Cold Garden Beverage Company launches wine line in Inglewood taproom

Cold Garden Beverage Company, the Inglewood craft brewery known for its beloved beer lineup, is now making wine — a natural progression for co-founder Blake Belding, who discovered early on that his home-brewed wine often outshone his experimental beers.

"I remember some of the beers I made when I first began brewing in my apartment were absolutely horrendous, and I made a batch of wine, and it was quite good," Belding said. "I remember a lot of my friends would come over, and they wouldn't drink my beer, but they would drink the wine."

In 2020, Belding acquired 1,000 litres of juice and produced the first batch of wines, which Cold Garden quietly sold in the Inglewood taproom. This year, the brewery was ready for a full public launch. The official unveiling happened at a Valentine's Day "wine rave" at the brewery, where Cold Garden debuted two wines: a fruity riesling and an oaky chardonnay, made with grapes sourced from vineyards across Canada. At the same event, the brewery launched a line of canned sparkling wine cocktails — a French 75, mimosa, and kir royale — using house-made wines.

Through his own wine tastings and collaboration with his wife Katie Eyre, Belding learned that wine shares the complexity and diversity of craft beer. "I'm trying to turn craft beer people into wine people, because they have that mentality," he said. The move reflects a broader philosophy: once someone discovers they love the craft and thought behind what they're drinking, the category becomes secondary.

The wine is available at Cold Garden's Inglewood taproom.