Why I Decided To Investigate Organized Crime While I Was in Canada

If it accomplishes nothing else, that headline draws you in, doesn't it? It's the same way my imagination was captured when I saw a sign that said "Organized Crime Winery" while driving on a Canadian freeway.

Since my oldest son Ryan moved to Toronto seven years ago to work in the theater industry there, I have driven the 1,250-mile round trip several times to visit him. When you cross the border at the Peace Bridge in Buffalo, you are on the Queen Elizabeth Way, a major freeway that takes you along the western shore of Lake Ontario before rounding the west end and turning east toward Toronto. Almost immediately after passing Niagara Falls, you enter the Niagara Peninsula, Canada's largest and most productive wine region. It is situated mostly atop a geographical feature known as the Niagara Escarpment, a limestone ridge that extends 650 miles. A small section of the Escarpment running along the freeway is called the Beamsville Bench, and it is here that a "sweet spot" of altitude, prevailing winds, soil composition and mild temperatures combine to allow about a dozen wineries located there to produce some of Canada's finest wines.

Before every exit off the freeway, the list of attractions invariably includes the names of three or four of the wineries you can visit near there. I drove past elegant sounding names such as Cornerstone Estate Winery, Thirty Bench Wine Makers and Hidden Bench Estate Winery, thinking that a swing through Canada's "Northern Napa" might be pleasant one day. But when I approached Exit 68 at the town of Beamsville I saw "Organized Crime Winery." Never mind how good (or not) the wine might be: The name of the place alone simply begged for an investigation.

My opportunity finally came this past Monday on my way back from Toronto. Were it not for the sign identifying it, I might easily have passed the house where the small boutique winery is located about halfway up the Beamsville Bench. After welcoming me into their small showroom, they related the history of how this winery got its name:

It is well documented in Canadian history that factions of Mennonites often clashed with one another over the adoption of modern practices, especially in Ontario in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A local legend reports that one of the more progressive sects purchased a pipe organ for their church. The traditional sect became outraged that their more modern-thinking brethren would allow such a thing in their church. One night under the cover of darkness, the story goes, some members of the traditional sect broke into the church that had the organ, loaded it onto a wagon, and then tossed it down an embankment.

Speculation continues to this day about how much this story has been embellished over the years. But when the winery started up in 1998 and they were pondering what to call it, they decided to commemorate this story with a memorable, marketable name: The Organized Crime

-- the crime perpetuated by the purchase of a pipe organ. Thus, all their wine labels and marketing materials feature drawings portraying this story.

Yes, all very clever, you say -- but what about the wine? It turns out that it's not just the name that draws attention to this winery: In 2025, the Organized Crime Winery was named one of Canada's top 10 wineries at the National Wine Awards of Canada, and was named Top Winery in Ontario. Their wines have won numerous awards over the years.

I bought a bottle of 2023 Limestone Block Chardonnay, a gold medal winner. I look forward to uncorking it soon to enjoy a glass of wine produced by Organized Crime ... something I've always wanted to do with a clear conscience.