SouthEnd Farm Winery & ClearCut Distilling Co.

On Quadra Island, SouthEnd Farm Winery is a true micro operation, run by just a couple of people who handle everything from the vineyard to the tasting room. The wines come from grape hybrids chosen because they grow and ripen well in the island climate, farmed as organically as possible on a family farm whose 2009 opening followed seven years of work. The story began, fittingly, over a bottle of merely okay wine and the conviction the owners could do better, a retirement dream pulled forward by decades.

The distilling side, ClearCut Distilling Co., is unusually integrated: it takes SouthEnd's own wine and distills it into spirits. The standout is Botanically Incorrect Gin, named with a wink because it skips juniper, gin's traditional mainstay, in favour of botanicals grown or foraged right on the farm. There is also a vodka, double-distilled with just a hint of grape character. It is about as farm-to-glass as spirits get.

Visiting means heading to a modest, welcoming tasting room and patio open to guests, with hours that expand in summer and pull back to weekends in the shoulder seasons. The setting is the draw as much as the drinks: a quiet island farm on Quadra, reachable by a short ferry from Campbell River, where the pace slows the moment you arrive. You may also catch the team at the Campbell River Farmers' Market during summer.

For travellers exploring the northern Gulf Islands, this dual winery-distillery offers a rare chance to taste estate wine and the spirits made from it side by side, all from the same small organic farm. Confirm seasonal hours before you go, then settle onto the patio and enjoy.