Episode 7
· 53:01
I have the impression that with wine trends, sometimes we forget that wine is actually agriculture. Those are grapes that you farm every year, and at the end of the year, you harvest them and you make wine. But the wine should speak of the landscape where it comes from. It should speak of the history, of the traditions, and also of the people that make them. So for me, it was very important to choose wines and curate a selection that speak of the family.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Hey, everyone. Welcome to Tasting Notes Toronto. I'm Alex Abbott Boyd. In this episode, I sit down with Celia Mendez, owner of Toronto's newest wine bar and bottle shop, Canary Counter. Celia's story was fascinating.
Alex Abbott Boyd:She grew up in a small village high up on a volcano on the island of Tenerife. After work experiences across Europe, Celia landed in Toronto for what was supposed to be a six month internship. Today, over six years later, she's still here, and she's part of an exciting revolution in wine retail. Here's my conversation with Celia Mendez. Celia, thank you so much for being here.
Celia Mendez:Thank you for having me.
Alex Abbott Boyd:For people who might not know, could you share just a little bit about who you are, what you do, and how you came to be doing it?
Celia Mendez:My name is Celia Mendez, and I am originally from the Canary Islands in Spain. I live now in Toronto, and I work in wine. I just opened a little wine shop, wine bar called Canary Counter, and it's on Harvard Street.
Alex Abbott Boyd:And where in the Canary Islands did you grow up?
Celia Mendez:I am from Tenerife, which is the biggest island. I was born in a tiny village that, for me, it's like an island inside the island because it's up in the mountain above 600 meters from sea level, and it's not your average Canary Island beachside town. It's very different.
Alex Abbott Boyd:What was it like growing up there? And and how was it different than the rest of
Celia Mendez:every phase? I consider myself very lucky because it was a very how to say? It was very isolating, but in a good way. We had our own little bubble. I could run on the street.
Celia Mendez:I could, you know, go to the forest to play, to build, like, little houses with my friends. It was a very healthy environment. We have this culture in the Canary Islands that it's like comadreo, like your comadre, your mother-in-law, but they would all take care of everyone's children. So you always felt like you were being taken care of. And I also grew up in my parents' winery, which was in that town in La Mancha.
Celia Mendez:And it was always fun, like running around the vineyards or playing hide and seek with my brother in the cellar behind the tank. So I had a wonderful childhood.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Yeah. That sounds so special. And how big is the village?
Celia Mendez:It's only 2,500 people. Okay. So it's very small, like, it's, like, downtown village. Then there are neighborhoods that are in other places that also belong to the village but are divided by ravines. So it's more complicated to get.
Celia Mendez:But, like, neighborhood that is like the Lower Wanchan, probably 600 people.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Yeah. How is the culture of the village? Was it a you said it was a little bit different, like a bubble away from the rest of Tenerife?
Celia Mendez:Yeah. Because we are on the Northwest of the island, and, like, thirty minutes car drive from there, you have Puerto De La Cruz. That it's the biggest tourist town on the North of the island that became very popular in the sixties, seventies for tourism. So you have all the hotels, you have the beaches, you have pools, and we have a lot of German people that go there, especially to the north of the island. So you have restaurants that are just for German people or you have shops that only carry German press.
Celia Mendez:And sometimes you feel like you're in another universe. But hometown, it was very different. It was
Alex Abbott Boyd:Yeah.
Celia Mendez:Very, very local.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Yeah. So it sounds like you were completely separate from the tourist side of things. No schnitzel on the beach for you.
Celia Mendez:No. Schnitzel became a love later in my life.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Okay. What is the what was the food like growing up?
Celia Mendez:Traditional Canary Island food, lots of potatoes. So on the island of Tenerife, we have the third tallest volcano in the world that reaches 3,719 meters above sea level. We can grow all the potatoes that grow in the Andes. So we have more than 300 different types of potatoes. So the diet is very potato focused, tiny little potatoes that are bland.
Celia Mendez:And when you cut them in half, they are like the color of an egg yolk. But then lots of seafood is the local fish that we have there. You boil it or you fry it. We also have labas that are like oysters, but that are like clinging into the rocks and are very dark. And we make them with the mojo, and it's our traditional sauce with garlic and vinegar and olive oil and lots of herbs.
Celia Mendez:But then in terms of needs, we eat a lot of rabbit, marinated in, like, a spicy chili sauce that you fry.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Are there wild rabbits there? Are they farmed? Okay.
Celia Mendez:Yeah. Yeah. And I feed a lot with rabbits at home. Like, my grandmother had at least two couples that would always be breeding. And, yeah, I was taught how to, you know
Alex Abbott Boyd:The sauce.
Celia Mendez:Make the rubber from the very beginning.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Okay. Very cool. You know up up in the Andes, there's a culture of drying out the potatoes to preserve them. Is that did that also come over with the potatoes, are they more eaten fresh?
Celia Mendez:So you you harvest the potatoes, you collect them, and then you normally put them in a dark room.
Alex Abbott Boyd:And
Celia Mendez:we actually had a room that was called El Cuarto De Las Papas, the potato room. So that's where we would have, like, all the potatoes so the light wouldn't the light wouldn't heat on them, and they wouldn't start growing new roots
Alex Abbott Boyd:Okay.
