Doug Bell isn’t standing at the bottling line counting, but he knows that sometime next spring Northern Lights Estate Winery will see its one millionth bottle come through. With the first vintage of fruit wine produced in 2014, the milestone is a significant one, especially given that the Prince George-based winery grows much of the fruit onsite.
It began in 2011 when Bell, the operating partner of Northern Lights Estate Winery, and his dad, former B. C. Minister of Agriculture and Lands, Pat Bell, chatted about different wines they might produce.
“What we found was that our growth zone in Prince George was good enough to grow grapes, but not always good enough for them to ripen the way we needed,” says Doug.
But a chance visit to Bonaparte Bend Winery, then operating in Cache Creek, changed everything.
“We nearly walked out when we discovered it was a fruit winery,” he says, but the owner persuaded them to try a taste.
“We were absolutely blown away that the wines had the same acidity, tannins and body as grapes wines. There was an infinite number of new flavour profiles. Prior to that, we assumed all fruit wines were sweet, fruity and juicy — more like dessert wines. That was not the case with these wines.”
Construction on the winery began in 2013. Built on the banks of the Nechako River, the winery opened its doors in 2015 and quickly grew to be B.C.’s largest fruit winery.
Just as grape wines have a range of varietals, so do the types of fruit used in Northern Lights wines.
“Historically, fruit wines were just called blueberry, strawberry or cranberry. We spent a lot of time making a lot of different wines with a lot of different varietals of fruit.”
Some ingredients, like rhubarb (technically a vegetable), can produce usable yields in the first year. To meet demand, Bell established partnerships with other B.C. growers—a practice that continues today—enabling the winery to scale up production swiftly. When Bonaparte Bend’s owners retired, he acquired their equipment, which the winery soon outgrew.
“Today we’re producing about 10,000 cases of wine per year which varies a little bit because we’ve also had more of an opportunity to do different things,” he says, noting that wine is produced in bottles, cans, bags and pouches.
If he has a choice, Bell would like Seduction, the winery’s flagship rosé-styled fruit wine, to be the millionth bottle. Its subtle strawberry notes, creamy mouth feel and smooth finish appeals to wine lovers alike.
“That has become the most popular fruit wine in British Columbia by far,” says Bell. “We produce over 3,000 cases of that wine per year. It has been recognized for its complexity and character.”