About Us
Meet Blair Sampson, wine lover and owner of Wine Kitz New Minas.
Background:
Born in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia in 1956, Blair moved to Ontario after high school, where he spent 18 years working in various capacities for a national retailer. Wanting to work for himself, Blair drew on the knowledge he gained about running a successful business, and turned his efforts to owning and operating a rural pub for several years.
In 1991, Blair spent 6 months travelling throughout Australia, where he developed an interest in wine and winemaking. Upon returning back to Canada in 1992, he settled down in the Halifax area and decided to combine his retail and pub experience by opening his first of two winemaking stores.
After 8 years as a successfully independent owner of two winemaking stores, Blair decided it was time to take his business to the next level, and in 2000 he joined the Wine Kitz Franchise network as Regional Director/ Master Franchiser for the Atlantic region.
Since joining Wine Kitz, he has grown the Atlantic region from one inherited store to the current eight locations. 
To ensure he keeps in touch with the grass roots and the ever-changing industry issues, he continues to own and operate the New Minas location.
Over the last two decades, Blair has seen many positive changes in the winemaking industry, and has been a large part of bringing these changes to the Atlantic region. As an innovator in the industry, Blair helped spearhead the introduction of in-store winery services in New Brunswick (hopefully soon-to-be-available in Nova Scotia). He was an active member of the industry’s first regional association, and is also a founding and active member of the newly formed Atlantic Fermenter’s Association.
Blair foresees many more positive changes over the next few years as product quality, consumer wine knowledge and expanded services continue to drive and grow the consumer-made wine industry.
Our Friendly Staff
Meet our newest employee
Cory Campbell: With the introduction of in-store winemaking services, Cory is our official in-store wine maker, responsible for everything winemaking, including baby-sitting everyone’s wine throughout the entire process. Cory has been making wine for many years and is quickly gaining a penchant for our finer wines. His computer knowledge and creative flare lends itself well to the making of personalized and special occasion wine labels for our customers.
We welcome Cory aboard the good ship Wine Kitz!
CONTACT:
Wine Kitz New Minas
8934 Commercial St.,
Nova Scotia
B4N 3C9 (Canada)
Phone: (902) 681-1129
Email: winekitznm@eastlink.ca