Celia Mendez:To be planted. Yeah.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Can you tell me about the family's winery and some of the wines that you produce?
Celia Mendez:So my father, Juan Jesus, started VignatiGO in 1990, but he's actually the fourth generation winemaker. We come from a town up in the mountain. So accessing drinkable water on an island that is actually surrounded by water is not easy because there are no rivers. There are no places where you can get the water to drink. So drinking wine was always safer than drinking water because actually it's a fermented beverage and it's already sort of like protected from the bacteria because of the fermentation process.
Celia Mendez:So my family has always tended to vineyards, grown grapes and made wine at home. And my father studied chemistry in university, but was very fascinated by the whole winemaking process, which is actually just chemistry. And he decided after a very bad vintage, when my grandfather didn't want to make any wine because it was not worth it, he asked him if he could make the wine and started to bottle it. And that's how Viadio started.
Alex Abbott Boyd:So what are the main grapes that you guys grow, and how would you describe them to someone who's never had them?
Celia Mendez:The Canary Islands is the result of so many migratory movements that came from Europe on their way to America. So when the boats were improbable by fuel or an engine, they would just use the winds. And the trade winds start in the Gulf Of Mexico, go all the way up to Canada, and then go all the way down the Atlantic Ocean. And when they arrive to the Canary Islands, they turn west and go to America. So everybody that in the fourteenth, fifteenth century wanted to go to America had to stop in the Canary Islands because it was the last stop to get your provisions before you sail off.
Celia Mendez:So people from Portugal, from France, from Spain stopped in the Canary Islands. And because they were all Catholics, they brought with them their grapevines. The thing is that back in the past, traveling wasn't like traveling today, where you just take a flight after the other. Sometimes you had to stay in the Canary Islands to gather more money to continue So your they planted the vines. So for me, the Canary Islands is the very first viticultural melting pot where grapevines from Portugal are planted together with vines from Italy or from Spain, from Andalusia and from Catalonia.
Celia Mendez:So in the Canary Islands, we have more than 82 grape varieties that exist on the islands. My father's calling in life has been to identify and recuperate all those grapevines. And Vignatigo is basically his trinkable encyclopedia of grapes of the Canary Islands. The most planted grape varieties are Listan Blanco and Listanero. Listan Blanco is a synonym for Palomino Fino.
Celia Mendez:It was brought from Jerez by the Spanish settlers in the sixteenth century. And then Listanero is the most planted red variety, and it's a unique grape to the Canary Islands. It's an endemic grape because it's a natural crossing between the Listan Blanco and the Negra Moy, which is a grape that was brought from the island of Madeira. So I think that those are like two very good examples of the uniqueness of the viticultural heritage that we have on the islands. And then other lesser known grapes are Gual, Bijarigo Blanco, Bijarigo Negro, Tintilla, as I said before, but also Bastardo.
Celia Mendez:We also have Babozonegro.
Alex Abbott Boyd:What did Bastardo do to get that name?
Celia Mendez:Although it's actually the trousso from the Jura. Yeah. And Vijarigo Negro is the sumoy from Catalonia. But then we have Marmahuelo that we have no idea where it came from. And then we have Malvasia Aromatica, which is the same one as the Malvasia and sieges.
Celia Mendez:But then we have the Malvasia Volcanica on the island of Lanzarote that is a natural crossing between the Malvasia Aromatica. So it's pretty much like Jurassic Park for grapes, and it's very fun and interesting.
Alex Abbott Boyd:That's wild. Your dad doesn't grow all 82, does he?
Celia Mendez:No. At Finatigo, we work with 14 different grape varieties.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Or is there a handful that are the flagship or equal focus on all
Celia Mendez:of them? So the way my dad divides the collection of wines that they make at the winery is that we have the collection of the single grape wines that it's, as I said, like a drinkable encyclopedia of the grapes of the Canary Islands. And then we have the blends, the Ensemblage, and they're, like, a blend of those different grapes that are vinified separately. And then we have the single vineyard wines that it's the project that my brother has taken on, trying to map out exceptional plots in the north face of the island.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Are there any characteristics that you think, like, really are hallmarks of Canary Island wines or or even maybe just your family's wines?
Celia Mendez:Just Yeah. Especially the fact that phylloxera never affected the vines on the Canary Islands. Everything is ungrafted. We work with plants that my great grandfather planted that are over 150 years old. The volcanic soils, the complex terroir of Tarifa.
Celia Mendez:It's very interesting because when we think about volcanic wines, we think that volcanic is just a terroir. And the way the island of Tarifa was formed over the years, it's nothing but very unique. So at the beginning, there were three independent islands that emerged from the ocean eleven million years ago. And then with the time, a new volcano started to appear in the center. And the volcano that we have right now, that it's like the tallest one, Emteide, is only 180,000 years old.
Celia Mendez:But then the other three independent islands that now has become a whole island after millions of years of eruptions are 11,000,000 years old. So you have soils that are that old, are more eroded, that have more clay content, but then you have other soils that are only 2,000 years old, where are much more sandier, there is more basalt, and much more elements. So that's really, really interesting. And it translates into a unique terroir because volcanic soils are very poor in nitrogen, And yeast, when they are making fermentation, they need nitrogen to carry out the fermentation successfully. So sometimes the yeast really struggle because of the high content of phosphorus and other things that block the absorption of that nitrogen.
