BC Wine Comings & Goings

Indigenous Opens First Nation Winery

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As Nk’Mip Cellars gears up to celebrate National Aboriginal Day on June 21, 2016, it is interesting to consider that it is no longer the only aboriginal-owned and operated winery in B.C. Enter Indigenous World Winery in 2015 with its first wine produced at another winery. In early June 2016, after construction of a winery on the Westbank First Nation lands, it has now opened its doors to the public. High on a bluff overlooking Lake Okanagan, the attractive structure offers an inviting, smartly-designed cellar door, a large balcony on two sides with lots of tables and chairs, and plenty of parking. Built below, the winemaking facility boasts a 10,000 case capacity. In the works are ambitious plans for a restaurant, a distillery, and an outdoor amphitheatre.

Indigenous World is the brainchild of Chief Robert Louie of the Westbank First Nation, who has charged consulting winemaker Jason Parkes with making award-winning wines. Apart from a three-acre vineyard planted on WFN land, which is not yet in production, all of the grapes are sourced from established growers in the Okanagan. The labels are inspired by the aboriginal name for a mystical, alpine deer with large antlers, called “Hee-Hee-Tel-Kin.”

Katie O’Kell learns ‘flotation' from NZ

Back in the saddle as second in charge at Serendipity Winery on the Naramata Bench, Katie O’Kell has returned from a stint at a major winery in New Zealand where she worked the harvest for the 2016 harvest. It follows completion of an online winemaking degree program at the University of California designed for those that already work in the industry. O’Kell realized that just hands-on experience was not enough to make a mark as a winemaker.

“My passion is winemaking and I realized that I needed to expand both my know-how and horizons,” O’Kell says.  “Taking the university program at UC Davis, one of the most respected in North America, provided a thorough knowledge of quality control and sensory analysis, viticulture, the history of winemaking as well as the biology of wine.”

To get experience beyond Okanagan borders, she chose New Zealand because it is most similar to BC, and she could work a harvest during spring in the southern hemisphere and return in time for the fall vintage at Serendipity. She chose Delegat Winery in the Marlborough region of the South Island, an ultra-modern facility that processed some of the same grape varieties produced by Serendipity such as Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.

O’Kell gained invaluable experience working on the “flotation” team at Delegat. It is a process for rapidly removing suspended solids in the wine using micro-bubbles of food grade nitrogen injected into the must, along with bentonite and gelatine. Among its benefits, “it gives a winemaker greater control of the degree of desired clarification, and can improve the efficiency of filtration and water usage,” says O’Kell. “It is a new technology that is just beginning to be implemented in the Okanagan, and I want to be ahead of the curve.”

Canada’s northernmost winery

Look to Prince George, at 53.5 degrees latitude, for Canada’s northernmost winery. Northern Lights Estate Winery is a full three degrees closer to the Arctic Circle than Celista Estate Winery, which is located above the north shore of Shuswap Lake. The first big difference is that Northern Lights is exclusively a fruit winery and the second, has a significant market on the doorstep. Long involved in business and politics, the prominent Bell family took on the challenge of creating a winery on the banks of Nechako River. Managing partner and developer of Northern Lights is Doug Bell, son of Brenda and Pat Bell, whose interest in wine making began during Pat’s tenure as the provincial minister of Agriculture and Lands 2005-2008. Striving for soil regeneration, biodiversity and water conservation, the Bells planted a 3-acre orchard with a variety of fruits suitable to local conditions, including blueberry, strawberry, haskap, gooseberry, apple, cherry, raspberry, blueberry and rhubarb. The impressive winery features a production facility, cellar door, and a patio overlooking the orchard and Nechako River, and includes plans for a restaurant.

Doug Bell explains Northern Lights winemaking philosophy as follows: "Fruit wine making has evolved incredibly over the past several years. Historically fruit wines did not achieve the same quality expectations that grape wines had and were often sweet and low in alcohol. Fruit wines today have alcohol, acidity, tannin, body, and structure like never before. We build the wines at Northern Lights Estate Winery with fruit forward boldness but the structure expectations of a grape. Individuals are finding new ways of using these wines and can find the perfect wine to pair with any meal they choose. We believe in starting with the best quality and sustainably harvested fruit while experimenting with new and bold varieties and ensuring alcohol and acidity are above expectations. Then we use innovated techniques and oak to bring new characteristics to the wines that are unexpected. Lastly we blend multiple varieties of fruits into our different wines to create complexity and character rivaling wines everywhere."

