In 1999, Denis Perrault, a local dairy farmer started a grape growing operation on the family farm in Navan, Ontario. He originally planted 1 acre consisting of 1,000 vines of approximately 10 varieties of hybrids in consultation with a vine expert from the University of Guelph. In the spring of 2005, an additional 5 acres (5,000 vines) were planted which will provide the Domaine Perrault with a p
roduction capacity of more than 11,000 bottles. From that day, the dream of a vineyard in the city of Ottawa was realized! Domaine Perrault was incorporated in 2005 and is owned and operated by Denis, his wife Lyse and their two daughters Anne and Dominique. In early 2006, Domaine Perrault applied for its license as a manufacturer and winemaker along with a license to operate a wine retail store on the premises of the Navan vineyard. The principal winemaker, Marcel Sarrazin, took his retirement in September of 2008 and has since been replaced by Bernard Martineau, an Ottawa-renowned oenologist with 40 years of experience. In 2007, Sylvie Goulet joined our team. She was in charge of the wine store and our representative for hotels and restaurants in Ottawa. Sylvie moved with her family to British-Columbia in June 2010. We were lucky to hire Julie Ricard to replace her. Julie is a graduate of the Algonquin College sommelier course and her responsibilities are the wine store, attending wine shows and serving wine at different functions around Ottawa and is our liaison with hotels and restaurants.
