Photo by Shari Sayanosack
Bill Adams
This month in Orchard & Vine we spoke with William (Bill) Adams, the winemaker at Stoneboat Estate Winery and the Valley Commons winery in Oliver.
O&V: How did you get started in the wine industry?
Bill Adams: Growing up in Ontario I had two influential uncles who made a small amount of wine every season in their basements. I started helping them with pressing and fermentations and really liked the process. After I graduated from high school I was unsure what I wanted to study, but soon found out that Niagara College offered a winemaking program and I thought it would be a good fit for me.
O&V: Where did you go to school or apprentice?
Bill: I went to Niagara College for the winery technician program for three years, and the college had a winery on site for students to make wine and sell it through their wine shop. It was very hands on learning. I then spent two years as Assistant Winemaker at Palatine Hills, but in 2006 I loaded up some of my stuff in a VW golf and drove to the Okanagan to work a harvest at Sumac Ridge, and really enjoyed the area and the mountains.
I got a job that December in the cellar of Osoyoos Larose and never went back again to Niagara. I met (Stoneboat owner) Jay Martiniuk there, and Alison Moyes, the winemaker I took over from at Stoneboat.
In 2011 I worked for my friend Tyler Harlton when he started (TH Wines), then worked briefly at Blue Mountain, and finally started with Stoneboat. Now I make wine for both Stoneboat and Valley Commons.
O&V: Have you worked in any other countries?
Bill: I worked at the Bouchard Finlayson Winery in South Africa in 2008, and in New Zealand at the Ata Rangi Winery in 2009, and the Rock Ferry Winery in 2011.
O&V: What is your favourite varietal to work with?
Bill: Pinot noir is always special to me. All of my overseas experiences have been with top notch Pinot noir producers, and that is also why I accepted the role with Stoneboat. But here we also grow Pinotage, which you don’t see very often in the Okanagan. After the first few years of making Pinotage, I would have to say that it is my favourite. I like the way it grows, and it is the wine I tend to drink more often at home. It’s like a Pinot noir on steroids.
O&V: What is the best thing about your job?
Bill: For me it’s being able to enjoy and drink the fruits of your labour. I like the hard work during the year, cleaning, harvest, bottling. Creating the red blends, as we taste each barrel, a few hundred in our cellar and then starting to layer different lots and barrel profiles to create the best wine we can. It can go on and on in the lab playing around with combinations, we really put a lot of effort into releasing the best wines.
O&V: Is there a particular wine or vintage that you have made that you are most proud of?
Bill: I would say the 2015 vintage at Stoneboat Vineyards. It was my first winemaking job at a large winery and I had a lot of pressure to make something good. The vintage was warm and the wines turned out great. It was only the second time Stoneboat released a reserve Pinot noir. I guess the owners enjoyed that vintage as well because I am still here!