Looking for a really good Mead take a look at these meaderies!
Mead, often referred to as honey wine, is an alcoholic drink made by the fermentation of honey.
Mead is, in all likelihood, the oldest alcoholic beverage known to mankind. Before agricultural techniques were developed, humans were traditionally hunters and gatherers. After gathering honey from the hive, the natural yeast and high moisture content would
cause the honey to ferment, producing mead. It is no wonder
mead is often referred to as ‘the nectar of the gods', as its appearance seemed miraculous.
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Millefleurs Meadery
17461 Loyalist Parkway
Wellington, Ontario
Millefleurs is a family-run lavender and honey farm located in Prince Edward County on the shores of majestic Lake Ontario. The meadery opened in 2019. Sylvain Segard is the principle owner, beekeeper and winemaker. Sylvain's partner is Wilma Vreeswijk. Wilma is a botanist, master gardener, and apprentice-potter.
They built their farm house and outbuildings and equipped them as a honey house, a Lavender kiln, a meadery, and a farm boutique. And, in parallel, they initiated a three-year planting program to establish their Lavender fields, to plant a fruit grove and an orchard, and to grow their honeybee colonies into several apiaries located throughout the wine region of Prince Edward County. True to the spirit of Millefleurs, they pursue their dream of covering the entire property with thousands of flowers — clearly, a lifelong project.
Millefleurs™ is French for a thousand flowers. It is a reflection of one owner’s cultural heritage and the other’s passion for growing flowers. Millefleurs is also a term describing the Renaissance quilting technique of embedding tiny flowers in the backdrop of tapestries. Thus, the owners are developing Millefleurs into a permaculture where they grow organic lavender, nurse multiple varieties of tree fruits and berries, and raise honeybees. After less than three years, the resulting family estate is emerging into what has been likened as “a little slice of Provence” with its splendid purple fields, a big blue sky, and the majesty of Lake Ontario in the background.
In addition to the mead making, Millefleurs is also a Lavender farm and apiary
The winemaker is Sylvain Segard
Philosophy: Mead is the oldest alcoholic beverage known on earth. Yet, it remains poorly understood and, sadly, all too often poorly executed. Our mission is to tantalize people’s palate by presenting them with a modern take on the classic libation and allowing them to discover what mead should be — a distinctive and refined products that has its rightful place at everyone's table. Indeed, modern mead making has evolved much beyond the cliché of the sweet wines of medieval courts or of the potent beer-like grog of Vikings. We believe the time for the new mead as arrived.
Hydromellerie du Vieux Moulin
141, route de la mer
Sainte-Flavie, g0j 2l0
Québec
The Mead of the Old Mill is a family business born in the late 70s, resulting from the phenomenon of the return to the land of the "peace and love" era. With very modest beginnings of 3 hives, the company has never stopped growing. In 1995, it acquired an old flour mill. This is when the adventure of mead (honey wine) begins.
Normand Tremblay was teaching at the Cégep de Rimouski at the time he decided to return to his grandfathers land .
He hesitated between raising sheep and producing honey. His choice finally fell on beekeeping (bee breeding) and it is in Saint-Anaclet that he began his adventure.
In the beginning, the honey harvested by Normand was sold in grocery stores. To diversify his business and involve his two sons, Normand started manufacturing mead.
The Old Mill is an old flour mill built in 1830. In operation for a hundred years, it was then converted into a summer camp and then a private chalet before being bought by our company. It is still possible for visitors to see the remains of the dam at the back of the mill and admire the small falls of the stream.
At the Vieux Moulin you can safely observe a glass hive and admire the bees in full activity. Interpretive panels and a guide will also be able to inform you and answer any questions you may have about the fascinating world of bees.
They gathered 8 medals at the All Canadians.