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Andrew and Garnet Etsell
Andrew and Garnet Etsell at the Singletree sign.
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Andrew Etsell at the tasting bar.
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Singletree Wine
Anyone who has ever tried it can attest, starting a vineyard and winery is a massive undertaking. Approaching that project in smaller chunks would be more manageable, but is that even possible? A family in Abbotsford found a way.
The Etsell family, well known in many agricultural circles, opened the tasting room of Singletree winery in the early spring of 2015. Debbie, Garnet and sons Andrew and Nathan share in the bigger decisions about farm activities, but day-to-day operations fall to Andrew and Nathan.
“We bought this property in 2000 and put up a turkey barn about a year later and had the fields,” Andrew said.
Both Andrew and his brother wanted to farm. With Nathan overseeing the turkey operation, Andrew took a horticulture program at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) then spent time at Mission Hill Family Estate winery for his practicum. It became clear what should be done with the fields.
“I caught the bug [for the wine industry] up there [at Mission Hill],” noted Andrew.
The Etsells knew it was possible. A few properties to the south, Vern Siemens of Mt. Lehman Winery has been growing grapes for more than two decades and opened his own winery in 2009.
“We knew we could grow grapes,” Andrew said.
It took a lot of research to determine what grape varieties would grow best in the gently sloped micro-climate and it took a number of years before the first planting.
“I started looking into what varieties would work here,” commented Andrew.
That exploration began in 2005 with the first planting occurring in 2010. While the Etsells did get input from Siemens in terms of root stocks, Garnet found the rest of the industry difficult to gain information from.
“The industry is tight lipped,” he said. “The attitude is ‘we struggled to get information and you’re going to struggle.”
The best information came about when Andrew and Garnet attended a Viticulture conference.
Planting followed with the first two acre block consisting of four varieties: Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, and Siegerrebe.
Of the latter varietal, Garnet said, “There’s not a lot of it, a little bit in B.C.”
Despite the lack of Siegerrebe in the market, the Etsells found a one and a half acre, six year old vineyard not far from their farm that also grows the grape. They lease this vineyard in addition to obtaining some other varieties from the Naramata and Oliver regions.
“We are looking for contract growers,” Garnet noted. “We would like to have a relationship with a grower.”
The first grape harvest for wine was in 2013 which produced about 400 cases.
“That was our 2013 vintage,” Andrew said. “We made two whites out of the Fraser Valley fruit.”
Here is where the story takes a twist. Readers might expect to hear about how Andrew struggled with the wine making and the challenges inherent in that first vintage, but the Etsells chose to work with Okanagan Crush Pad to capitalize on that organization’s experience while they got up to speed on the many other aspects of their venture.
“We’ll continue to work with them until we get to a mass,” Garnet noted of the working relationship.
The 2014 harvest of Siegerrebe went on a 20 foot flat deck truck and Andrew went with it to the Okanagan.
“I have hopes of making the wine down the road here,” said Andrew of future visions. “I will be making the Siegerrebe here.”
The family sees the varietal as being their signature wine in the future. They think of it as a good variety for their region because of the early ripening. Siegerrebe is picked based on the acidity which will be lost if permitted to ripen too long.
“We’ll still be pressing [the grapes] up there [the Okanagan] and bringing the juice down [in the near term],” noted Garnet. “Probably in three years we’ll be building our own production facility. It’s a way to keep the investment reasonable.”
Andrew has taken his certificate in winemaking, but continues to stay focused on the major input – the grapes. It’s what he calls a “grape first” standpoint.
“It’s learning as you go,” he said. “There’s always something to improve on. If you get 100 viticulturists in a room, there’s 100 different ways [to grow grapes and proceed to winemaking].”
One of Andrew’s key learnings was changing the heights of the plants to better coordinate with the seasons on the farm. This also came with an understanding of the soil and its impact on the plants.
“We don’t irrigate because it’s a heavy clay soil,” he said. “It holds a lot of nutrients. Our problem is slowing the plants down. The first two years was learning to have the weeds, to take up some of those nutrients.”
Another learning was the amount of work entailed in planting and pruning. With 11 acres and six varieties now planted, the family will take a break from planting this year to “wait and see what works.”
In the meantime, the Etsell’s can enjoy the fruits of their labour in the tasting room they’ve established that overlooks planted fields.