When most winery retail employees finish a long shift, they choose their favourite wine from the shelf and head home to sip from the fruits of their labour.

Sal Fasullo, 72, a retail team member at Peller Estates Winery, has an entirely different shift-end ritual.

With the help of his workmates, Fasullo collects the corks from all the sampled bottles opened in the shop that day. 

And then, he goes home to make art — a growing collection of three-dimensional artworks fashioned from reclaimed corks.

Over the past couple of years, Fasullo developed a deep respect for corks — so historically essential to the wine industry.

And he sees a lot of corks. Peller’s diverse portfolio produces four to five million cases of wine, across some 50 brands.

“I felt an affinity with all the corks we were just throwing away,” says Fasullo. “They are beautifully made. They are uniquely made.

“And we were throwing them away. So, I started to collect them. I could not stand to see them being thrown out. Suddenly, I had more corks than I knew what to do with.”

Fasullo didn’t come by his affinity with the wine industry naturally.

He hails from central England and still calls Nottingham home, returning annually to visit family and friends.

When he was 20, his parents moved to Canada, where he continued his academic studies in chemistry, physics and biology.

Fast-forward some 40 years, Fasullo retired from a career in the printing industry, troubleshooting and providing technical support for specialty magazines like Time Magazine.

Along the way, he married Noemi and raised four now-grown children in Stouffville, Ont. They moved to St. Davids 10 years ago.

He’s proud of his new community: “It’s magical here. A wonderland. We’ve never had such a good time. I pinch myself when I get up every morning.”

When the couple arrived in Niagara, Fasullo decided he wanted a second career.

“I didn’t really know much about the Ontario wine industry,” he says, somewhat sheepishly. “But Peller hired me and I did a lot of training, in-house and at Niagara College and Brock.”

Today, Fasullo spends much of his workday conducting wine and food pairing sessions with Peller guests.

“Visitors are dying to find out about picking the right wine for this or that food. At one time I wanted to be a teacher. So, this part of the job is very satisfying.”

And then came his fascination with corks.

“It just seemed such a waste to throw the corks out. We fill so many boxes and bags, and they go right in the trash,” he says. “I started messing around trying to create something interesting.”

He admits he has a creative bent, spending a lot of time fashioning his own music.

“I used to perform, but now I just compose. Now I have a few listings on Apple Music.” He has also done a few standup gigs at Yuk Yuks.

But Fasullo took to a couple of art classes at the Niagara Pumphouse Arts Centre for help with his cork art. His first completed work was a large two-foot by four-foot guitar, framed in a shadow box. It now takes him two to three weeks to complete a work.

The Pumphouse recently included his piece, “Champagne Bottle,” in an exhibition. He is open to selling his works, but he admits he’s hesitant to let go of his earliest work. Trius Winery has commissioned a piece for their new café bar.

Fasullo’s eyes light up when he talks about the future opportunities for cork art.

“These are creative things that anyone can do. You can take the corks into retirement homes, or schools, wherever. It’s cheap. It’s easy. A wonderful opportunity.

“And I think throwing them away is wrong. They shouldn’t be going to landfill.”

Fasullo works hard to balance his work, his art and his reverent mission to give corks a new life. 

He’s just brimming with new ideas.