Play Estate Winery

Situated on leased band lands near Penticton airport, Play Estate Winery also opened its doors on June 2016. Part of the Skaha Hills Resort Community, a development sponsored by the Penticton Indian Band, Play is a privately-owned partnership between Mohamed Awad, the winery’s general manager and Jason Pechet, CEO of iconic Stagewest Hospitality in Calgary, along with a few other silent investors. The project includes a 12 acre, south east-facing hillside vineyard planted two years ago with Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Muscat, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier.  

Despite the name, and the ownership by Stagewest, a major owner and operator of hotels, restaurants and casinos throughout Alberta, Play has taken an unusual low key approach to running its operation. Functionality and simplicity supersede glitz in the modern-style winery facility, which houses a wine shop/tasting lounge with a multi-purpose indoor and outdoor bistro/function space topping a well-equipped 4,000 case winery below. The positioning of Play high above Penticton Airport and Skaha Lake provides dramatic, sweeping views of the South Okanagan and beyond. If you think that the name “Play” indicates a frivolous theme, that is not the intention. Think of an evening out at the theatre, alluding to the Stagewest Hospitality connection.

Celebrating 25 Years

In typically low-key fashion, Blue Mountain Estate Vineyard & Cellars joins the exclusive ranks of Okanagan wineries that have reached the 25-year mark, and joining Wild Goose Vineyards as the second in Okanagan Falls. But the Blue Mountain story stretches back further to 1971 when Jane and Ian Mavety planted hybrid grape varieties on the undulating Vaseux Bench hillside with an iconic south-west panorama. After visiting France, they broke with conventional wisdom and converted to Burgundy and Alsatian varieties in the 1980s.

Their son Matt, exposed to vineyard work during a summer job at age 14, started full-time at Blue Mountain in 1997 after following in his father’s footsteps and completing his own degree in agriculture from UBC. As an exchange student, he studied viticulture and oenology at Lincoln University in New Zealand.

Explaining the winemaking philosophy, Matt Mavety says, “My job is not to stamp or define the wines, but simply to let the grapes come through. They should be subtle, not aggressive or heavy. I prefer to make wines people will enjoy with food.” A 17,000 case winery, the grapes are grown exclusively on the family’s 80-acre Blue Mountain vineyard, which encompasses 22 acres of adjoining leased land. Surrounded by a Big Horn sheep reserve, a protected conservation area, Blue Mountain’s isolation allows the Mavetys to practice sustainable farming with little worry of contamination. The ivy covered cellar door and winery with shaded courtyard affords a peaceful, old world charm. A family operation, Matt is the winemaker and works with Ian in the vineyard, while his sister Christie handles sales and marketing with their mother Jane.

Official opening dates tell the official story, not the whole story. In the case of Kettle Valley Winery, 2016 marks the 25th vintage of making stand-out wines on Naramata Bench, an occasion it is celebrating with activities, special pricing and anniversary events. It is the story of avid amateur winemakers Bob Ferguson and Tim Watts who married sisters Colleen Ferguson and Janet Watts, and then decided to team up to grow their own grapes. They bought their first property on Naramata Bench in 1986 and planted Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in 1987, and added Old Main Vineyard with Bordeaux varieties in 1998.

“The Bench location offers the best combination of soils, late day sun and moderating effects of the lake,” explains Tim Watts.

In a garage on the property, they launched Kettle Valley Winery in 1996, naming it after the historic rail line right of way running across the top of Naramata Bench. They were the third winery on the Bench and the 23rd to open in BC. After steady growth and a portfolio of 25 wines, winemaking has been moved to a dedicated facility on the property, while the garage still houses a small tasting room. What has not changed is the winemaking duo’s uncompromising focus on growing full-flavoured fruit and making bold, age-worthy wines. ■