Robert Bell's

Wines of Canada

Since 1992

Featured Winemaker

Allison Christ

Colio Estate Wines received the first winery license granted in Southwest Ontario following prohibition. Situated in the Lake Erie North Shore region near Harrow, Ontario, their dream began in 1980.

Today the winery is known around the world, having received over 200 awards of achievement. They produce over 400,000 cases of wine. The late winemaker, Carlo Negri, was a leader in planting the vinifera vines, having confidence in the soil and microclimate of the Lake Erie North Shore. In 2005, Carlo was presented with the “Winemaker of the Year” award at the Tony Aspler Wine Award.

The winemaker is Allison Christ. Allison gained her experience working at small batch wineries and moving up to the larger scaled vineyards before joining the award-winning team at Colio.
She fostered her skills in winemaking with Honours BSc in Chemistry and Mathematics from the University of Windsor.

“I’ve always had a love for wine; it was always a part of our family dinners growing up. I was looking for an interesting career that could utilize my chemistry degree when I stumbled across the wine industry. It ended up being an entirely natural fit and the perfect career path for me.”

With production exceeding 580,000 cases of wine in 2017, Colio is one of Ontario’s largest wineries, making wine with familiar labels such as Bricklayer’s, Lake and River, Girls’ Night Out, Lily Sparkling, Prism Icewine, and the Colio International Series.

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