Just outside Edmonton, you’ll find the family-run Barr Estate Winery. It’s a place where a love for wine combines with the craft of creating unique beverages. Here, every stage of the winemaking process is done by hand. In this article on edmonton.name, we’ll share the story of the winery and how it became a favourite among local wine enthusiasts.
The Winery’s Story
Barr Estate Winery is a family business, meaning the owners are involved in every step. The winery was founded in 2009 by Rick and Amy Barr. Before opening the winery, they both worked for over 20 years at the University of Alberta, where they conducted cardiac research.
Amy is the granddaughter of the man who started this long story well before 2009. Amy’s family moved to Strathcona many years ago, and her grandfather began growing raspberries here. Amy’s mother managed to turn a few raspberry bushes into the thousands that are used to make wine today.
The farm received considerable support from relatives and friends, who also helped with the plants. The winery grows many different varieties, which make the wine so aromatic. They also have several first-generation fruits that the farm experiments with extensively.
The Unique Wines of Barr Estate Winery
Barr Estate Winery is a “cottage winery,” which means all the fruit for its wine is grown on its own land. Currently, they produce four types of wine, and none are made from grapes: the raspberry wine “The Other Red,” the rhubarb wine “The Barb,” the strawberry wine “The Rhuby,” and the cherry wine “The Jewel.” However, the winery has plans to add new flavours.
In the beginning, Amy and Rick had to spend a lot of time selling their wines at local farmers’ markets. Today, their products are featured in over 40 stores across Alberta.
The Winemaking Process
The winemaking process at the farm is fascinating. It all begins with harvesting the fruit by hand. It takes about an hour to pick 60 pounds of raspberries, while the same amount of cherries takes 2-3 hours. After picking, the juice is extracted from the fruit using a press. This processing takes about a month.
Next, the fermentation process begins. The juice is transferred to tanks with water. Since the juice and water alone would only yield about 4% alcohol, local beet sugar is added to achieve a full 12% alcohol content. This is called “chaptalization.” The final ingredient is yeast. Fermentation takes about 6 weeks—just long enough for the sugar to convert to alcohol.
After fermentation, the wine is still not ready for bottling. It needs another two months for all the yeast to settle to the bottom so it can be removed. Only then can the wine be filtered and bottled. The wine is filtered five times, which also takes some time. This process helps to sterilize the wine, making it possible to avoid adding sulphites. Before bottling, the wine is also lightly sweetened with beet sugar or honey.
All bottles are thoroughly cleaned and sanitized before the wine is added. Rick handles this himself, spending days washing and sanitizing every bottle in his kitchen. He doesn’t use any chemicals—boiling water is all that’s needed.
Once the wine is finally in the bottle, it is corked and covered with a shrink capsule to complete the process.
The bottle design for Barr Estate Winery was created by Vision Creative, an Edmonton-based company. All the bottles share the same design, but each flavour has its own distinct colour. For example, “The Other Red” bottle is typically red, while “The Barb” is silver.
Barr Estate Winery is an example of how a small family business can create something truly unique. It’s a story of dedication, patience, and belief in an idea.