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.
Celebrate Spring at the 2017 Osoyoos Oyster Festival
Sixth annual festival dishes up delectable oysters, remarkable craft beers, memorable wines, and the joy of winter’s end The sixth annual Osoyoos Oyster Festival returns to the South Okanagan, April 19-23. The festival offers the perfect opportunity to dive into...
Okanagan Rail Trail: Work under way; help fund completion
With your help the Okanagan Rail Trail will soon become reality, transforming a discontinued CN rail line into a 48.5-kilometre trail connecting communities from Coldstream to Kelowna. Local governments, with assistance from the province, acquired the scenic corridor...
Progress 2017: Spotlight on Okanagan Business
Watch for the Progress 2017 magazine coming out this week. Progress 2017 brings you the latest from the following Okanagan businesses. We encourage you to support your communities by shopping local. Back to Earth Bags N All Bannister GM Baptist Housing | Village at...
The Butchart Gardens bans the bottle for World Water Day
Move will eliminate 80,000 single-use plastic water bottles each year from the environment In recognition of World Water Day, The Butchart Gardens has removed the sale of all single-use plastic water bottles as an extension of their existing environmental practices....
RiverBlue film screening marks World Water Day in Kelowna
RiverBlue film screening marks World Water Day in Kelowna The Okanagan Basin Water Board and its Okanagan WaterWise program are celebrating World Water Day, March 22. A special screening of the award-winning film RiverBlue begins at 7 p.m. at Landmark Cinemas –...
Kelowna’s only new highrise over 70% sold
Spring final sell-off features free trip to Vegas Kelowna’s only new concrete highrise available for sale, 1151 Sunset Drive, has sold over 70 per cent of its 109 condominiums in less than four months. “Kelowna is in demand,” says Leonard Kerkhoff, vice-president of...
