Lake Country wineries gear up for busy season

Wineries in Lake Country are gearing up for a busy tourist season amidst the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.

Gray Monk Estate Winery says this spring they will be featuring new experiences, seated tastings and unrestricted dining.

"We have introduced some new things. In terms of our tasting room, our capacity is back up to what it was pre-COVID. We still do have dividers between tasting groups, and then we do also have our estate room available for seated tastings and this can be booked in advance," said estate manager Alexa Macalister.

Macalister says another new experience, on Sundays, sees the winery offer a 45-minute yoga class followed by brunch.

Gray Monk says staffing shortages have been one of the biggest concerns as they gear up for tourist season.

"We are still hiring for the season. We have had some really great applicants, but we still do have opportunities available here. We are hoping to hire I would say another ten to 12 staff here at the estate across the retail and culinary teams," Macalister.

Across the street at Ex Nihilo Vineyards, owner Decoa Harder says pivoting their business over the last two years has helped them run smoothly.

"For sure online became more and more prevalent as a part of our business. We also have a super loyal wine club following and membership and they continue to keep us busy."

"Historically if you went wine touring, people's conception of wine touring is to enter a winery and do a tasting standing at a bar. So when the pandemic started we had to figure out how to do it in a safe environment so that meant sitting guests down and allowing them to space out."

"Really our whole philosophy is about offering guests a very high-quality experience and with that we have limited them the number of guests we can accommodate hourly," Harder said.

Ex Nihilo says it will remain important for guests to book ahead this spring and summer.