Peninsula Ridge owner Beal appointed chair of Ontario Craft Wineries

Ontario Craft Wineries (OCW) announced today the appointment of Norm Beal as its incoming Chair of the Board of Directors.

As president and founder of Peninsula Ridge Estates Winery, Beal  (below) has taken a leadership role in Ontario’s VQA wine sector for over two decades.

OCW extended its sincere thanks to Carolyn Hurst (Westcott Vineyards, pictured below) for the “many successes she achieved as our board chair during the past five years,” the news release said. “We are thankful that we will continue to benefit from her guidance in the year ahead as our newly appointed governance chair.”

As they depart the board, OCW also acknowledged Dan Sullivan (Rosehall Run) and Daniel Lafleur (Tawse) for their dedicated service. “It is impossible to count the number of contributions that both have made to our association,” the news release said. “Dan, in particular, has been shaping the direction and growth of Ontario’s VQA wine industry with us for 20 years.”

The OCW 2025/26 board of directors are as follows:

• Norm Beal, Chair
• Carolyn Hurst, Governance (Westcott)
• Suzanne Jenke, Secretary (Stratus)
• Steve Mitchell, Vice Chair (Sprucewood Shores)
• Faik Turkmen, Treasurer (Lailey)
• Chris Colonari (Colonari Estate)
• Erin MacInnis (Closson Chase)
• Ed Madronich (Flat Rock Cellars)
• Len Pennachetti (Cave Spring)
• Paul Speck (Henry of Pelham)
• Ilya Senchuk (Leaning Post)
• Allan Schmidt (Vineland Estates)
• Harald Thiel (Hidden Bench)

Note: information is provided by OCW.