Celia Mendez:So you end up having that flintiness volcanic character Okay. That everybody's surprised when they sniff a wine from a volcanic region.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Would you say that's one of the characteristic flavors of a Tenorife wine? Are there some other ones? I guess it's probably very good with 14 grapes and all these diverse soils.
Celia Mendez:I think that when we talk about terroir and we talk about volcanic minerality, that's definitely the hallmark, as you said.
Alex Abbott Boyd:And so growing up, did you think that you would join the family wine business? Did you wanna get off the island and move away? What what were your plans?
Celia Mendez:So growing up, my father would always say, this is for you guys. This project is for you. And I always felt like I needed to prove myself that I could do something outside of wine. I felt like I needed, yeah, to know that I could do something that was not like a project that it's handled over. So I moved out.
Celia Mendez:Like, I always loved wine. When I was a kid, would help in the harvest, help in the seller, do the pumping overs. I was always involved in that. And then when I became more like a teenager, I started to travel with my father. And I would go to visit the distributors for with him all over Europe.
Celia Mendez:And that was very fascinating to me. And I always had the feeling that I wanted to leave the island. So actually, when I was 70 years old, I left for university and I went to Barcelona. And I did translation and interpretation in university. I specialize in French and Chinese.
Alex Abbott Boyd:And you speak Chinese?
Celia Mendez:Not anymore. Like, it's just, like, somewhere in my mind. It's the the second year of university, I did an international exchange, and I went to the university in Bordeaux. So that also kept me very close to wine even if I was studying just French and Chinese. And then when I finished university, I did a master's degree in Barcelona in international business.
Celia Mendez:And I started to work in startups. I was working in e commerce and online stuff.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Did you think that would be what you would work in forever or you just kind
Celia Mendez:of don't know. Exploring was different just improvising. I feel like you just improvise life and you don't know where it takes you. After two years working in startups, I had finished my master's. I was very uninspired.
Celia Mendez:My father had presented me with the opportunity of doing an MBA in Bordeaux on wine management and marketing. But that MBA wasn't starting until October that year. It was 2018. So I left Barcelona in May, went to the family winery, worked there for just a month. Like, I helped set up the tourism, like, visits to the winery and all of that.
Celia Mendez:And then I went to Burgundy to work with a small producer in Saint Ginnyvoix with Pascal Glima. And that was one of the best experiences I have ever had in my life.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Yeah. What what was that like? Can you tell me about that?
Celia Mendez:It was very shocking because culturally, it was very different to the way we do harvest in the Canary Islands. The way we do harvest in the Canary Islands is a very paused, long process because we start picking grapes in like July at sea level and you finish in November with the plots that are at a thousand meters above sea level. But then in Burgundy, everything is concentrated in two weeks and in kamikaze mode. Like, you wake up at 06:30AM. You go.
Celia Mendez:You do harvest. You work in the cellar. You have to clean the press at night and you go to bed at midnight. It was excellent. Like, Pascal's generosity and, like, his family generosity is like, no snowboarders.
Celia Mendez:Yeah. And it was super cool. They gave me a car, so I would take my car and go to Chirag, go explore the whole got the ball with Saint George. Why? So
Alex Abbott Boyd:This is after the the two weeks of craziness, I'm guessing.
Celia Mendez:Because I got there like, I was there for two month two months and a half. So there is a lot of work that goes into preparing. And then after everything has been done, you still need to be measuring the densities of the barrels and, like, doing so much more stellar work rather than peaking. So I was able to explore a good fair amount. And then in October, I went to Bordeaux again, which was cool to experience this city five years after I had already lived there.
Celia Mendez:I came with another perspective, not only in life, but also in Waim. So I was able to enjoy the city better.
Alex Abbott Boyd:How was it even just the culture of Bordeaux compared to Burgundy, where Burgundy had small domains and then Bordeaux, it's giant negotiations? And was that a bit of a shock too?
Celia Mendez:I sort of knew how it worked already, but it's true that Burgundy feels more like a small community. Everybody knows each other. People basically work in the land. When I went to Bordeaux, all the chateaux, I made this very good friend that is also like a mentor to me who was doing the master's with us. His name is Jorgen.
Celia Mendez:And he retired and decided to do the MBA to maybe start like an e commerce platform all over Europe, but it's very complicated to actually make it. But with him, I drank everything that I hadn't drank in my life. He loves collecting nice wines, like important wines. It was
Alex Abbott Boyd:So like first growth?
Celia Mendez:Yeah. And he had he had a car and we would go to around Chante Millon and he would go show me, this is Coste Stranell. This is Pichon Baoon. And it was like very, very cool. And also at the same time, my brother was doing his master's in winemaking in Madrid and they would take field trips and they came to Bordeaux and I tagged along with their group.
