UNIQUE ACCOMMODATIONS, OLD SCHOOL FARMING, & INNOVATIVE CIDER & WINE EXPERIENCE BEAUSOLEIL FARMSTEAD CIDERY & WINERY
with the sense of com- munity that you find in the Annapolis Valley is what got us interested in building something here.” “Jake’s work with Agri - culture Canada brought us back to Nova Scotia in 2012. At the time we had two boys and I was taking some time off until they were school age because a family and work life balance is very important to us. As the boys got older and heading off to school, I was inspired by what was happening around us in the Valley. I had the opportunity to start making some connec- tions in the industry and even started to experi- ment with my own wines, beers and ciders in my home,” said Melanie
by Ryan Myson
Due to building these relationships and her strong scientific background she was offered the position as Head Cider Maker in late 2015 for a local cider company. She quickly found it to be an interesting, exciting, and innovative new field that was opening up across Nova Scotia and she absolutely loved the opportunity to combine her two passions of chemistry and the culinary arts. Melanie says, “The whole industry is about cellar experimentation, with different textures and flavor profiles and finding innovative ways to combine cider and wine making skills and the products themselves.” “The whole industry is about cellar experimentation, with different textures and flavor profiles”
W e had the opportunity to chat with Melanie Eelman, Owner of Beausoleil Farmstead Cidery & Winery, about her and her family’s entrepreneurial journey back to Nova Scotia and how sampling a flight of wines with her husband, Jake, in the Annapolis Valley has changed their lives, while offering vinous ciders as an emerging category in both the cider and wine worlds for Nova Scotians to share with the rest of Canada and beyond. Nova Scotia is home for Melanie and Jake Eelman as they grew up around the Tatamagouche area of the province before heading off to Ontario in pursuit of their careers. Jake Eelman has twenty years experience with the Federal Government with several departments including Agriculture Canada and Infrastructure Canada. Melanie Eelman received her PhD in Chemistry from Dal-
housie University and completed her Postdoc in Ottawa where the two of them spent 10 years before coming back to Nova Scotia. Moving back to Nova Scotia was always one of their goals. “We are proud to call ourselves Nova Scotians and we had always discussed that if we had the opportunity to move back, we would, and that opportunity presented itself in 2012.” Orig- inally the couple moved back to the Annapolis Valley town of Kentville before discovering their current property in Port Williams in 2017 that is now known as Beausoleil Farmstead Cidery & Winery more or less by fate. The Eelmans’ pur- chased the property in June of that same year with a vision and plan to create the destination for those looking to explore the wonders of the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia.
“We are proud to call our- selves Nova Scotians and we had always discussed that if we had the opportunity to move back, we would, and that opportunity presented itself in 2012.” The Eelman’s were excited about what was hap- pening in the Nova Scotian wine industry and the tremendous growth the industry, across the province. Melanie goes on to say, “The growth that we had also seen in the Cider Industry, along
79
78
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online