Montella Spirits and Wine was created by Winnipeggers Ethan Grant and his father Duncan Grant, to meet the expanding interest in premium agave spirits in Western Canada. Mezcal is one of the fastest growing spirits in the U.S., and Canadians are loving it too!
Ethan has lived, worked and travelled extensively throughout Mexico, where he developed a passion and appreciation for Mexican gastronomy and culture. He holds a commerce degree in International Business from University of Manitoba with an exchange in Mexico City. After graduating in 2019, and now fluent in Spanish, he moved to Guadalajara to live and work, while searching out the best possible products to import to Canada. It was also there that Ethan met and married his wife Isabel, a Mexican, and his ties to the country and culture deepened.
Ethan has visited many mezcal distilleries in different regions of Mexico, forging personal and business relationships with the Mezcaleros. Having the opportunity to taste and experience artisanal, traditional mezcal, he quickly became enamoured by the spirit’s complexity with its appealing variations in flavour and provenance. Throughout 2021-22 Ethan completed a diploma in Agave and Agave Spirits from the Centro de Estudios Sobre el Maguey y Mezcal in Oaxaca. In Fall 2021, Montella Spirits and Wine was established, and was licensed in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Ethan’s father, Duncan (aka Carlo), brings over 40 years of restaurant and business experience to the team. His main contributions to the Winnipeg restaurant scene that he founded, from conception to successful fruition, are Café Carlo, Bonfire Bistro and Burrito del Río. Duncan has always been interested in Mexico’s rich culture, traditions and cuisine, and was naturally drawn to the superb quality and burgeoning international allure of mezcal.
Montella Spirits and Wine focuses on broadening the whole customer experience, by guiding the consumer through the intricacies of mezcal with educational tastings. Discover its innumerable nuances by savouring the spirit straight up, or explore its mixability and versatility when pairing its distinctive taste to amp up your next cocktail.
We are importers, distributors and promotors of Mexico’s finest producers. If you would like to learn more, we are always happy to chat!