William Redelmeier
Agriculture can be incredibly “green”- or the opposite. At Southbrook, Bill and his wife, Marilyn, made the commitment to “green” in 1982 and have not wavered since. They are the first and largest organic wine producer in Ontario, the first to attain LEED Gold certification for their facility and heavy investors, in addition to their agricultural investments, in lightweight bottles, bottles made from re-melted glass, recyclable aluminum closures, reusable cardboard boxes and other forms of waste reduction.Proving that “there is no waste”, Bill gathers all the pomace (remnants of grape skins and seeds) from his own and the other three organic producers in Ontario, and now repurposes 10 tonnes a year into BioFlavia, an antioxidant-rich powder that can be added to food and drinks and is now being exported. Southbrook has received an “Elsie” award from Ontario’s Liquor Control Board for its environmental performance.