Celia Mendez:And it was very fun because we visited Cheval Blanc and so many other wineries. And, yeah, it was it was like stepping into a winery that felt more like a museum or like a piece of architecture, but it was a great year.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Yeah. Sounds incredible. Was there any kind of intimidation factor being exposed to and being offered all these incredible wines, or was was this mentor just so welcoming that
Celia Mendez:He was so welcoming. And the funny thing is that in our group, we had two other friends that I keep as friends right now here in Toronto, Will Larkin and Stephanie Good. Steph is with Living Vine, and Will is with Halpern. And we were just like a very fun group. And we would get together at his place and we would cook.
Celia Mendez:And it was very welcoming and lovely.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Yeah. That sounds incredible. What were you thinking at the time that you would get your MBA? Would you then join the family business? Would you work for another business?
Celia Mendez:I knew that I would eventually join the family business. But after the MBA, I needed to do, like, a six month internship to write my final thesis. And that's what brought me to Toronto. I wanted to go to New York to work with my family importer there, David Bowler. But they needed someone in January, and I couldn't make it until April.
Celia Mendez:So then the opportunity of coming to Toronto came up with Nicolas Bierce Wines. And I came here and I focused on writing my thesis on how to develop a small wine region in a monopolized market, taking as a case study the Canary Islands. I worked with Nicolas Bears in the agency. I start like, for me to get a good impression of what the Ontario market is like, I basically work at every desk at Nicolas Bears Wines. I did submissions for the LCBO tenders.
Celia Mendez:I placed orders for private importation in consignment. I took care of the contracts for the high volume program. I dived into the wonderful world of Citrix, and I really got a sense of how the market worked. And I also got to meet so many incredible people that I can call my friends now after being here for six and a half years. So I wrote my thesis.
Celia Mendez:It took like six months to finish the internship. And when I finished the internship, I remember Nicolas had taken me to Prince Edward County because of a family event. But we were driving about around. We visited Lighthole. We visited Trials State and also so generous to show me his world here.
Celia Mendez:And then I was unsure about going back home because at the time I was 24 years old. And I was thinking, well, if I go back home and I start working at the winery, it's gonna be more complicated for me to get out if I want to have another international experience. So Nicolas offered me to stay managing several projects in the agency. And I said yes. And maybe my father was a little bit disappointed.
Celia Mendez:That was not in his plans. But it's what I wanted to do. I wanted to stay here longer. And that was 02/2019. Then You're still here.
Celia Mendez:And the pandemic happened. So I just decided to stay. Yeah. Did
Alex Abbott Boyd:you originally think maybe you'd spend a year or two here and then go somewhere in Europe?
Celia Mendez:Yeah. I, yeah, I always thought about going back to Barcelona. I always dreamt about working lifestyle, Toronto versus Barcelona. Yeah. But I adapt easily, and I have so much admiration for what Kinvilla has done in Barcelona with Villa Miniteca.
Celia Mendez:I always dreamt to work for Kinvilla. And I remember like sending my resume and like nobody would answer. Because when I was a teenager, when I would travel with my father to the wine fairs with the distributors, I got to meet the personality of the portfolio manager, right? And they would tell me about the trips that they were taking and the regions that they were visiting. And I would be like, Oh my God.
Celia Mendez:That's what I wanna do. So then when I started working with Nicolas, I didn't start as a portfolio manager from the beginning. It's something that I really worked towards and like building that desk because the size of Nicholas Pierce Wine when I started working was very different to what we are right now. We're a bigger group right now. But, yeah, that's what I wanted to do, and I just follow my goal, and I did it.
Celia Mendez:Yeah.
Alex Abbott Boyd:What does a portfolio manager do?
Celia Mendez:It's basically managing the relationships with the suppliers. And also I also take care of the forecasting and the ordering, making sure that you have the wine that you need for every season, taking care of the allocations, making sure that you reserve the wine that you need, and then forecasting and ordering the wines. There is supplier management. You manage the relationship. You become friends.
Celia Mendez:And I am just so lucky to have made new friends that I maybe only see once a year. But then when I get to see them that are the producers, it's just very lovely.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Yeah. Yeah. I would say the time I spend with the producers for the wineries in my portfolio is usually the most meaningful and fun part of owning an agency.
Celia Mendez:Yeah. I mean, and that's why we do it. Right? It's the wine, but the wine is the people that make it and the landscape where it comes on.
Alex Abbott Boyd:100%. Yeah. Tell me about Canary Counter. How did the shop come to be?
Celia Mendez:So since the pandemic, when the AGCO allowed restaurants and wine bars to sell unopened bottles of wine to go with a food item, I always fantasized with the idea of opening it. And back in the time when Bossa Nova opened, I was living in Parkdale. And just because going to Posa Nova, I became friends with Ben. And we would have coffees and we would talk about it. And I would always tell him, Oh, this is something that I really want to do.
Celia Mendez:And I would talk to other peers in the wine industry and some of them were like, oh, no. That's gonna change. It won't be like this forever. You should not open a wine shop because opening a wine shop is opening a wine bar legally. And you don't wanna have a wine bar.
Celia Mendez:You you really don't wanna have a wine bar. And I I had never worked in hospitality before. So like, I know wine because I was born in wine and I love talking about wine. And for me, opening a shop slash wine bar was the most it was the easiest way to just get to do what makes me happy every day. Like the pandemic was very frustrating for everybody, of course.
