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.
Developing Communities
A showcase of new and ongoing developments that maximize the Okanagan lifestyle ... Bridges at Glenview Pond | Dilworth Homes | Ponderosa | Wilden | Village at Kettle Valley | Urban Development Institute – Okanagan | The Garage Sale | Bridges at Glenview Pond People...
Libraries Embrace the Digital Revolution
Full steam ahead, local libraries leap on board, refashioning themselves in the image of the digital age. But, true to their public service mandate, their core values remain the same. ... You shouldn’t spill red wine on them. You can’t pass them to a friend when...
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Harmony Acura is bubbling with excitement over the move to its new location on Kelowna’s Enterprise Way auto strip. So many local businesses have contributed to the construction of this stunning showroom and the Harmony Acura team would particularly like to acknowledge …
Richard Kamphuys – Ancient Hills Winery
A hill overlooking Kelowna International Airport may seem an unusual site for an estate winery, but for Dutch native Richard Kamphuys and his wife Jitske, it’s a perfectly sensible spot to grow quality grapes and make fine wine. When the couple first immigrated to Canada in 1992…
Think About It
“I think, therefore I am.” Is this statement false or true? Last year I wrote about an author who claimed to know the happiest region or city in which to live. I wondered out loud if the Okanagan might be it, or if it could ever be that place? I concluded it could—but only if we corrected a few things.
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