Decanter in the County
As M.J. Macdonald and Angie Jewell offer a tour of Decanter, their retail wine shop, wine bar and event space on Wellington’s Main Street in Prince Edward County, they’re talking about the wines, spirits, ciders, beers and meads they carry. This one is from Prince Edward County; that one’s from Niagara, this is from Carp, Ont., and that is from Lake Erie North Shore. And then Jewell offers a glass of bubbly and Macdonald stops and says “And this one is ours.”
“What you’re drinking is called Inspired, which was a collaboration we did with Karlo Estates here in the County,” Macdonald says. “We bottled our own sparkling wine. It's a Prosecco-style 50-50 blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. Derek Barnett, the winemaker, is a really good friend.”
Macdonald and Jewell, partners in business and in life, approached Barnett a few years ago, noting that Karlo didn’t have a sparkling wine in its portfolio and proposing that they work together to make one.
“We did, and so they have their own label and packaging, and we have our own,” she says.
“This is our second vintage and we launched it the day we opened this shop.”
Since then, the wine has become their best-seller by the bottle and the glass and while the collaboration with Karlo is no longer happening, they are about to launch their third vintage with Barnett.
The shop carries only Ontario products with wines from across the province of Ontario, and beers and ciders almost exclusively from Prince Edward Co. It also sells locally made soft drinks, jellies, snacks, crackers, cheeses, chocolate and sausages and some glassware.
The store has become a bit of a hub in the County. People stop by at the start of their visit, and often come back at the end of their day. They might have a glass of wine to kick off the day or to end it — or both. People also drop by because it’s a central place to pick up some wines they’ve liked during winery visits, if don’t have time to go back to the wineries. And sometimes Decanter still has product that wineries have run out of — “they were sending people to us and we send people back to them,” Macdonald says.
“One thing about this whole venture is we're trying to grow our business while we're helping others grow theirs,” Jewell says, adding that they frequently use the hashtag #conversationsconnectionscommunity. “We have always supported local.”
The front of the space is all retail. The middle section, complete with a brick wall and a neon light that says “get inspired,” is set up as a small bar with a few seats at two different tables, one of which Jewell constructed out of reclaimed silver maple from nearby Frankford farm. And there’s more local wood: The cash counter is made of Manitoba maple they sourced in Port Hope. Over the serving area, the light fixtures are made from crystal sherry bottles. The back section is a multi-purpose room, which has even served as a yoga studio for Macdonald, who has taught for more than 20 years.
“We’ve hosted everything from book clubs to board meetings in this room,” Macdonald says. “Sometimes we just have overflow in here if we’re busy.”
There’s also a deck out back for summer visitors and they’ve extended their porch to create seating out front as well.
“We built all of this — there was nothing here,” Macdonald says of the interior of the old house in which their shop resides. “We took over three empty rooms and we’ve tried to use a lot of local goods and we kept some of the stuff from the house and repurposed it in different ways.”
Both Macdonald and Jewell have worked as wine agents.
“We represented wines, we harvested, bottled, sold wines, we did events and we did a lot of consumer education,” Macdonald says. “Our mission has always been to educate the consumer about Ontario wine.”
While they were doing those jobs, they also had other full-time jobs. Jewell worked in retail operations and IT for Indigo for 20 years and the two met when Macdonald was also working there.
Macdonald now works full-time in learning and development in the insurance industry while Jewell has left Indigo to focus on Decanter full time.
And these days, they host wine industry types like their former selves.
“Quite often, on a Friday night, you'll find a winemaker, a brewmaster or a cidermaker hanging out here just because this has become a bit of a neutral place for them,” Jewell says.
The women sold their Toronto home and moved to Prince Edward County full-time and used some of the revenue from the house sale to start their business. And they had relationships with several wineries already.
“We worked with them all long before we this was even a twinkle in our eye,” Macdonald says. “When we opened, it felt like we’d been doing it [for years.] We did it because we truly love what we do and we love this industry. The wineries know we’re committed to this work and we’re committed to helping them grow their businesses.”
“And when they’re not open or can’t be open, we can give customers a taste of their wines,” Jewell says. “Wineries are starting to get that we’re an extension of their brand.”
Decanter recently received Feast On certification through the Ontario Culinary Alliance. To qualify, 85 per cent of food and 100 per cent of beverages sold have to be local.
“It’s supporting our mission of supporting local and keeping business in Ontario,” Jewell said of the accolade. “Not very many stores get it — it’s mostly restaurants.”
The women have also expanded their offerings to wine workshops as well as small events, such as Friday night popups from local food purveyors (they had Peg’s Patties one night, and Filipino food another.) They’re also featuring charcuterie boards now, as well as “bons bons and cornichons boards,” which feature locally cured meats in the shape of chocolates, served alongside pickles.
In another bid to support local, they are featuring the art of their former neighbour, Side Street Gallery. It’s yet another way to support local, and also women entrepreneurs.
Decanter
260 Main St., Wellington, Prince Edward County
decanterpec.ca | @decanterpec
