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Photo by Kim Elsasser mpa
Ciao Bella
Roberto and Sharon Fiume enjoy some of their family's estate wines on the sun drenched patio of the Ciao Bella Winery in West Kelowna.
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Ciao Bella Label
The label of Ciao Bella’s 2015 Pinot Nero is a flashback to 1956: 25-year-old Luigi Fiume took a picture of his future wife, Melina while she was riding her Vespa scooter on a summer’s day in Napoli, in southern Italy.
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Photo by Kim Elsasser mpa
Fiume family
Olivia, Sharon, Roberto and Antonio Fiume.
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Photo by Kim Elsasser mpa
In the vineyard
Roberto and his son Antonio tend the vineyard.
Flashback to 1956: 25-year-old Luigi Fiume took a picture of his future wife, Melina while she was riding her Vespa scooter on a summer’s day in Napoli, in southern Italy. That picture is now the label of Ciao Bella’s 2014 Pinot Rose, one of three wines produced at the winery which the young couple inspired. The label of Ciao Bella’s 2014 Pinot Grigio features Luigi himself cutting a handsome figure in a suit and tie against a backdrop of an Italian vineyard.
It’s been 60 years since Nonno (Grandpa) Luigi and Nonna (Grandma) Melina arrived in Canada. As new immigrants, they settled in Yellowknife in Canada’s north where the family grew a successful pizzeria and European deli business. Looking for a change, the family moved to Kelowna in 1986 and bought a 10-acre parcel of land on the upper bench in West Kelowna.
A pivotal point was when the North American Free Trade Agreement introduced a vine pulling program where local growers were paid to remove non-viniferous crops and replace them with viniferous vines in the late 1980s. Luigi removed the majority of his vines but kept a few to make “vino” for himself, family and friends; these vines are still growing today.
Having grown up in this environment where determination, hard work and respect for the land were part of everyday life, Luigi and Melina’s son Robert (Roberto) would eventually be drawn to the wine-making business himself. Many people know Robert Fiume through his 16-year career in the insurance industry - he is a partner in Capri Insurance, one of the largest independent insurance agencies in British Columbia. Growing up with “agriculture in my blood” led him to specialize in agriculture and winery insurance.
Roberto and his wife Sharon built a house on the family’s acreage across the street from Luigi and Melina. Sharon, who has extensive retail and customer service experience, was also working full time while the couple raised their two children, Antonio, now 14 and Olivia, 9. Despite the couple’s busy lives, they no sooner started thinking about starting a winery on the property than three generations of Fiumes went at work to make it happen.
Work began to prepare the vineyard site for replanting in 1998. Roberto, Sharon, Luigi and Melina all worked together putting in posts, rock picking and finally planting the vines that are producing the grapes used in making Ciao Bella’s wine today. The youngest Fiumes learned to pitch in where they could; Antonio would help put up posts for the new Pinot Grigio plantings and young Olivia would help pick rocks, with both helping to pick the mature fruit at harvest time.
“There were a lot of rocks to deal with and many people said Pinot Noir grapes wouldn’t grow well here but we persevered,” Roberto says. “”Fiume” after all, means ‘river’ in Italian and rivers don’t stop!
An early discovery was that some of the original vines planted in the Okanagan over 60 years ago were located on the property along with the crudely made posts that supported them. Several of these original vines have been preserved among the new plantings and continue to produce eating grapes. A new wine tasting shop was built along with a patio area for licensed tastings and a picnicking area added as well. The doors officially opened in the summer of 2015 based on the first production of 800 cases.
Even with the family’s grape growing background and the fact they owned the land, there were considerable challenges associated with starting even a small winery. “We still had to operate the vineyard and buy everything from barrels, processing equipment, bottles and labels,” Roberto says. “Five acres is not a hobby farm – it’s a huge commitment!” Several part time workers are hired to help with vineyard work and Sharon now works in the wine shop five days a week during the busy season.
Most of the wine-making equipment was brought in from Italy through local suppliers; Cellar Tek and Bosa Grape and the wine shop is carefully appointed with authentic Italian products, from food items to espresso makers.
When it comes to the main product, however, local winemaker Jim Faulkner receives major credit. Well known for his work with several other Okanagan wineries, “Jim helped us achieve exactly what we wanted, it was a very successful collaboration.”
For a winemaker, there is nothing better than working with someone who really cares about his grapes, says Faulkner. “Roberto has taken exceptional care of his vineyard; it’s just clean fresh fruit. The average yield was 2.25 tons of grapes per acre which means 100 percent of the energy can go to the plants compared to a more densely planted vineyard.”
Photo by Kim Elsasser mpa
Roberto
Roberto in the barrel room
The proof is in the sales and two awards already won by this young winery. Its Pinot Rose won a Silver Medal at the 2015 BC Wine Awards and is already two-thirds sold. Only half of the original bottling of Pinot Grigio remains. Most recently, Ciao Bella won Best of Varietal, Pinot Noir at the Okanagan Wine Festival competition for its 2014 Pinot Nero. Word-of-mouth and a rapidly growing Facebook following are the winery’s main forms of marketing.
Ciao Bella is now one of three small estate wineries on Glencoe Road built in recent years including Kalala Organic Winery and Off the Grid Winery.
“Each is somewhat unique and we all have stories to share with one another and our customers,” Roberto says.
Future plans include planting more grapes – an additional acre devoted to Pinot Grigio is already being planted. Bocce tournaments on the property are a possibility along with outdoor movie nights, a popular Italian pastime. Meanwhile, the venture has added a new dimension to Roberto and Sharon’s relationship as proprietors of Ciao Bella.
“Roberto has always been the visionary ready to jump in with a new idea,” says Sharon. “I tend to stand back and say what about this and that to provide some balance.”
A little bit of authentic Italy is alive and well at Ciao Bella as a growing number of visitors and locals enjoy the chance to sample the wines and visit with Luigi and Melina, now in their 80s, Roberto and Sharon and their children, and the family’s German Shepherd pup appropriately named 'Bella'.
“We’re proud of our Italian Canadian heritage and our tastings are like a celebration,” Roberto says. “It’s our way of saying, ‘Thank you for coming.’ ” ■
