Veritable Viticulturist
Born in Pisticci, a small town in the Province of Matera, Italy, Grace Cisterna, as a child, immigrated to Canada with her family, 1952, following the trail of an uncle who had earlier immigrated to Canada. After completing her formal schooling, she married Angelo Locilento, and began working as a hairdresser. By the time she owned her own salon, she chose to stop working in order to raise three sons. By 1985, she returned to work but this time joining her husband’s company, Vin Bon Juice Co., a distributer of fresh juice for the home wine-making business that was booming. The business acumen she learned from managing her husband’s flagship store prompted her and her husband to establish their own Ontario winery. Calling it Cilento Wines Ltd., Grace took over as managing director and has never looked back. By 1995, Cilento Wines had its first vintage. Today, Grace is proud that the wine company she and her husband established in the City of Vaughan, Ontario, is already producing winning wines worldwide. She now has completed a series of certificate and diploma courses, furthering her hands-on education in viticulture, wine tasting, and the overall study of wine. If Grace has anything to do with generating international respect for Canada’s wine industry, Cilento Wines will command the same prestige and respect as wines produced from the Italian vineyards where she was born. In this view, Mayor Lorna Jackson, right, City of Vaughan, Ontario, has just presented Grace and Angelo Locilento with a certificate following the official opening of the 36,000 square foot Cilento facility in Woodbridge, 1995. [Photo, courtesy Cilento Wines]