cooperage, where he makes barrels the ‘old-fashioned’ way. These barrels are used by the local wineries, distilleries and breweries. He also makes some furniture and small items for the home. He is very happy to show how things are made the old-fashioned way.
In addition to barrel making, they also produce aged wine vinegars. Aging up to 7 years, these are tasty specialty vinegars perfect for your salad, bread dipping or gourmet cooking. The Cooper’s Choice vinegars are made exclusively with wines from the county and aged to perfection with imported “mother” from the legendary Modena region of Italy. We bought a bottle and have been using it regularly in the past couple of weeks.
Last but not least – you can also get your local beer in Prince Edward County. Located between Bloomfield and Picton you’ll find Barley Days, a local craft brewer. Sourcing highest quality Canadian malts and hops, they produce beer in small batches. Prince Edward County used to be a large producer of hops in the past, but these days production is not viable for the area. I don’t have any pictures of the brewery because it was pouring rain. But if you get there on the weekend, they are happy to show you the facilities and explain their brewing process. You can buy some of their beer at the LCBO.
