1 of 4
Photo by Michael Botner
Clos du Soleil
Michael Clark, winemaker and director of winery and vineyard operations at Clos du Soleil.
2 of 4
Photo by Michael Botner
Hugging Tree Winery
Walter and son Brad Makepeace of Hugging Tree Winery take a break outside the new winery.
3 of 4
Photo by Michael Botner
Twisted Hills Craft Cider
Kaylan Madeira and Joe Schneider outside the Twisted Hills Craft Cider Cellar door.
4 of 4
Photo by Michael Botner
Corcelettes Winemaker
Corcelettes Winemaker Charlie Baessler and Jesce at Upper Bench Road Winery.
Quiet, rural, off-the beaten-track, the Similkameen Valley is a refuge from the crowds that descend on the Okanagan’s wineries every summer. But aversion to hype has not slowed the growth of the wine industry in and around the towns of Cawston and Keremeos. A short visit earlier this year revealed a host of recent changes and additions that show the vibrancy of Similkameen’s wine sector.
Corcelettes Estate Winery opened in 2013 on Beecroft River Road where three acres of Chasselas and other white varieties are planted. They’ve expanded in dramatic fashion with the purchase of the former Herder property on Upper Bench Road in Keremeos, where production, tasting and sales facilities will be located as of Easter Weekend. The transaction included a fully-equipped wine-making facility and a mature vineyard planted with five meritage red varieties, as well as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Young and exuberant, residents of the showcase house are Charlie Baessler, the winemaker, whose previous experience includes working under Bertus Albertyne at Burrowing Owl and Lawrence Herder at the very same location, and wife Jesce. Charlie is the son of owners Urs and Barbara Baessler, Swiss immigrants who moved to the Similkameen in 2007, purchasing an organic garlic farm and converting it to vines in 2010.
Next door at Clos du Soleil Winery, the old barn is gone and a state of the art winery, slated to open in the spring, is under construction. “With production at 5,000 cases in 2014, it was just too small,” says Michael Clark, an investor who came on board in 2012 to oversee winery and vineyard operations, and will be the winemaker in 2015. The Cambridge, Ontario native has trained in viticulture and wine-making in Switzerland, Bordeaux, and at UC Davis. The confluence of Bordeaux-type grape varieties and distinctly Similkameen terroir is a “match made in heaven,” he says.
Deep in the heart of Cawston’s peaceful, fruit-growing country, Twisted Hills Craft Cider attracts a steady stream of customers to the rustic cellar door. They are seeking the small-batch, hand-crafted ciders sourced from home-grown, organic cider apples. Named Fairview Cider for the 2014 opening (after the mountain to the east that dominates the landscape), the name infringed on that of a winery of the same name on the other side of the Fairview Mountain. “We’ve been growing English and French cider apples for 7-8 years and decided to start our own cidery, the first in Simikammen”, says Kaylan Madeira, who runs the operation with orchardist husband Joe. “Cider apples are more tannic and have more character than apples for eating,” she adds.
A new family winery in town, Hugging Tree took root in 2005 when career RCMP officers Walter and Cristine Makepeace purchased an organic apple and peach orchard as the first step to starting a winery. Walter planted 20 acres of vines, meritage red varieties and some Viognier, in 2007-8. Syrah planted on a separate block did not do well and had to be removed. Enlisting wine guru Richard Kanazawa for the early vintages, Walter and free spirit son Brad Makepeace took the viticulture and winemaking program at Okanagan College. The new winery with an inviting cellar door opened on August 21, 2014. Hugging Tree is named after a willow tree on the property that provided shade for hard-working father and son during lunch break.
Nearby VineGlass Renewal Resort on the banks of the peaceful Similkameen River is based on an imaginative “earth to plate”, agri-tourism concept that features a wine country resort and a small winery. The genius of the 7,000 vine vineyard is in planting the vines in such a way that a big wine glass can be seen from a nearby hillside. The dream project was the brainchild of partners Jyl Chegwin, a horticulturist and manager of the family farm in the Fraser Valley, and Roger Hol, a veteran grape grower who owned an interest in Andrew Peller Ltd.’s 70 acre Rocky Ridge Vineyard where he tended the vines. When Peller bought him out in 2008, they purchased the farm and Roger planted the vineyard. Sadly, Jyl died of cancer in 2014 as the project neared completion. While VineGlass is open for business in 2015, Roger says he is searching for an investor to share in the future of the venture.
The 2015 Similkameen BBQ King Competition event slated for July 11th will reflect the growth of the wine industry, according to Similkameen Wineries Association spokesperson Kim Lawton. “This year 12 wineries will be participating in the event, up from 9 in 2014,” she says. “As well, we will be expanding the event to take advantage of both sides of the gorgeous and historic Grist Mill and Gardens.”