Living her dream of growing grapes on the Naramata Bench
O&V: How did you get started in wine?
Katherine McEachnie: The moment I swallowed my first Grand Cru Burgundy I became infected by the wine bug. I started going to wine tastings, classes, travelled to taste wines from around the world. I quickly learned that wine is a living thing, always evolving even in the bottle. A particular vintage is a snap shot of a place and time, sculpted with human hands, science and art. The most fascinating part for me was the vineyard, being a steward of the soil was so vital to healthy grapes which makes wine memorable. You cannot make good wine from bad grapes but you can make bad wine from good grapes so winemakers have a very important job to do. The synergy between the vineyard manager and the winemaker is critical for success.
O&V: How has your background shaped your approach to grape growing?
KM: I spent years studying wine (WSET Diploma, IMW, French Wine Scholar), all the while my dream of owning a vineyard was getting louder. When we bought our vineyard on the beautiful Naramata Bench in the Okanagan Valley, I knew I had landed in the heart of someplace really special. My studies in Europe focused on French, Spanish, Italian and German terroir so when I became a vineyard owner I immediately enrolled in the viticulture program at Okanagan College (and at 55 was the oldest student in the class.)
O&V: What lessons have you learned?
KM: Well after nine years I can tell you there is no money in growing grapes. The money it takes to run a vineyard and cultivate grapes is so much more than any price you get for grapes. It’s a labour of love. Also as a farmer, your number one business partner is Mother Nature and she is very unreliable! Just being able to manage your expectations is an important lesson.
O&V: What has challenged you most?
KM: 2024 was the worst year. Mother Nature was very unkind when she decided to warm up to 10°C in January and the vines thought it was spring (the xylem and phloem got busy transporting nutrients from the soil under hydratic pressure up the trunk to the fruiting zone). Then, the temperature dropped to -27°C for over three days! That is intolerable for a vine. Our region was devastated. We were lucky, we only lost 15 percent of our vines in our Pinot Gris vineyard block.
O&V: Are you doing anything differently now?
KM: We’ve signed a new, fully-insured contract to sell our grapes to Three Sisters Winery and we have a five-year plan we are working together on. More fertilizer, better irrigation, more checks and balances along the way. We have always had a line up of wineries asking for our grapes, and have garnered many gold medals with the wines made from them. Our vineyard has sandy loamy soils and we grow exactly what is suited to this soil type, German aromatic varieties as well as Pinot Gris, which is French and a semi-aromatic grape. All make exquisitely flavourful wines.