Retirement is not an option for Donald Triggs, a key player in the blossoming of Canada’s modern wine industry and co-owner of soon-to-be launched Culmina Family Estate Winery.
A native of rural Manitoba, representing the sixth generation on the family farm, Don left the nest to complete a degree in agriculture from the University of Manitoba and an MBA at Western. He started his career in Ontario doing sales and marketing with Colgate Palmolive. In 1972 he moved to John Labatt’s wine division where his experience ranged from fixing troubled sectors of winery operations to running large wine producers in Canada and abroad.
In the hope of staying in Canada with his family, Don joined Fisions PLC based in Vancouver, taking their troubled North American horticultural division from money loser to industry leader. With the 1989 North American Free Trade Agreement around the corner, Don risked everything. He joined forces with Alan Jackson and former Labatt colleagues who pooled their life savings to buy the brewer’s wine division.
Renamed Vincor International with Don as CEO, it grew to become the biggest wine enterprise in Canada and seventh largest in the world. When Constellation Brands US acquired Vincor in 2006, Don resigned and set out to build Culmina with wife Elaine as partner and daughter Sara as sales and marketing manager.
Don has lured Bordeaux-trained Pascal Madevon (formerly winemaker at Osoyoos Larose) to the promising scenario at Culmina.
Read more of the original stories celebrated in our 30th-anniversary issue.
Best of the Okanagan 2014
Some unique celebrations were under way in North Okanagan back yards this past summer as local musician Andrew Allen was in town and doing it up Okanagan-style. Performing live at private parties, his Okanagan stops were part of a BC-Alberta tour. “Stage performances...
Culinary scholarship is gravy for determined cooking student
Okanagan College culinary arts student Dayna Duckworth-Dolan was more than a little surprised this month when she learned that she had won one of the three $1,500 B.C. Hospitality Foundation Scholarships selected by the Chefs’ Table Society of British Columbia and...
Top students prepare for the largest business competition in Western Canada
Fifty of the best business students the University of British Columbia Okanagan prepare for the largest business competition in Western Canada. Students boosted their business education with help from local companies last month when JDC West at UBCO hosted its third...
Silver Star Mountain Resort Opens for Season
Winter arrived just in time as Silver Star Mountain Resort opens for season. With over 43 cm falling within the last few days and a current alpine base of 78 cm, the resort, located 22 km northeast of Vernon, B.C. and just an hour's drive from Kelowna International...
Winter wine events in the Okanagan
Spend a weekend discovering BCWine country as the Okanagan hosts a week of winter wine events Starting November 29, find a great selection of open houses, events, light ups, tastings, gift ideas and more at the cellar doors of the wineries from five regional winery...
Budding authors encouraged to enter short story contest
Cash prizes available in the 17th annual Okanagan Short Fiction Contest Fiction writers are being encouraged to put their creative thinking caps on and get busy. Entries are now being accepted for the Okanagan Short Fiction Contest. The annual contest has been running...
