Photo by Graham Davies, The Bald Photographer

Carrie Taylor talks to Jan Davies

I used to work in the fashion industry, buying trips to Europe and Asia and all that stuff. We moved to the County 10 years ago with three small children, the youngest was only six months old, and I thought I was ready to be a stay-at-home mum. Was it a culture shock? Are you kidding? I was such a city person. Without my job, I went a bit nuts doing Martha Stewart-type stuff. I made about 100 little paper maché pumpkins our first Halloween here. I’m much more relaxed now!

I have always needed a creative outlet, though, and when our youngest was still very young (and I was still in my Martha phase) I cultivated a big flower garden at home to make and sell flower arrangements.

Now I’m marketing manager at Black Prince Winery. I refer to the winery as the unassuming bungalow with award-winning wines, and when I’m sitting out on the terrace meeting with clients or sampling wines, I can’t believe how lucky I am.

I have changed in ten years, and so has Picton. There are more restaurants and cafés now, lots of new stores and so much happening all over the County.
And the kids? In summer the older ones go out in the morning and I often won’t see them again until supper. I know where they are, and if I don’t, the neighbours do. It’s like it was in the old days.

It’s funny how different things are when you get to know them better. The County has been like that for me, and Black Prince Winery is like that for first-time visitors. They pull up to what looks like a regular house, except for the wine barrels on the lawn, then they come inside and you can see the surprise on their faces. The tasting room does look impressive, if I say so myself. At Black Prince we focus very much on the wine, but we have wine-related merchandise as well, and I enjoy marketing our great products.
Visitors are even more surprised when they step out onto the terrace and see the vineyards stretching off into the distance.

Working with Black Prince Winery gets me involved in the community, too. We host art shows here and have live music sometimes, and we’re sponsors of TASTE! too. That’s always exciting, and what a success story! Talk about growing from small beginnings.

Our newest promotion is King Rail Chardonnay, in partnership with the Prince Edward Stewardship Council to raise awareness of the king rail (it’s a bird) and other at-risk species. Gudrun Gallo is a local artist and she painted the beautiful picture for the label. Black Prince Winery is donating a portion of each sale to the stewardship council, and there¹s a draw to win Gudrun’s original painting. We won’t make the draw until every bottle is sold. That’s marketing! But we’ve already sold 20 cases, so it shouldn¹t be too long, now.

Tags: Black Prince Winery, TASTE! a celebration of regional cuisine, Wine Route of Prince Edward County