Our Winemaker

Phillip grew up in Campbellville, ON, an agricultural community nestled in the Niagara Escarpment and surrounded by conservation areas. Growing up, his father worked in the restaurant industry with a focus on wine and food pairings. It was customary to have meals accompanied by quality wines, that Phillip would occasionally be given an opportunity to smell (and sometimes taste).  His father’s passion for wine and extensive cellar nurtured Phillip’s curiosity, and that curiosity grew to a strong desire to understand more about the world of wine.

Before the age of 19, Phillip joined Niagara College’s Winery and Viticulture Technician program. In 2010, he was introduced to the Arterra family (previously known as Vincor) when his work/study program placed him at Inniskillin Estate as a cellar hand. The following Summer, Phillip worked in Prince Edward County at Stanners Vineyard, a small organic winery, where the Winemaker and owner mentored him through his methods and practices in organic, minimal intervention winemaking.

In 2015, Phillip made the leap from a small to large-scale winery when he moved to New Zealand and worked at Drylands winery in Rapaura, a subregion of Marlborough. Here, Phillip managed a team in the cellar through an intensive harvest, seeing roughly 2,400 tonnes of fruit a day.

His passion and hard work have led him to his most recent appointments as Estate Winemaker for Jackson-Triggs Niagara Estate Winery and Kew Vineyards.

In Niagara, Phillip has fallen in love with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. These multifaceted varietals make crisp and vibrant traditional method sparkling wines, as well deeply complex and nuanced table wines that are a beautiful expression of Niagara’s terroir. “I also must shout out Riesling,” said Phillip. “Here in Niagara, this grape always carries mouth-watering acidity which makes it such a refreshing wine to enjoy, dry or sweet.”

Outside of work and wine, Phillip is a lover of the great outdoors and enjoys back woods camping and hiking with his dog. He loves to cook and is working on his green thumb with a small veggie patch in his backyard. Phillip is also a self-proclaimed nerd, and has found a community of like-minded individuals in the wine industry who enjoy getting together for board games and D&D (that’s Dungeons and Dragons) with a glass of wine or two.