Celia Mendez:But for me, it converted my job in just like a virtual thing. And I wanted to become a portfolio manager because I wanted to travel and I wanted to meet producers and I wanted to visit regions and I wanted to talk about wine. And I didn't get to do a lot of that. Right? So I think that it was like January 2023 that I started to really think about how I was going to do it.
Celia Mendez:And then like, my life changed. I had to move apartments. I joined the team at Posa Nova of financial reasons also I needed to be busy for things that happened in my life personally. And then I was talking to Ben a lot. That is my biggest mentor, I would say, and I will be forever grateful for his generosity.
Celia Mendez:I just decided to start writing my business plan in October. So October 2024. And I finished writing my business plan in January 2025. And then I started to look for financing options because this is just myself. Basically, no family support.
Celia Mendez:I just kept improvising and there were so many setbacks, but I did it. And now it's open. And I got the keys in April and I only opened on September 4. So you can imagine all the delays that came with it, but I am very happy that it's open now.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Well, congratulations. I think what separates people that survive in business and those that don't is just that persistence. You know? Before you can even open a business, there's gonna be so many setbacks that seem like every one of them is a reason to stop. And then even once you're in business, there's gonna be those setbacks.
Alex Abbott Boyd:And so pushing through them, especially with something as unique as a bottle shop in Toronto is impressive.
Celia Mendez:And also being a stubborn. Right? Because for example, for me, the major setback that I had was that the Women Entrepreneur Organization of Canada, I had presented my project and they had pre approved me for a certain amount of money. And I was like, Wow, if I did this, like, I don't care if I am missing all this money. It's going to appear.
Celia Mendez:Like, I will get it because they have already pre approved me for this. I remember sending my banking information days before doing the wire transfer. They call me and they tell me that they cannot give me the money because my main business revenue is alcohol sales. And that organization is tied to the government, and the government doesn't want to get their hands into the alcohol business. And I understand.
Celia Mendez:Like, I understand that those are the regulations.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Although it would've been nice if they told you that before.
Celia Mendez:I know. But you know what? I think that we should look on the bright side and preparing for that very important application what was helped me to get a very good business plan. Because I knew that I needed a very good business plan to be able to get that money. It was like a confirmation of saying, Okay, my plan is not crazy.
Celia Mendez:Yeah. Like, they believe in me and they want to help me, but they can't. And we have to accept that it cannot happen. But for me, it was like, okay, you are right. Your plan is right.
Celia Mendez:And you just have to keep going. And the money will appear. And the money ended up appearing. Not everything that I needed, but, yeah, it's that boring, I guess.
Alex Abbott Boyd:I love that. I'm I'm guessing the MBA probably came in handy writing that business plan.
Celia Mendez:Oh, yeah. Definitely.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Where where did the money end up appearing? Right.
Celia Mendez:The bank. Okay. And also Futurepreneur, which is a non for profit organization that gives grants to people who are 39 and that want to start a business. So because I already had my super wonderful business plan, I just sent that to Futurepreneur, and it was between that and personal loans.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Well, for someone who's never been here and you've only been open a month, so that's probably a lot of people, how would you describe Canary Counter? What's it all about, and what will people discover if they come here?
Celia Mendez:So Canary Counter is a tiny space. Legally, we only have capacity for 10 bodies inside at the first at the same time. It's 300 square feet, and there are three big wine racks that have wine. The idea with the selection of wines that I make is that I want wines that speak of the landscape where they come from. I have the impression that with wine trends, sometimes we forget that wine is actually agriculture.
Celia Mendez:Those are grapes that you farm every year, and at the end of the year, you harvest them and you make wine. But the wine should speak of the landscape where it comes from. It should speak of the history, of the traditions, and also of the people that make them. So for me, it was very important to choose wines and curate a selection that speak of the families, which is my family history and that are like the wine stories that I care about. Right now, I think that we have about 40 different labels or 45 different labels on the shelf.
Celia Mendez:I have space or capacity for a 100, and the idea is to have a rotating selection, some regular favorites, some staples, of course, but also trying to introduce the neighborhood to new things that they might have not tasted before. For example, a white wine from Hungary or a Pinot Noir from Germany that for us wine geeks is something that is very common, but that actually is not the average wine that people drink. We are a wine bar, so we also have a by the glass list. Every week, I change the by the glass We have six wines every week. And then something that I wanted to do to be able to talk about the wine is the guided flights that we do on Thursday evenings.
Celia Mendez:At 06:30 on Thursdays, we sit down. We have nine spots, which is what the capacity allow us to. And we go through the whole wine list. So people book their spot online and they get a few ounces. And we talk about the region where they come from and the wineries and why this wine is being made.
Celia Mendez:And I find it so rewarding and people like it very much.
Alex Abbott Boyd:What are some of the the flights that that you've done so far? What were the themes or regions?
Celia Mendez:I tried to change it because of the weather or, like, how I am feeling. This week, we have Lan Brusco, Roselle Lan Brusco that it's made in the champagne method. So that's, like, a great excuse to explain the charmat method and the champagne method. Right? I try to use every wine in the list to talk about a little bit about winemaking and make people understand how it works because they see bubbles in a wine.
Celia Mendez:If you don't know how bubbles are made, you don't care very much about it.
