Venturi-Schulze Vineyards

Venturi-Schulze Vineyards is a small, family-run farmstead winery on Vineyard Road in Cobble Hill, in the Cowichan Valley of southern Vancouver Island, where a mild maritime climate has made the island's most established wine region. Established in 1987 by Giordano and Marilyn Venturi together with Marilyn's daughter Michelle Schulze, the estate has been worked by the same family for more than three decades and remains resolutely artisanal in scale and approach. The winery grows, produces and ages pure and natural one-hundred-percent estate-grown wines, an uncompromising philosophy that sets it apart from producers who bring in fruit from elsewhere. What also makes Venturi-Schulze unusual is what it makes alongside wine: ancient-method balsamic vinegar, a craft rooted in Giordano's upbringing in Spilamberto near Modena, in the Emilia region of northern Italy that is the historic centre of traditional balsamic production. The result is a tasting experience genuinely unlike any other on the island, where estate wines share the table with aged balsamic vinegar and Michelle's balsamic-flavoured jams made from rhubarb, peaches and berries grown on the property. The wine shop itself reflects the family's hands-on character, finished with artisan-made local arbutus, maple and fir counters, cabinets and floors. Because this is a genuinely small operation, visits are best arranged in advance, and travellers are encouraged to call or text ahead to confirm a time before making the drive out. The surrounding Cowichan Valley rewards a full day of touring, with farm stands, cideries, cheesemakers and seaside villages within easy reach of both Victoria and Nanaimo. For visitors curious about what truly estate-grown island wine and old-world Italian balsamic craftsmanship taste like side by side, Venturi-Schulze offers one of Vancouver Island's most personal and distinctive cellar-door experiences. Check current hours before planning a visit.