Spirit Hills flower winery sprouted from a desire of Ilse and Hugo Bonjean to live entirely self-sustaining of the land and tread as lightly as possibly on this planet. With their hand crafted flower wines the Spirit Hills team shares mother nature’s deliciousness and give you a true taste of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Foothills.
Spirit Hills’ Way
The Heart of Spirit Hills
The Team behind the Wine
Ilse de Wit
Queen Bee, President & CEO
Ilse is the glue of the Bonjean family, mother at heart and queen of the hive. Her sales experience ranges from top sales person with the best pharmaceutical companies to top sales person with Silpada jewelry. But nothing is more enjoyable than making people happy with Spirit Hills flower wines. She lives by the motto: “Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise; risking more than others think is safe; dreaming more than others think is practical and expecting more than others think is possible.”
Bjorn Bonjean
Operations Manager & Winemaker
Bjorn loves the Rocky Mountain Foothills and spends much time in the bush. After a half decade of being an emergency responder up North for the Alberta oil sands he joined the winery team. He loves giving people from around the world a taste of the wonders of the Foothills he experiences daily by creating the exquisite award winning Spirit Hills flower wines. Bjorn manages the winery operations and is the next generation of talented Bonjean wine makers.
Carly Hughson
Sales and Marketing Manager
Carly is passionate about Spirit Hills flower wine and her sales team. With a Bachelor Degree in Nutrition and Food Science she loves the nutritional research behind Spirit Hills flower wines. She is driven to share Spirit Hills flower wines wide and far and to inspire and serve her fantastic team of independent sales contractors. If you do encounter her at a farmers market or winery tour/tasting you will understand how infectious her spirit is.
The Spirit of Spirit Hills
ONE OF A KIND
The roots of Spirit Hills
One with the land
The Bonjean’s moved from Europe in 1997 with the aim to homestead in Canada. For over a decade they have grown all of their food for an entire year for the entire family and all who work there using permaculture practices. They freeze, dry, cold store and can all of the vegetables they harvest. They butcher their own meat, make sausage and have about 30% of the waste of most households. Spirit Hills was the fruit of their desire to extend that dream of living off the land and with nature into a product that could provide them a family farm income while sharing the delicious flavours crafted from Rocky Mountain Foothills ingredients with those who want to explore what the Rocky Mountains taste like.
Family, Community, Sharing & Giving
Carpe Diem
Over the past decade many have visited Spirit Hills from around the world as family, friends, volunteers, visitors and fans. The Bonjean’s love to share not only their wines, but also their delicious foods, knowledge of gardening and homesteading as well as their stories and experiences. In the end they want to inspire those who visit to follow their own dreams, just like they did. “Following the dreams of your heart often does not make financial sense and comes with big risks,” says Ilse Bonjean. “But we have learned that living the dream brings out the best in us. It makes us feel alive and releases our passion, creativity, love and gratitude. Not only in us, but also in our children. We hope to pass this love of life and dreams onto our grandchildren.” Carpe Diem!
