Ann Sperling
This month the featured winemaker in Orchard & Vine is the biggest globetrotter we know in the Canadian wine industry.
Ann Sperling is the founder of Sperling Vineyards, a highly regarded winery in southeast Kelowna that has been farmed since the 1860s, and growing wine grapes since the 1920s!
But Sperling is also involved in other wineries far from British Columbia, including work at wineries in Ontario and Nova Scotia, and owning a second winery in the spectacular Argentinian wine region of Mendoza, located in the shadow of the Andes.
O & V: How did you get started in the wine industry?
Ann Sperling: Growing up in an Okanagan Valley vineyard really helped pique my interest in grape vines and eventually winemaking.
Back in the 1980s when we were just finding our stride growing vinifera grapes most of the winemakers I met were European. Knowing the terroir as I did, it inspired me to put my local Canadian stamp on the wines we grew.
O & V: Where did you go to school or apprentice?
Ann Sperling: 100% local, at the UBC Faculty of Agriculture, now called Land & Food.
O & V: Have you worked in any other countries?
Ann Sperling: There was always so much to be learned by travelling to other wine regions, seeing their vineyards and cellars, and talking and tasting with the winemakers so I made a point of visiting at least two wine regions per year while I was juggling having babies and making wine.
Later, with my husband Peter Gamble, we researched over 200 properties then purchased a tiny 1920 planting of Malbec in Mendoza that we call Versado.
We’re there every harvest to make the current vintage and blend-up and bottle the previous two years. It’s wonderful to be in a completely different wine region each year but also catch up on the latest technical and style-trends breaking in the Southern hemisphere.
I currently make wine and consult in three Canadian provinces: British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia, along with Mendoza, Argentina.
O & V: What is your favourite varietal to work with?
Ann Sperling: Tough one! Each region has its strengths, so specific varietals work better in some places more than others. At Sperling Vineyards, I love making the Riesling year after year. Its stunning and reliable; old vines have such depth and character. The best part is going back and tasting the old verticals and finding the 2009s as fresh and intense as 2018s but with added complexity.
O & V: What is the best thing about your job?
Ann Sperling: So many things make it fun and challenging. A different focus with each season. Working outdoors amongst the vines. Being part of the elevage (“raising up”) of living/evolving wines. Passionate people to work with and share our wines with. Trying to out-smart Mother Nature … and by the way, it’s impossible...
O & V: Is there a particular wine or vintage that you have made that you are most proud of?
Ann Sperling: Being recognized for outstanding individual wines over the years (1992 Merlot CedarCreek - Platinum Award; 2010 Pinot Blanc Icewine - Mondial des Pinots Grand D’Or & Prix Meilleur/ Grand-Gold and Best of Show) is rewarding but recognition for a body of work as the 2021 Riedel Winemaker of the Year is a true honour.
(Editor’s Note: The Riedel Award from the Cambridge Food & Wine Society recognizes achievements in the global wine industry and the creation of fine wines around the world. In the past it has recognized such luminaries as Robert Mondavi, Miguel Torres, Lamberto Marchesi de Frescobaldi, Eduardo Chadwick and Sandro Bottega, among others.