The booming wine industry in Windsor-Essex has allowed one local vineyard to invest over $1-million.
Cooper's Hawk Vineyards has plans to add 6,000 sq ft of space. Co-owner Tom O'Brien says that will provide an area for an on-site lunch restaurant and expanded space for large events.
O'Brien says without significant growth in the local wine industry, this investment may not have been possible.
"More and more people locally are learning about the fact that we have wineries in the region," says O'Brien. "You can go to the LCBO and pick up some wine there, but when you come to a winery, it's a different experience. You actually feel the essence of what it is to be drinking a glass of wine and looking at the plants 40 ft away that actually grew the grapes that made your wine."
O'Brien plans to have the footings in the ground before winter and construction completed by May.