About the Owners
Nestled in the heart of the Gaspereau Valley, Nova Scotia, lies the farm winery Benjamin Bridge. Started in 1999 as a labour of love by Nova Scotian entrepreneurs Gerry McConnell and the late Dara Gordon; for over two decades, Benjamin Bridge has become a trailblazer of wine styles, continuously redefining the limits of Nova Scotia and Canadian winemaking.
Today Benjamin Bridge strives to be a driving force behind Nova Scotia's vibrant wine destination and its emerging global reputation as a top cool climate wine region. Gerry and Dara’s twin daughters Ashley & Devon McConnell-Gordon now lead the small family-like team. The whole team works passionately every day to ensure each bottle of wine embodies its ethos for inclusive living, vibrant rural communities, ecological resilience and quality.
What Makes Them Unique
Benjamin Bridge is not strictly a family business, nor a farm, winery, bar, manufacturer, distributor, marketer, or retail shop. They are greater than the sum of these parts, shaped and influenced by every team member who brings their personal values through the front door and into the workplace, be it environmental conservation, social justice, community connection, local agriculture, food security, or economic development. This has created the purpose-driven rural collective of who they are today.
ALLYSHIP WITH GLOOSCAP FIRST NATION
Since time immemorial, Mi'kmaq have lived in balance within the unique ecosystem where Benjamin Bridge vineyards are now planted in the Gaspereau Valley. As businesses of all sizes face growing consumer demands for ethical and transparent social practices, Benjamin Bridge considers their allyship with Glooscap a critical form of active economic reconciliation and fundamental to their future. Several years ago, they began collaborating on an event called Beyond Terroir. This highly memorable and unique annual experience is set on the vineyard lands to highlight Indigenous voices and culture in present-day dialogue on food and wine. In the summer of 2022, they signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen their ties with each other, which led to the launch of an extraordinary collaboration wine.
About their Products
Benjamin Bridge’s collection of handcrafted fine wines, including their perennial sell-out Nova 7, together with their sparkling wine program, have helped raise the profile of Nova Scotia terroir and its winemaking in Canada and internationally.
Did you know Nova 7 is a blend of 7 grape varieties, predominantly Muscat, grown along the Bay of Fundy, which provides its hallmark floral aromatics and freshness. Nova 7 is a low-intervention wine crafted with no added sulphites or sugars and no fermentation aids. Nova 7 is the most-sold 750ml wine in the province and the only local wine to place #1 in the Canadian market.
Along with the popular Nova 7 Benjamin Bridge has a variety of other products including their NV Brut non vintage sparkling wine, which includes a blending on components from their inaugural 2002 vintage to create their house style. Making this wine Canada’s favourite traditional method sparkling and is now available coast to coast.
After creating Canada’s first canned Piquette the head wine maker of Benjamin Bridge Jean-Benoit Deslauriers wanted to explore the different grape skin varietals and natural infusions with the common goal of providing optimal refreshment like the Piquette before it the Pink Piquette features a small amount of salt from the Bay Fundy but with a unique profile that includes organic rosehip and elderflower as well as the NY Muscat to provide unmistakable colour and floral fragrance.