Andrew Peller

When Andrew Peller stepped off the ship at Halifax’s Pier 21 in Spring 1927 from Hungary looking for a better life and a better future, he only had five dollars in his pocket but was rich with hope. With his wife Lena and baby son Joe remaining in Hungary until he was settled, Andrew began a long journey from beautiful Nova Scotia to a wind swept frozen Manitoba and then back to Ontario eventually landing in a small German community in Kitchener, Ontario. Canada was on the verge of depression so times were hard, but with his engineering and mechanical experience Andrew began working at a local brewery and soon Lena and Joe were able to join him and they settled into the comfort and familiarity of the local German-Canadian community. But Andrew was restless and wanted to embrace the Canadian culture and the opportunity that the country offered so they headed to Toronto. He quickly found work at another brewery but began to feel the urge to start something on his own. After several years and a few failed attempts, Andrew opened Peller’s Brewery in Hamilton, Ontario, the first new brewery built since prohibition in Canada.

Peller’s Brewery turned out to be a great achievement and drew the attention of successful businessman E.P. Taylor who eventually purchased it at a premium. Like many entrepreneurs of his time, Andrew was never short on ideas and started several businesses - some worked, some didn’t. It wasn’t easy, but he persevered. He had the will and determination to succeed and that was the most important. For some time Andrew had been thinking about another idea – a winery. Bringing together families and friends to enjoy food and wine at the table, just as he had done in Europe, was something he has not really experienced in Canada and something he dearly missed. As he so passionately said, “it’s the simple things in life that bring us the greatest joy.”

But Ontario was not the right place for a winery at this time so at 58 years young, and always the budding entrepreneur, Andrew moved west to B.C. He bought a farm, planted some vineyards and got a license to build and operate a winery just east of Vancouver. From those early beginnings in Port Moody, B.C. in 1961, Andrés Wines was born. And, with the early success of Baby Duck, the company took off and in 1964 added wineries in Calgary, Alberta, and Truro, Nova Scotia. Business in Nova Scotia was very challenging and for the first three years the company lost money but then it began to turn around. Truro became one of Andrés most productive wineries and today is the largest winery in Nova Scotia. Ontario was the market Andrew needed to break into but proved to be quite challenging. Finally in 1970 he purchased a small winery in Winona and Andrés Wines was a true national player.

Building wineries across the country was a huge undertaking so by then, Andrew’s son Joe, a medical doctor, joined the family business to help his father grow the business and he and eventually succeeded his father as President in 1966. Andrew continued to be very involved in the company and in 1989 Joe’s son John E. Peller joined the company as Vice President Sales & Market Planning. Marking three generations of excellence, John took over the helm as CEO of the company in 1995 and ten years later changed the name from Andrés Wines to Andrew Peller Limited to celebrate his grandfather and his timeless vision. Today, Andrew Peller Limited is the largest Canadian-owned winery with more than 1,200 employees and award winning wines from Peller Estates, Trius, Thirty Bench, Sandhill, Copper Moon, Black Cellar, Skinnygrape, Red Rooster and Wayne Gretzky Estates. From its humble beginnings in Port Moody on the west coast to the historic Truro winery on the east coast, Andrew Peller Limited is a national success story. Andrew could never have imagined that the $5.00 in his pocket would turn into a company worth more than $300 million today. In 1994, at age 90 Andrew Peller died. His last wishes were that his ashes be scattered in Halifax harbour as that for him was where it all began, with hope.