Alex Abbott Boyd:As an aside, I'm gonna bring in next spring. I found a hot pink lambrusco.
Celia Mendez:Nice.
Alex Abbott Boyd:It's so just the color alone. It's delicious. Yeah. But it's just yeah. It's so fun just to drink a hot pink
Celia Mendez:lemon part of the marketing. Right? A 100 The lambrisco that we're pouring comes in a dark bottle. But the way I have been selling it is, like, the old couture lambrisco because it's made in the Champagne Meadow. Yeah.
Celia Mendez:And then I said it has this gorgeous, dusty pink color that I wish I had a dress in that color. And when I am speaking to the customer that is gonna buy it, they are always like, oh my god, that's a crazy description. Wanna try it now. I cannot see the color, but I want to buy it so I can see the color.
Alex Abbott Boyd:So how has the neighborhood reacted to the shops opening?
Celia Mendez:It's been really The windows were papered up for a very long time because I took the keys in April and I didn't open until September. So the facade was like a weird multi tone blue color that was different with that was painted with different qualities of paint. So it really felt like a patchwork of blues. So the first thing that I did when I rented this space was putting a QR code on the windows saying, Canary counter your neighborhood wine shop chirping soon. I decided to paint the outside yellow because this shop had been closed for a very long time, like at least since 2018.
Celia Mendez:So I painted it yellow and people were very curious about it. And people started to scan the QR code. And I hadn't posted anything on Instagram, but I think that around August, already had four fifty followers of people that were just passing by. I didn't really announce it on my personal social media for a very long time.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Good sign. It shows that the neighborhood was ready.
Celia Mendez:Exactly. Because I wanted to know what the food traffic was. And don't get me wrong, before renting the space, it was like January, February. Even in the dead of winter, I would sit outside the shop with a coffee for one hour. And I would start to see who was passing by, and I would ask people questions like, Do you drink wine?
Celia Mendez:Where do you get your wine? Where do you go for wine? So I did like my little market research. But the neighborhood response has been great. I remember the first day I opened, I had two couples coming between 2PM and 5PM with their babies.
Celia Mendez:And one baby was more like a fresh baby, so they were holding the baby. But then the other one just put the baby on the rug and the baby was crawling around and they were having their glass of wine. And from the very first day, it confirmed what I thought about the shop being a neighborhood place and how it could fit into the people's lives rhythm. And that was very beautiful.
Alex Abbott Boyd:If people are already bringing their babies, it feels like you're part of the family almost.
Celia Mendez:Yeah. And I know the babies' names and I know the dogs' names. And it's only been four weeks, but I can say that I have regulars that come every week or that come twice a week. And my friends at Bar Isabel, Alessandro, I asked them if I could buy baguettes from them because they make their own bread. Every morning before coming here, grab the baguettes from Barry's Avail that are freshly baked.
Celia Mendez:And I bring them here and I put them in a basket. And there is people that just come for the baguettes because they know that I pick them up every day. It's also like playing a role in their lives. And they might just come for the baguette one day, but if they are going somewhere for dinner, I know that they would be stopping by to grab a bottle of wine or they would just come to have a glass of wine another day. So I like being able to serve a purpose that goes beyond the original idea of the business that I wanted to create.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Yeah. It's being a part of the community and not just a place to grab a bottle of wine. And it it reminds me so much of my interview with Ben from Bossa Nova Yeah. Where he talked about words spreading on the playground, that they were opening Yeah. And that building up this well of support and how they know almost everyone by name now.
Alex Abbott Boyd:I'd be curious what were some of the lessons that you learned working with Ben and Bossa Nova that were helpful opening Canary Counter?
Celia Mendez:Well, first of all, Ben has an amazing palate. His taste in wine is just so refined, but also open to wild cards. That's something that I love about the way that he has curated the selection that he has. And also his generosity. Like, he's been so generous to me, but he's actually generous to everybody that walks in the shop and generous with his time.
Celia Mendez:If somebody says, Oh, I want a white that is mineral and crisp, he will present you with five options and he will talk to you about each of the wines no matter if the shop is busy. I think that every customer that walks into Bossa Nova feels welcome. The same way that the employees, we always felt welcomed. I would work at Bossa Nova Friday evenings and Sundays. And when I got there on Fridays, he would always tell me about all the new wines that arrived that week.
Celia Mendez:And he would take the time to tell me about them. And I value that very much because he really makes you feel as an important part of it. And then you can share that with the customer that comes. Which takes me to the fact of education. Like it's so important to promote education and to make your employees feel like you actually care about them and that you care about them knowing their wines and being able to spread that word.
Alex Abbott Boyd:That's great. Empowering people to really take the lead.
Celia Mendez:Yep. I really hope that because it's so complicated in Toronto with the way the Ontario market wine market works. If you are interested in wine, you either join an agency or you become a sales rep or you work at a wine bar. The retail option was never on the table. So if you really want to learn about very cool wines that are not in the agencies but that people are actually drinking, you have to work at a restaurant.
