Lakeview Wine Co.

In 1986, The Gurinskas Vineyard was created from a 13 acre fruit farm on the Beamsville Bench as a retirement project by medal-winning amateur winemaker Eddy Gurinskas and his wife Lorraine. Back then they planted hybrid varieties like Baco Noir and Vidal. Three years later they planted vinifera varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot and Pinot Gris. In 1991, they opened Lakeview Cellars Estate Winery Limited as one of Niagara’s first cottage wineries producing a whopping 2,300 cases of wine. In 1996 they brought in Larry Hipple and Stu Morgan as equal partners and changed the vineyard name to match the winery name. Eddy established a name for Lakeview Cellars early in the Niagara wine industry, by crafting big, bold reds and aromatic whites. Cabernet Sauvignon has been the focus of Lakeview Cellars. Eddy has been quoted as saying that “it is my favourite grape variety. I enjoy a wine with body and tannins that need to age 4 or 5 years.”

In 2001, the partnership sold a majority interest to Diamond Estates and in 2003 Eddy retired as winemaker with Tom Green, who apprenticed under Eddy, taking over the winemaking job. In the same year, 2003, Eddy was awarded what was then The Ontario Wine Society’s Winemaker of the Year Award in recognition of his consistent yet innovative ability to produce quality wines from a broad spectrum of Ontario-grown grapes. In 2008 Diamond Estates built a state of the art winery facility in NOTL and consolidates all the production to the new facility. Under the guidance of Tom Green (now VP of Operations for Diamond) the wine making team continues the legacy of Eddy by crafting premium red in the same style that Eddy so loves. The original Lakeview estate was sold in 2009 to Tawse Winery.