More peaceful existence: New honey wine business opens in P.E.I.

“It was a milestone of where did you start, where are you going to and where are you now. It was a great feeling,” he said.
Lipnicki and with his wife Laura are preparing for today’s official grand opening of the Island Honey Wine Company on their organic farm in Wheatley River. Scheduled to attend the ceremony are local business owners and Premier Wade MacLauchlan. The event is not open to the general public.
The couple has come a long way from a career change in real estate in Waterloo, Ont., to life on the farm on P.E.I.
“Neither of us are afraid to try anything new,” said Charles.
“Everything was going very well in Ontario, but it was just getting too busy. So, we wanted to make a change, had to make a change.”
So far, the business has produced 4,500 litres of mead.
“Mead seems like the best fit for our farm because the fermentable sugar comes from, primarily, honey,” said Charles. “So, we have honey to ferment. And then, we can combine the other things on the farm, like our haskap (and) our lavender, and we can blend it with the honey and come up with very interesting flavours of this old beverage.”
Four types of mead are going to be available at the business or in P.E.I. liquor stores – Wildflower Honey, Haskap, Lavender and Nectar Sweet. A bottle is expected to retail between $19.95 and $24.95.
On the farm, the couple has a variety of animals, including sheep, chickens and ducks as well as vegetables and apple and pear trees. For the mead business, they grow lavender, haskap, nectar and plenty of flowers for the bees that occupy nine hives on their property (and 150 hives on a nearby farm) to pollinate.
Charles had experience making beer, wine and mead as a hobby for about 25 years.
But when the couple moved to P.E.I. in March 2013, the only farming experience they had was a vegetable garden in their backyard.
“Your romantic ideas kind of met with reality. And, it was a bit like an episode of Green Acres,” he said with a laugh.
Charles was looking for a farm in Ontario but also was considering a property on the Island. When the couple visited P.E.I. and checked out the place, they decided it wasn’t for them.
As fate would have it, the couple found their way to a blueberry pancake breakfast at the community hall in Wheatley River. It was in April, so the local residents asked why they were on the Island since it wasn’t tourist season. When they mentioned they were looking to buy a farm, they were pointed to the cook, who was looking to sell her farm around the corner on Millboro Road.
They fell in love with the property, which they now call La Serena (or serenity) after the Chilean city.
“It’s a very peaceful feeling that we got when we came to this farm. And, that’s what we were looking for,” said Charles.
And with potlucks and parties, they’ve also become a part of the community, explained Laura.
“We found beautiful people here,” she said. “The neighbours are so welcoming. We have so much fun.”
Unlike his busy life in Ontario with his cellphone ringing all the time, Charles likes being in a place where people “still give a wave and a nod when they drive by.”
“Being able to look out your window and not see hydro lines. Being able to see the stars at night,” he said. “Imagine living your whole life and never seeing the sun go up or come down because there were too many buildings around. It’s such a different life.”
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