The Beaufort Vineyard & Estate Winery is family-owned and is the first winery to be established in the Comox Valley!

Owners’ Backgrounds

The Company’s founders and owners are Susan and Jeff Vandermolen, who have degrees in Chemical Engineering and Business respectively. Susan and Jeff have over 40+ combined years of business experience, including multiple business start-ups, however this is their first self-capitalized venture.

Susan, born in Chemainus, Vancouver Island, and Jeff, originally from Burlington, Ontario, have long-dreamed of establishing, owning, and operating a vineyard and winery on the West Coast. Susan and Jeff share a passion for travel, food, and wine, which they have sampled in many of the 60+ countries they have travelled to around the world. After several decades as “corporate nomads”, the Vandermolens left the corporate world behind and officially moved to the Comox Valley in Spring 2005 to establish a home-base from which to implement their work-lifestyle philosophy: work to live -- not the other way around! Susan and Jeff have never been shy of physical activity nor can they be described as risk-averse, as they’ve left high profile jobs and careers on several occasions: to travel the world extensively; to sail, short-handed, their sailboat "Panacea" across the Atlantic Ocean and, most recently; to start the Beaufort Vineyard & Estate Winery.

Susan is the designated Winemaker (and Vineyard Slave) and Jeff the Vineyard Manager (and Winery Slave) – in a small company no one gets to be strictly head office!

Have they ever done this kind of business before?

No, however we have over 25 years of winemaking experience which has been a great foundation on the winemaking side. Taking that winemaking experience and translating it to a commercial scale business has been facilitated by the expert advice of a winemaking consultant (Todd Moore, Kelowna, BC – see the Winery Team for more information), and taking a course in Winemaking through Malsapina College.

On the viticulture side, both Susan and Jeff’s roots lay in agriculture, as both sets of parents grew up on farms and both families have always had a love of growing. Jeff took the “Coastal Climate Viticulture” course through Okanagan College, to prepare for setting up the vineyard and hired consulting expertise in grape growing to get them on the right track (John Brickett, Saanichton, BC and Gary Strachan, Summerland, BC ). They have since hired two expert horticulturists (John and Leslie Cox) from Growing Concern of Black Creek, BC, and a third to be hired in 2009, to assist with the ongoing development and management of the vineyard. See the Vineyard Team page for more information on the whole team.

Why did they choose the Comox Valley?

We chose the Comox Valley for its undeveloped market potential in agri-business and tourism.
We believe that the Comox Valley will experience growth as has been experienced in other regions on Vancouver Island and neighbouring islands (collectively referred to by winegrowers as the “Wine Islands”). The Valley has all the key ingredients for operating a successful vineyard and winery such as:
- suitable, but challenging, growing climate and soils
- complementary agri-businesses, such as award winning cheeses, other fine local food products, and some of the best restaurants in British Columbia!
- extraordinary natural beauty, plus a vibrant arts and entertainment community, attracting an increasing number of visitors to the region
- enthusiastic support for agri-business and tourism from local agricultural, government, community, and business organizations.

What has happened at the beaufort Vineyard & Estate Winery since 2006?

· Property search – looked at over 100 properties until they found the ideal site: slope, aspect, meso-climate, aesthetic appeal, proximity to market
· Planted 500 fir trees -- for a future Christmas tree event
· Purchased all vineyard related farming equipment (tractor, ATV, trailers)
· Converted 8 acres from cattle pasture to vineyard – fence removal, minimal tree clearing, land preparations (grading, deep ripping, spading, added amendments), improved site drainage, designed vineyard layout, trellises, drip irrigation, fencing, selected and sourced grape varietals, planted 7500 vines, drilled water well
· Renovated home and grounds to accommodate grape reception, winery production and finished wine storage (barrels and bottles)
· Specified and purchased wine making equipment for initial 1300 case production (crusher/de-stemmer, press, tanks, pumps, filters, bottle filler, vacuum corker)
· Completed all Provincial and Federal licensing, registration and reporting requirements
· Constructed and stocked a wine shop, tasting room, picnic and tour areas including a decorative drought-tolerant garden and wheel chair accessibility
· Sourced, processed, fermented, & aged 16.5 tons of grapes and 2.5 tons of black currants/blackberries
· Finished, filtered, bottled, and labelled 1300 cases of wine (see the Wine Shop for what wines are available for purchase)
· Commenced marketing initiatives
· Opened to the public May 30, 2008 (less than 2 years from taking possession of the land)

Jeff and Susan in the beaufort barrel room.