W I N E RY P R O F I L E
From 150 cases in the first year to
100,000 cases annually, one woman’s
dream has established a firm place in
Canadian wine
By Shelley Boettcher
When Catherine Langlois started Sandbanks Winery
almost 20 years ago, she quickly learned how to balance
a winemaker’s life and a family. Harvest waits for no one,
not even babies.
“When I was in the vineyards, I would put the playpen at the
end of the row, with my daughter in it, and a mosquito net over the
top,” Langlois said with a chuckle.
“Like many farming families, we just did what needed to be
done. We didn’t think about whether it was Monday or Friday or
Sunday. We just kept going and did what needed to be done.”
That hard work has paid off. These days, Sandbanks Winery is
a major player in the Canadian wine scene producing more than
100,000 cases of wine each year. The wines – a range of reds, whites,
rosés and sweet wines – are sold across Ontario and Quebec.
In February, Langlois sold the winery to Arterra Wines
Canada for an undisclosed amount.
With roots in the Canadian wine industry that date back to
1874, and the founding of the Niagara Falls Wine Company, Arterra
owns the Wine Rack stores in Ontario, plus more than 1,700 acres
of top vineyard land and eight wineries across Canada. Sandbanks
joins that group, which includes Jackson-Triggs, Inniskillin and
Nk’Mip, as well as top international brands such as Kim Crawford
and Ruffino.
For Langlois, the sale is an opportunity to see her life come
full circle. Raised on a farm in Quebec, she studied hospitality in
Montreal, trained as a winemaker in Burgundy, France, and then
worked in wine sales in Central Canada, including stints at Pelee
Island Winery and agencies Select Wine Merchants and Lifford
Wine and Spirits.
Photos courtesy of Sandbanks Winery
FALL 2020 § POURED CANADA § 5