Crush 2019

Manitoba and pave the way for
those to come. With a combination
of their entrepreneurial spirit and
unique business model, Christopher
and Isaacs have created a vintage
just their own. Inspired by the
travelling doctors of old, Shrugging
Doctor represents a new take on
an old idea, producing wines with
creative flavours, inspired by
Manitoba-grown fruit.
“It’s a competitive field in the world of
wine,” says Christopher. “People aren’t
taking Manitoba wine very seriously.
But, 15 years ago people weren’t taking
Canadian wine very seriously, and
30 years before that, people weren’t
taking North American wine very
seriously, and now look at California.
It’s hard, but we are happy to be here
at the start, [and] hope we are laying
the groundwork for everybody else.” o
Willows Christopher (right) and Zach Isaacs
(left), co-founders of Shrugging Doctor.
particularly difficult hurdles to
jump, but Christopher and Isaacs
have spent the last three years
determining just how to use these
difficulties to their advantage.
“I worked a lot on the recipes at first.
Using local fruit wherever possible;
we use raspberries, strawberries,
rhubarb, and then Manitoba grapes,”
says Isaacs. “The grapes have been
specially engineered to be cold
hearty, then we grow them in the
Pembina Valley between the U.S.
border and Winkler. The grapes we
grow have a very unique taste, and
you don’t get too many wines made
from these grapes just because they
don’t exist out there.”
This year, Shrugging Doctor
produced eight different types of
wines, two types of mead, an apple
cider, and a sangria. As the company
grows, they plan to keep adding to
their repertoire.
In any new enterprise there are sure
to be some pitfalls, but Christopher
and Isaacs have found ways to make
sure even their missteps don’t go to
waste, recounting using a not quite
right wine to make their first sangria.
Shrugging Doctor hopes to be able
to influence the wine industry in
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