Honest Wine, Innovative Mead and Local Honey at Rosewood Winery & Meadery

Rosewood is Ontario’s first and only property that is home to a winery and a meadery. Also known as “honey wine,” mead is made using three ingredients: honey, water and yeast. When making mead, the yeast is used to ferment the honey and water. Much like wine that is produced with grapes, mead can be very aromatic and complex, while also vintage and varietal specific. In fact, mead is the oldest type of alcoholic beverage known to mankind. It was discovered between 10,000 to 40,000 years ago and is tied to the history of several ancient civilizations. 

Rosewood makes a variety of meads that range from dry to sweet. They use wildflower honey and sometimes combine it with local fruit or grape juice. A dry mead like their Harvest Gold is best served chilled and paired with cheeses, savoury-desserts or any savoury or spicy dish. A sweet mead, such as their Cherry Mead Seltzer, is also delicious when chilled, and pairs nicely with cheeses or sweet desserts. Meads have great ageing potential and make for very unique cocktail mixers. 

Rosewood has almost 300 hives that they look after. According to their General Manager & Beemaster, William Roman, you can’t place up to 100 hives in one area because there is a saturation point of how many bees can be present in one space. Therefore, Rosewood has hives located in different parts of their property, but they also rent land from other farmers in Niagara.

Rosewood’s story began over 80 years ago in Ukraine, which is where R.W. Roman’s combined passion for beekeeping and mead began. When his family arrived in Canada, he continued beekeeping along with his son, Eugene Roman. Later on, Eugene was married and went to Niagara-on-the-Lake with his wife for their honeymoon. During their stay, the couple became inspired by the people they met and the wine they tasted and eventually fell in love with the region’s natural beauty. Eugene promised his wife that one day they would build a winery together, which was the beginning of Rosewood’s creation. 

Eugene purchased and planted two vineyards on the Niagara Escarpment. The Escarpment consists of limestone-rich clay soils, providing wind protection from the South, while also allowing cool breezes from Lake Ontario to pass through in the summer. There are also several forests and conservation areas along the Escarpment, which the bees enjoy. 

The two vineyards are known as the Renaceau Vineyard, which was planted in 2003, and the Blackjack Vineyard, planted in 2008. But before the grapes were grown, the land consisted of trees and a pond. However, the trees located near the road had died and before the land was cleared to grow grapevines, the owners noticed that the only sign of remaining life were roses. So between the survival of these flowers and almost all of the land being covered in trees, the two concepts were combined and the name “Rosewood” was formed. 

From wine and mead to honey and candles, Rosewood truly has it all. Visit them at 4352 Mountainview Road in Beamsville!