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Dennis Begin
Summerland’s Emerging Wine Industry
View from Thornhaven Estate Winery
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Dennis Begin
Summerland’s Emerging Wine Industry
Sage Hill Winery with view of Okanagan Lake.
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Dennis Begin
Summerland’s Emerging Wine Industry
Dirty Laundry Vineyard. Entrance to winery is past washing machines.
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Dennis Begin
Summerland’s Emerging Wine Industry
Dirty Laundry wine bar in tasting room.
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Dennis Begin
Summerland’s Emerging Wine Industry
View of Okanagan Lake north to Peachland.
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Dennis Begin
Summerland’s Emerging Wine Industry
Okanagan Crush Pad tasting room.
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Dennis Begin
Summerland’s Emerging Wine Industry
Okanagan Crush Pad Organic Winery. Cement and traditional wooden barrows.
Story & photos by Dennis Begin
Two decades ago, people would joke about the quality of British Columbia wines, preferring wines from the Napa Valley in California or the Burgundy Region of France. That attitude no longer exists, as BC wines can compete with any wines around the world. In April, 2017, at the 34th International Wine Challenge in London, England, the gold medal was won by the Meyer Family Vineyards near Oliver for their Pinot Noir. Other winning wineries include CC Jentsch Cellars, Church and State Wines and Popular Grove Winery.
The viticultural or wine industry is not very old in our province, with the first winery being Calona Wines, dating back to 1931. In 1984, there were only 13 wineries operating in BC. There are now 929 vineyards and 341 licensed wineries across the province, with 171 wineries located in the Okanagan Valley. The starting point began nearly 30 years ago with the creation of the BC Vintners Quality Alliance (BCVQA), the organization that certifies wines and supervises the wine industry. Today, wine contributes 2.8 billion dollars into the BC economy, with BC wines so popular they are now sold at Save On Foods.
Many wine lovers have taken wine tours in the Naramata Bench, located north of Penticton. Some of the more popular wineries include, Kettle Valley, Lang and Red Rooster. Others prefer the wine of Central Okanagan, such as Mission Hill, Summerhill Pyramid, Mt. Boucherie and Quail’s Gate. In the South Okanagan are popular wineries like Burrowing Owl, Stag’s Hollow and the Gehringer Brothers.
Summerland Wines
To make good wine it is necessary to have good grapes. Summerland is one of the emerging regions for wine production, with 18 wineries and four cider companies. Summerland is part of the Okanagan Valley’s designated appellation region, which is a geographic region that matches grapes with the soil. There are five growing appellation regions in BC, including Vancouver Island, Fraser Valley, Gulf Islands, Similkameen Valley and of course, the Okanagan Valley. The quality of wine produced depends on soil type, temperature, moisture, slope of the vineyards and of course, the sun. The best grapes around Summerland for red wine are Riesling, Merlot, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah. For white wine, the grapes are Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Blanc.
The easiest way to explore the Summerland wineries is to drive the Bottleneck Drive, which is 8 to 10 km long, extending from Dirty Laundry in the south to Savard Winery north of Summerland.
The Bottleneck Drive
The first stop is the Visitor Centre in Summerland to pick up a map of Bottleneck Drive, then head south on Victoria Road. The road meanders through orchards, vineyards and wineries, but there are plenty of directional signs. Wine tasting is not a race, so select four or five wineries and savour the experience. In most wineries the wine tasting is free, or your money is refunded when you purchase a bottle of their wine.
Our first stop was the boutique-style Dirty Laundry Vineyard. The background story behind this winery starts with a laundry business that was not making money, so the owner added a second floor brothel, which did made money. Men left the Dirty Laundry with a smile on their face and clean clothes. The facilities now include a first-class restaurant, wine store and, of course, a tasting bar. The Kettle Valley Railroad even passes through the vineyard, adding to the ambiance.
Our second stop was the Thornhaven Estates Winery, located at the base of Giant’s Head Mountain, which is an old volcano. The breathtaking view of the South Summerland Hills is a great place to sip merlot and watch the day drift by.
The third stop was Haywire Winery at Okanagan Crush Pad. With a name like ‘Crush Pad’, the wine has to be good. This is an organic vineyard that is free of synthetic herbicides, pesticides and fungicides. There are very few wineries in BC that are organic, requiring a different winemaking process. Crush Pad also provides a tour of the winery and explains how their wine is made, using concrete tanks to age the wine.
The fourth stop was the Sage Hills Estate Winery, also an organic winery. They specialize in Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Gewarztraminer grapes, selecting the grapes to match the soil and Summerland’s temperate microclimate. The tasting room also has a million dollar view of Lake Okanagan, north or south.
What about the wine? My favorite wine is a merlot, but there are many other excellent wines along Bottleneck Drive. Of the Top 30 wineries in the Okanagan Valley, Dirty Laundry is ranked #8, Okanagan Crush Pad is #10 and Thornhill Estates is ranked #11. Some of the red wines we purchased included a 2015 Pinot Noir from Dirty Laundry, a 1914 merlot from Thornhaven Estates, a Narrative Cabernet and a white 2014 Pinot Gris from Sage Hills. We also visited the tasting rooms of a few other wineries and discovered Syrah wines, an emerging red wine in the Okanagan.
Salut.