Somewhere around the second week of November, the emails start. Can you put our company name on a bottle? What do I get the person who has everything? Do you ship? Yes, that person is easy, and yes. This is our holiday gift list, in the order we would actually recommend it, with the dates that matter. Everything for the season is also in one place on our Christmas at Traynor page.
Custom-label wine: order by December 10
This is the one people ask about most, and the one with a deadline. We put your label on our wine: a company logo for client gifts, a family name for the holiday table, a photo of the dog, a wedding date, whatever you like. Red, white and sparkling are available, from $39.95 a bottle.
You have two options for the design. Send us your own artwork, or work with our in-house designer, who will build the label with you. Either way, the labels take real time to print and apply, so for Christmas delivery or pickup, orders need to be in by December 10. After that we will still try, but we will not promise.
Email retail@traynorvineyard.com with what you have in mind and how many bottles, and we will take it from there. For corporate orders of a case or more, that email is also the fastest way to get pricing.
The cozy wines: the WineLab Holiday Series
Every fall our WineLab, the small experimental corner of the winery, puts out a set of wines built for exactly the weather that is coming. This year's lineup is the gift for the person who hosts. They are small batches and available until sold out.
- PSL, a fortified pumpkin spice wine made with real pumpkins from Cheer Farms in Brighton, spiced like a pie, 18 percent, and a little sweet. Over ice, in coffee, or in a martini. Seasonal, and it sells through.
- Spiced Apple, a fortified spiced apple wine. Warm it on the stove and it will perfume the whole house.
- Mulled Wine, a spiced red, ready to warm for cold nights and the first snow.
- Mulled White, our take on the Swedish Glögg, warm and spiced, $19.95 and limited.
Mike wrote the whole story of the series in the PSL post. Together they are the easiest hosting and gifting move of the season: bring one to the party instead of a bottle nobody remembers.
For the cocktail person: vermouth
Our Madonna (dry white) and Haberdasher (sweet red) vermouths are made here from our own wine and botanicals, and they are the gift for the friend who has a bar cart. A bottle of Haberdasher and a bottle of cola is a Kalimotxo, the Spanish patio classic. A bottle of Madonna and a bottle of orange soda is our Lemon Vermouth Spritz. Write the recipe on the card and you have given someone a winter of drinks.
For the natural wine person: a bottle with a story
For the friend who has had a lot of wine and does not need another Cabernet, give them something they have not had. Bang Bang, our rosé pet-nat, made the old way with the bubbles happening in the bottle. Marmalade Pie or 5th Element, our skin-contact whites, for someone curious about orange wine. Ophelia Original, a piquette, light, fizzy, and low in alcohol, for the person who wants to drink less but better. Every one of them is wild fermented, vegan, and made in Hillier. Our Thanksgiving wine guide has the tasting notes if you want to match a bottle to a person.
Give an afternoon instead
Some of the best gifts we sell are not bottles. The Cellarmasters Barrel Tasting ($49.95) is a guided tasting straight from the barrels in the cellar, about an hour, with someone who can explain what wild fermentation means when you are standing beside it. Stemware Sensation ($39.95) is the same wine in different glasses, and it changes minds. For a group, the Slushy Party for Ten is a very good office party. All of them book on the website and make a good envelope.
The wine club
For the person who would rather have wine arrive than go looking for it, a Traynor wine club membership is the gift that keeps showing up all year. Ask us at the bar or by email about what is included and how to give one.
Dates and shipping
Custom-label and Christmas wine orders: by December 10. Everything else ships across Ontario from traynorvineyard.com; to be safe for Christmas, order by December 10. Or come to the winery. We are at 1774 Danforth Road in Hillier, open Friday and Saturday 11 to 6 and Sunday and Monday 11 to 5 through the holidays, the Cellar Tasting Room is heated, the Covered Wall Garden is open through November, and the mulled wine is on. Leashed dogs are welcome inside and out, kids are welcome everywhere, and we will pack your gifts while you have a glass.
Happy holidays from all of us.
Good to know before you visit
Where: Traynor Family Vineyard, 1774 Danforth Road, Hillier, Prince Edward County, Ontario K0K 2J0. Five minutes from North Beach, 10 from Wellington, 15 from Bloomfield, 25 from Sandbanks, 30 from Belleville, about 2.5 hours from Toronto. Free on-site parking.
Hours and booking: Late fall hours: Friday and Saturday 11 am to 6 pm, Sunday and Monday 11 am to 5 pm, closed Tuesday to Thursday. Closed Christmas Day and New Year's Day, and closed in January and February. Current hours are always shown at the top of traynorvineyard.com. Walk-ins welcome for groups of five or fewer; reservations recommended for six or more and required for ten or more. Call 1-877-403-4224 or email retail@traynorvineyard.com.
Food: Street food made fresh daily: gourmet all-beef hot dogs (kimchi dog, pocket dog), adobo pork and pulled chicken tacos, kofta sandwich, red lentil dal, roasted beet salad, street corn nachos, whipped feta, house-baked cookies, plus a kids’ plain hot dog. Four vegan and four vegetarian dishes on the fall menu, and every wine is vegan.
Drinks: $10 wine flights (three pours), $11 wine by the glass, $10 wine slushy, vermouth cocktails, $7 non-alcoholic peach slushy for kids and drivers. Bookable experiences include the Cellarmasters Barrel Tasting ($49.95) and Stemware Sensation ($39.95).
Family-friendly: Kids welcome. Card and board games inside for the whole family, juice slushies, kids’ menu, strollers welcome, all patios wheelchair accessible. Kids combo (slushy, popcorn, hot dog, cookie) at the counter. Free Friday Family Movie Nights run in spring and summer.
Dog-friendly: Leashed, well-behaved dogs are welcome inside and out, with pet beds provided.
What’s on by season: Summer: Friday Family Movie Nights, DJ sets on the Vineyard Patio, Happy Hour Après Beach Sunday to Thursday 4 to 6 pm. Fall: the WineLab Holiday Series (PSL pumpkin spice wine, Spiced Apple, Mulled Wine, Mulled White) launches; Family Movie Nights return in spring and summer 2027. Winter: mulled wines and Caribou, Cellar Tasting Room heated.
The wine: Small-batch natural wine, wild fermented and vegan, family owned since 2008. Estate vines in Hillier farmed without synthetic pesticides since 2018, plus fruit from partner growers in Prince Edward County and Niagara-on-the-Lake. Pet-nat, piquette, skin-contact whites, vermouth, and fortified wines. Ten wines are listed at the LCBO.
