Robert Bell's

Wines of Canada

Since 1992

Magnetic Hill Winery

860 Front Mountain Rd, Moncton,

How to turn the efforts of necessity into a growing and successful business. Magnetic Hill Winery is situated in a lovely old homestead originally built in the 1870s, and is designated as a Heritage property. The winery opened in 2005 owned and operated by Jeff and Janet Everett. After they both graduating from Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture (then the Nova Scotia Agricultural College). Like many families the Everetts owned a farm and operated Utopia U-Pick, the largest strawberry and raspberry u-pick in New Brunswick. After 10 years, the u-pick’s four-week income became too difficult to support their growing family of four. Also, like other farmers, they were frustrated by their constant battle with what Jeff calls the “Four Too’s”: too hot, too cold, too wet, and too dry.

In 1996-97 the provincial government opened the doors to farm-based/cottage wineries. The Everetts decided to use the produce from their popular berry farm to develop a winery of their own. An 1867 estate beside the Magnetic Hill Illusion became available in the early 2000s. To the Everetts, the combination of history, the spectacular view of Moncton, and its location next to the area’s premier tourist attraction made it an irresistible part of their plan.

1867 Estate purchased by the Everetts

The winery retail opened in 2005, selling only three wines, and has been introducing new styles every year since. 2008 marked a 200% increase in sales over the previous year. The winery even received the 2008 Greater Moncton Excellence Award for Top Emerging Business and the 2008 Best of Show Wines at the NB Savour Food and Wine Show.

The restoration of the house continued room by room, maintaining the original woodwork details, and in 2010 the Everetts opened their Bed & Breakfast, now rated as the #1 stay in Moncton area. But it wasn’t just the house they worked on! Grape vines and rhubarb were planted, and a beautiful pond and landscaping were created to match their vision of being a top tourist destination.

In 2015 their son Zach joined the business along with his partner Barbara.

Although Magnetic Hill Winery offers a few traditional grape wines, 70 per cent of their sales are fruit wines. In order to keep production running smoothly, Jeff and Janet strive to keep one years’ worth of frozen fruit onsite. What they don’t grow themselves is purchased from local farmers. In fact, last year, Magnetic Hill Winery spent over $300,000 on local fruit.

The Everetts are currently constructing a new state-of-the-art winery scheduled to open in 2021. This building incorporates New Brunswick heritage with modernity by using massive barn beams and even a covered bridge as part of the retail decor. This is completely funded by sales, and all thanks go to their faithful wine lovers for helping to “Raise the Barn”.

For Jeff and Janet, Magnetic Hill Winery is their life. They pour their heart and soul into their operation and pride themselves on doing most of the work themselves, with the help of their small staff. They’ve done all of the building restorations, landscaping, and tending to crops. They bottle the wine by hand, four times each year, using a mobile corker and a small crew of six. Their hard work extends well beyond the typical manual labour of a farm as well. The pair conducts research on traffic passing the winery to better understand which marketing tactics would work best. They do their own branding and marketing for the winery. There is even a story behind every wine name at Magnetic Hill Winery and the label of their red wine, Benchmark, features a hand-sketch done by Jeff.*

Magnetic Hill Winery NB 2020 Osceola $18.99 won a medal at the all Canadian Championships 2021 to go along with other numerous awards.

* From Dalhousie University

New Brunswick Wineries