CALEB NICKERSON
PEMBROKE Oct. 19, 2019
A new tourism initiative linking craft alcohol brewers throughout . . .
the region was launched on Saturday at the Ottawa Valley Craft Beer Festival in Pembroke.
The Tap and Cork Route, as it is named, is a joint venture from the MRC Pontiac, SADC Pontiac and the Ottawa Valley Tourism Association (OVTA). The self-guided loop includes 13 local craft alcohol establishments, five of which are in the Pontiac: Domaine du Pontiac Village Winery near Quyon, Coronation Hall Cider Mills in Bristol, Little Red Wagon Winery in Clarendon, Brauwerk Hoffman in Campbell’s Bay and L’Ancienne Banque in Chapeau.
“The idea came from Brittany Morin actually, at the SADC Pontiac, to develop a route on both sides of the river that promotes our breweries, our cideries, wineries and distilleries,” explained OVTA Development Officer Melissa Marquardt. “Tourists don’t travel within borders, and for us the only thing that really divides us is the Ottawa River. We have a great collection of craft alcohol makers in the region, this is a great way to highlight them and bring awareness to them and encourage more visitors to come to the region.”
The creators of the route have been active in promoting their various social media channels, as well as their website: tapandcork.ca.
Marquardt said that it’s a simple process to add a business to the route.
“We do know that there are some more operations that are going to be opening soon, so we do anticipate adding more as the route grows,” she said.
The choice to host the official launch at the fifth annual craft beer festival was a natural one, according to organizer Katie Tollis of Paperback Events. She said the route’s organizers reached out to be included this year.
“They approached us, and it was a great opportunity to have them as a part of our event because it really reflects what we’re doing here with the beer festival and what they’re doing with tourism as a whole,” she said.
She added that since producers can only sell their booze in Ontario if they have a distribution deal through the LCBO, smaller operations like the ones in the Pontiac were unable hawk their wares at the festival, for now.
