Westcott Vineyards: a Niagara Winery Built From Scratch

Est. 2008 · Jordan, Ontario · Niagara Escarpment

A Niagara Winery
Built from Scratch

From Toronto boardrooms to Niagara's Vinemount Ridge

In 2008, Carolyn Hurst and Grant Westcott sold their house in Toronto, packed up their family, and moved to the Niagara Escarpment with a plan that made sense to almost no one: start a winery from scratch, grow cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and bet everything on a piece of land they believed could produce something extraordinary.

↓   Read our story

Westcott Vineyards winery barn and vineyard in Jordan, Ontario
Westcott Vineyards · Jordan, Ontario
The Timeline
Toronto → Niagara, 2008 → First Vintage, 2012 → Tasting Room Opens, 2014 → Casey Kulczyk Joins, 2018 → Butlers' Grant Acquired, 2018
Grant Westcott and Carolyn Hurst, founders of Westcott Vineyards
Carolyn Hurst & Grant Westcott · Founders

The Beginning

Not Your Typical Winemakers

Carolyn and Grant didn't come from the wine industry. They came from corporate careers, long commutes, and the growing feeling that the life they were building in Toronto wasn't the life they actually wanted. When they discovered the Vinemount Ridge, something clicked. The limestone soils, the cool breezes off the Escarpment, the quiet conviction that this land could grow world-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

So they did what most people only talk about. They sold the house, moved the family to Niagara, and started learning everything from the ground up. For the first few years, they grew grapes for other wineries, studying the land, the climate, and the rhythms of cool-climate viticulture before putting their own name on a bottle.

"In 2008 we sold the house in Toronto, moved the family to Niagara, and our true journey to becoming winemakers began. It was truly a good year."

— Carolyn Hurst

That patience would define everything that followed. Westcott Vineyards was never going to be a vanity project or a retirement hobby. It was going to be a serious winery, built slowly, on the strength of what the land itself could produce.

The Winery

Built from a
200-Year-Old Barn

Reclaimed timber frame · Sourced locally · Opened July 2014

Reclaimed Heritage Timber Estate Winery Tasting Room Vineyard Views Niagara Escarpment

In 2012, Carolyn and Grant produced their first vintage in true garagiste fashion, making wine in their equipment barn while working through permits for the main building. That same year, construction began on the winery itself, built from a reclaimed 200-year-old timber frame barn sourced just a few kilometres away.

By July 2014, the tasting room was open. Set against sweeping views of the Vinemount Ridge, it became what it remains today: a place that feels less like a commercial tasting room and more like being invited into someone's home. The wines are serious. The atmosphere is not.

"As much work as it's been so far, we're really just getting started."

— Grant Westcott
Butlers' Grant Vineyard on the Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara
Butlers' Grant Vineyard · Twenty Mile Bench

The Expansion

Betting the Farm on Butlers' Grant

In 2018, the Westcotts made the biggest decision of the winery's life. They acquired Butlers' Grant Vineyard, a 43-acre site on the Twenty Mile Bench, one of the most respected appellations in Niagara wine country. It was, by any measure, a gamble. They were a small family operation doubling their vineyard holdings overnight.

But the site was extraordinary. The Twenty Mile Bench's limestone-rich soils and protected microclimate opened up varieties that the Home Farm couldn't support: Riesling and Cabernet Franc joined the portfolio alongside the estate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that had built Westcott's reputation.

That same year, winemaker Casey Kulczyk joined full-time, bringing a decade of international experience from Rhys Vineyards in California, Jackson-Triggs, and Le Clos Jordanne. The timing wasn't coincidental. The winery had reached the point where the ambition of the vineyards demanded a winemaker who could match it.

Westcott Vineyards tasting room in restored heritage barn
The Tasting Room · Westcott Vineyards

The Experience

A Winery That Feels Like Home

The tasting room sits inside the restored timber frame barn, with vineyard views stretching out in every direction. It's a space designed for lingering, not rushing. Pinot Noir by the fire in winter. Chardonnay on the patio in summer. Library wines for the curious. Elevated food-and-wine events for those who want to go deeper.

What visitors notice first is the warmth. Westcott takes its wine seriously, but the experience is deliberately unpretentious. There are no lectures, no intimidation, no velvet ropes. Just good wine, honest conversation, and the feeling that you've wandered into something real.

Every grape that goes into a Westcott bottle is hand-harvested from estate vineyards. Every wine is thoughtfully aged. The production is small by design: this is a winery built on the belief that fewer, better bottles are worth more than volume will ever be.

What We Believe

Three Principles That Guide Everything

01
The Land Comes First

Two vineyard sites on the Niagara Escarpment, each with its own soil, slope, and microclimate. We farm them carefully and let the wine reflect where it comes from. Every decision starts in the vineyard, not the cellar.

02
Small is the Point

We produce small lots because that's the only way to give each wine the attention it deserves. Hand-harvested fruit, wild fermentation, minimal intervention. We'd rather make less wine and make it well.

03
Serious Wine, Not Serious People

We care deeply about what's in the bottle. We care much less about pretension. Wine is meant to be enjoyed with good food and good company. That's the experience we've built, and it's the one we want you to have.

The People

The Westcott Team

Westcott is a family operation in the truest sense. The people who built it are the people who run it, and every addition to the team has been made with the same care that goes into the wines.

Carolyn Hurst
Co-Founder

The driving force behind Westcott from the beginning. Carolyn traded a corporate career in Toronto for the Niagara Escarpment and hasn't looked back.

Grant Westcott
Co-Founder

Grant brought the same determination that built a career in business to building a winery from nothing. His fingerprints are on every part of the operation.

Casey Kulczyk
Head Winemaker

Trained at Rhys Vineyards in California and Le Clos Jordanne in Niagara. Casey joined Westcott in 2018 and has since elevated every wine in the portfolio.

Garett Westcott
Vineyard Manager

The next generation. Garett manages both the Home Farm and Butlers' Grant vineyards, carrying forward the family's commitment to careful, site-specific farming.

Jessica Ramage
VP of Sales and Retail

Jessica joined in 2017 and has been instrumental in building Westcott's presence across Ontario and beyond.

Marilyn Kremec
Assistant Winemaker

A Brock University oenology graduate working alongside Casey in the cellar. One of the most promising young winemakers in Niagara.

In the Vineyard

Growing with Intention

From the beginning, Carolyn and Grant understood that great wine starts with how the vineyard is farmed. Renowned consultant Alain Sutre came on board to help refine their viticultural practices, with a focus on sustainability and terroir expression. The result is vineyard management that works with the land rather than against it: careful canopy management, attention to soil health, and farming decisions driven by what each site needs rather than what a formula prescribes.

Westcott Vineyards · Jordan, Ontario

Come See What We've Built

From a sold house in Toronto to two vineyard sites on the Niagara Escarpment, every bottle we make carries the full weight of a family's conviction that this land produces something worth sharing.

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