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Photo by Michael Botner
Harry McWatters and Christa Lee-McWatters
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Photo by Michael Botner
Graham Pierce
To describe Time simply as an urban winery does not do justice to Harry McWatters’ latest endeavor. The completion of Time Winery involves the transformation of the historic Pen-mar movie theatre on Main Street in downtown Penticton into a cutting edge winery complex. The project is the culmination of half a century as a pioneer in the BC wine industry.
The journey to this innovative new winery began in 1968 when McWatter’s legendary wine career began at Casabello, a winery established in 1966 on Main Street in South Penticton, literally just down the road from Time.
Before the purchase of the old theatre in 2016, the Time Winery project took a few twists and turns followed by challenges and delays during the design and construction phases. As president and CEO of Encore Vineyards, owners of Time, McWatters Collection and Evolve Cellars, McWatters originally slated his 60-acre, Black Sage Road property known as Sundial Vineyard as the venue for Time.
But, partway through the project, along came former Hong Kong, Vancouver-based entrepreneur Bill Lui who made an offer “we could not refuse” for the property and the partly completed winery.
The search began for a new location and McWatters soon zeroed in on the old theatre, vacant since 2012 when Landmark Theatres moved to the sleek, new Pen-Mar Cinema Centre nearby.
“As part of the ill-fated effort to save old Pen-Mar and turn it into a community theatre, I was already aware of its availability,” he says. “Get me inside for a look, I told the realtor at our first meeting over breakfast.”
Already stripped of all the seats, the size of the four theatres impressed McWatters. They had potential for use as key components of the medium to large scale winery complex as Time’s fermentation hall, barrel room, storage room and multi-function event room. Two years later, as Time prepares to receive the 2018 vintage, the winery is up and running. Only the multi-purpose events room, used as the construction shop, requires completion.
Save for the foundation and original roof of the four theatres and the cement block walls, not much remains of the original cinema that McWatters recalls first visiting in 1957 for a Saturday afternoon matinee during Penticton Peach Fest, soon after the building opened on Christmas Eve 1956.
The massive renovation of the building has resulted in an impressive, 12,000 sq. ft. winery complex on one acre of land. The parking lot on the north side is used as the crush pad and has been designed to take extra equipment and tanks to accommodate future expansion. The plan is to start at 25,000 cases in 2018 and gradually increase production to 40,000 cases, the maximum capacity feasible.
Photo by Chris Stenberg
Innovations have been utilized to boost wine quality, efficiency and reduce cost and space requirements. These include raising the raw juice to tank height by lifting the containers rather than pumping the juice through hoses and using hard lines built into the substantial walls to connect the working areas from crush pad to bottling lines.
Such features “reduce distance and handling of wine in crowded, compact spaces, big pluses for a winery our size,” says winemaker Graham Pierce. When Pierce or McWatters hold a winemaker’s dinner in the temperature- controlled fermentation hall, built-in water coils will heat the floor without changing the ambient temperature.
From the street, Time’s modern, inviting winery facility bears no physical resemblance to the old structure – described by some as “bunker-like.” Clean lines and two stories of windows that cover most of the frontage of the building shout: functional and friendly.
Once inside, the visitor enters a bright, airy, spacious atrium which houses the wine shop and tasting area, and a bistro which serves a Mediterranean-inspired menu. A fully equipped kitchen supports special events and dinners whether held in the inviting atrium, the as yet unfinished multi-purpose theatre and events room or in the winery itself.
The mezzanine level – where the old cinema’s projection room used to be – has been converted into a suite of offices and meeting rooms.
The move from Sundial Vineyard in Oliver to a property in downtown Penticton without a vineyard has meant switching from a land-based winery license to commercial winery license. Most significantly for customers, the expanding range of wines offered by Encore Vineyards including those of Time Winery, Harry McWatters Collection and Evolve Cellars are all available at Time. A new méthode champenoise McWatters Collection sparkling wine will be released in 2019. Looking back at the challenges of converting the historic movie theatre into a world-class winery in downtown Penticton, McWatters gives a trademark response.
“I probably wouldn’t have done it,” he says. “The project took a lot more time and expense as well as endless approvals than we anticipated. On the other hand,” he quips partly in jest, “this is where I want to be if there’s an earthquake. It’s one of the safest buildings in town – and there’s lots of food and wine.” ■