Celia Mendez:You have to work in hospitality. And that entails long hours, late nights. I think that now that we have this micro universe of the shops popping up and appearing, it's a very good opportunity for people that really want to learn about wine and working wine without having to do the long hours. So I really hope that this space, even if it's tiny and we only need one person to do the day to day work, that it can become a place for people to continue their wine journey and be able to learn and grow in this industry in a different way than we have always had to done it.
Alex Abbott Boyd:I think that's great. I mean, is so incredible, but it can be so hard to balance Yeah. Especially when you get to the stage of your life where you have a family and children with those late nights. So Yeah. Having that other option is incredible.
Alex Abbott Boyd:And Canary County represents, I think, a very exciting thing because Bossa Nova was arguably the first Yeah. Place that opened specifically to be wine and beer retail. And now you're an alumna, and you're taking the lessons learned and opening the next generation. And then I'm sure people you train will open up more bottle shops, and it's gonna build such a special thing for us.
Celia Mendez:And that's eventually what we have to do if we want to have better informed drinkers. I have had people coming here being like, Oh my God, this doesn't exist in Toronto. And I'm like, It actually exists, but maybe you haven't come across it. We have Osa Nova. We have the Great Witches.
Celia Mendez:We have Paradise Grapevine that also has a little corner of retail, shrinking violet as well. But then you also have archive, incredible wine list. And a lot of people that come here don't know that archive exists. And I'm like, Well, if you like wine, you definitely have to go there. And I think that it's cool that we start to create this network of people that are interested in wine, but haven't been able to be properly introduced to wine.
Celia Mendez:Because when you go to the LCBO, yes, there are product consultants, but they are not going to give you, like, a very curated attention to your needs when
Alex Abbott Boyd:you Well, because come they to they didn't pick the wines in the shop. Right?
Celia Mendez:Exactly. Maybe yeah. And I have respect for everybody that works in the industry, of course. But if you are not able to curate what you feel excited about and you have wines that change every week, maybe you don't have time to learn everything about them producers. Right?
Celia Mendez:I think that it's a very exciting time for Ontario because the more we share about the wines that we care about, the more the people, the drinkers, the customers will learn about it, and then their palate will become more educated.
Alex Abbott Boyd:I think in the Toronto Star article about Canary Counter, was there a quote from you saying people don't walk more than half a kilometer or 900 meters, something like that, to get alcohol?
Celia Mendez:It was in Toronto Life. I did a when I was doing my business plan, I used a lot the city of Toronto website when it comes to demographic. They have a lot of interesting resources. And I read an article that said that people don't walk more than 900 meters doing their groceries. So I said, Okay.
Celia Mendez:For me, buying wine is like doing my groceries because for me, wine is like food. That's the perspective that we have in Europe. So I took a map of Toronto and I put on the map all the most important bottle shops that I thought that were doing a similar work to what I wanted to deliver. And I saw that in this specific neighborhood, something like this was missing. And then this place came up and this might be crazy, but this is the only space that I visited to rent.
Celia Mendez:I didn't even think about any other space because this was cheap. And I know that it's not on college or on Dandas, but I just cannot afford to pay a rent there. I was like, I think this could work.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Well, I think to be part of a neighborhood, it helps to be in the neighborhood more than in the maybe the main business district. And I think that study is great because it also highlights, like, why the customers that love wine who have walked in here and they don't know about Bossa Nova and Grape Witches because they're more than 900 meters away. So what have been some of the highlights of the first month of opening?
Celia Mendez:I think that definitely neighbors coming in the shop and with a big smile and just saying, welcome to the neighborhood. That has been wonderful because it has made me feel that people were actually looking for these and waiting for these. Then the guided flights have been excellent. I only have positive things. Seeing people become regulars, listening to their feedback.
Celia Mendez:Of course, I am learning. Like, I have never owned a wine shop before and I have never owned a wine bar before. So I'm always very honest with them being like, Hey, if you have any comments, just send me a DM on Instagram. I'm here to learn. But it's been great.
Celia Mendez:I'm very happy. Yeah.
Alex Abbott Boyd:So a few times you've mentioned wild card wines and how you love highlighting them. How would you define a wildcard, and what is it that excites you? Because I can just say the focus of my agency is the overlooked and undervalued regions of the world, which I think is probably similar to what you mean by wild card. And sometimes I feel like it would be a lot easier if I just sold Italian reds Yeah. That that are just kind of what everyone already here loves and drinks.
Alex Abbott Boyd:So what is it that gets you excited about highlighting a wild card wine?
Celia Mendez:It's just spreading the word for wines that I really care about. I have a lot of people that come here asking for a Pinot Gris. And I'm just like, I know that you love Pinot Gris, but if you're open to try something else, why don't you try this Riesling Pinot Gris Sauvignon Blanc blend from Hungary? Like, have you ever had a wine from Hungary? You know, for me, that could be the wild card.
Celia Mendez:And when I say wild card, it's just something that is outside of the norm of the of a normal wine drinker, not us, because we are wine geeks and we know all the little secrets and obscure things of wine. Just presenting them with other options. For roses here, I have a rose from the Edna. And I just start the conversation being like, Hey, have you ever had a wine from Sicily? And if you have had a wine from Sicily, have you had a rose from Sicily?
Celia Mendez:Or I don't know what the hell. There's people asking for Pinot Noir. And yesterday, I put the Pardas sumoy on by the glass, which is from Catalonia, from Penelas. And then Pardas has done this amazing job of recuperating that grape in Penelas. And I was selling it as a feral Pinot Noir because it's light and it's beautiful and it's elegant and people love it.
Celia Mendez:Like, it's owned by the glass, and people love it, and people leave with bottles. So after having a little glass. So
Alex Abbott Boyd:That's great. So one of the things I love about wine is and you've touched on this so many times is the way I connect you to people all over the world. And I think travel is one of the most exciting parts of working in wine. Besides your trip to Burgundy and your time in Bordeaux, are there any other wine trips that have been especially meaningful and maybe formative for you?
Celia Mendez:Yes. I had the chance to go to Austria with Vivino. That was very cool because I got to visit Matthias Hager in Khamptal. And I also went to Bergenland to visit Markus Altenberger. And I was fascinated by both terroirs visiting Matthias that actually sits at the board of the Demeter certification in Austria.
Celia Mendez:We went to the Molands Vineyard, and it's the most complex soil that I have ever seen. It had granite and it had white quartz and it had rose quartz. And then it also had schist. And I was like, What? That was very fascinating.
Celia Mendez:And also going to Joyce in the Bergen Land and seeing the lake, understanding the culture and the history of how the Kaiser would stop there on their way to Hungary and that he would drink the wine from that specific slope, which also makes me think so much of Corton Chalet Magne in Burgundy, right, and the story that is connected to that. That's what fascinates me. Yeah. Also, last December, I went to January 5 to visit my family for Christmas. And then I was on my way back and I had a night in Lisbon and I had dinner with Antonio Masanita.
Celia Mendez:And it was it was not a winery visit or a vineyard visit, but I had dinner with him and with Mariana Siqueira, which is the director of an incredible wine shop in Lisbon that is called Carafira Imperial. She's originally from Brazil but is living in Lisbon now and has so much knowledge. And that was cool because I was also with the idea. Was working on my business plan and being able to visit her shop and see what they offer in a city with Lisbon and then having dinner with Antonio and tasting.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Who is Antonio for
Celia Mendez:those Antonio who like my Antonio Masanita is one of the most important winemakers in Portugal right now. He has been the person to revive winemaking in the island of Azores, in the island of Pico. And he also has a project in Porto Santo and Madeira that is called Profetas Villais with Nunofaria that is originally from Porto Santo and also has a wonderful restaurant in Lisbon called Mil Manera's. And we had dinner, the three like, the four of us together and tasting through his wines. We also tasted their wines from Doro that he like, his sister, Joanna, is in charge of making.
Celia Mendez:And now with Nicolas Bierce wines, we bring Joanna's wines. It was just like a night that I just couldn't believe how lucky and how privileged I was to get to sit down with them and discuss. Antonio had recently gone to the Canary Islands, and there are so many similarities in the grapes that were brought from the island of Madeira and from Portugal to the Canary Islands. So exchanging notes on that was very, very cool.
Alex Abbott Boyd:It sounds so special. Isn't that one of the great parts of wine is that if you love wine, you love sharing it with people.
Celia Mendez:And Yeah. And I think that, for example, to bring it back here to Toronto, you don't have to travel to get to taste so many things. And for me, one of the best ways of connecting with the wine industry in Toronto is going to archive nights on Tuesdays. You get to sit down with so many people that work in different restaurants or for different agencies, and everybody's bringing wine to treat them. And you just get to taste so many different things.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Looking ahead, what are your hopes for Canary Counter?
Celia Mendez:I think that speaking as a business person, that I don't consider myself like a business person. In five years, I just want the business to be sustainable. For me, the most important part is to be part of the change and this little quiet revolution that we're starting in Ontario. I don't know how the AGCO and the LCBO will adapt to these changes that we are just making, always under the umbrella of the law and the regulations. But I just hope that this little corner becomes part of the neighbor's life and make it more comfortable for people to enjoy a glass of wine here and have a very democratic spread and selection of wines in all prices and in all styles.
Celia Mendez:There is always something for whoever walks through the door. I would also like to continue to expand the education program that we have, keep the Thursday flights. But then I'm also excited for the producer visits. This month of October, my brother is visiting. So we will do like a special Canary Island Pinatigo focused night.
Celia Mendez:And it's called the Canary Cauldre because it's a wink to my origin. But then we have all the branding with a silly bird on it. It's not only Canary Island wine, but the more the merrier. So if I can also add more references to the show, maybe wines from La Za Rote or wines from La Palma, different islands, different winemakers.
Alex Abbott Boyd:I love that. Before we finish up, is there anything else that you'd like to add?
Celia Mendez:No. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share a little bit about my story. You're much. On the podcast and everything that you've been doing.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Oh, thank you so much. Thank you all for listening. Now if you enjoyed this episode, I just have a quick favor to ask. Please hit that subscribe button. I've got a ton of exciting interviews booked with the people behind some of the very best restaurants in Canada, and I would hate for you to miss an episode.
Alex Abbott Boyd:Producing this podcast has been a ton of fun, but it's also been a lot of work. Your subscribing is how I know that people are into it and that I should keep it up. And to the many of you who have already subscribed, thank you so, so much. Until next time. Cheers.
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