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Prudence Mahrer and Beat Mahrer
Prudence and Beat Mahrer
Today (2025) Prudence and Beat Mahrer run one of Canada's most successful Wineries on the Naramata Bench, Ruby Blues Winery. Its small but funky winery. In a song by the Rolling Stones" Goodbye Ruby Tuesday " there is a line: " catch your dreams before they slip away." It reflects why the Mahrers returned to start a second winery allowing Prudence more contact with the people*. On the production building there is a 30 meter mural symbolizing the lyrics from the song. However they had to change the name to Ruby Blues due to copy-rites issues. Their first and very successful winery was Red Rooster.**
Having traveled to British Columbia during their youth, and attracted by Canada’s land of opportunity, Prudence and Beat Mahrer emigrated to Canada in the spring of 1990. The couple, hailing from Switzerland, ran a very successful fitness business where Prudence was a celebrated bodybuilder, as Swiss champion for 17 years on the world stage. This gave her the focus to be extremely disciplined in achieving her goals. Beat was a carpenter by trade and pooling their strengths, they went on to build three wineries over the years.
Back in Switzerland at the age of 16 Prudance became a Physical Educator. She took a three year apprenticeship majoring in dance and Gymnastics. Later she choose to concentrate on fitness and weight training as well as physio rehabilitation. Together with 2 friends we opened up one of the first private fitness centres in Switzerland, with Saunas, steam baths and swimming pools. ( Always remember that I had NO money…) Over the time frame of 8 years they had more than 2000 long term members and 3 centres in 2 cities, plus a company selling fitness cloths and health/supplement food.
Their trajectory into the wine industry began when they first moved to Naramata and bought an apple orchard. After a few harvests, they changed the steep lot of their property from apples to grapes, specifically chardonnay and merlot. The rootstock, which came from France, had to undergo very rigorous testing from the Canada Food Inspection Agency. This was at a time when there were only four wineries on the Naramata Bench, and there was very little in the way of information about grape growing . The wine industry in Canada was still in its fledging years. and no equipment to build vineyards using things like post-pounders, surveying instruments or even experienced employees to assist in the beginning stages of creating vineyards and growing grapes.
Prudence MahrerBoth Beat and Prudence became private pilots fairly soon after arriving in Canada. Prudence also became a commercial pilot. There was a time when they were debating to go into the flying business as they owned 2 small planes on floats and a cabin up North. We still have the cabin there in Nimpo Lake and I have the most fondest memories.
Beat and Big BlueBeat derived from the Latin name Beatus, which means "blessed"
In 1994, Harry McWatters – another maverick and pioneer of the Okanagan’s burgeoning wine industry – suggested to the Mahrers they branch out into the winery business instead of just growing grapes. With guidance from now well-known Eric Von Krosigk, who was the only consultant at the time, Beat was mentored into learning the tricks and trades of the wine industry. Eric was a wonderful teacher and never said no to any ideas. Through improvisation, determination and grit, the duo, along with Krosigk’s help, had to dig deep to realize their goals. For example, for their first wine press, Beat had to fly to Switzerland to buy a used one, and they were the first customers to install a chiller system, a key piece of equipment to aid in the start of fermentation.
Their first winery was located at 940 Lower Debeck Road in Naramata. Here there was this very steep slope, which was planted with Apricots. However they had to pull them out because of age. Knowing hat in Switzerland they had very steep slopes planted with grapes. The thought was: if they can grow apples, peaches, apricots and cherries here, we also can grow grapes…..
Over the years, the Mahrers planted over 100 acres of vineyards on the Naramata Bench, on properties owned by the couple and on those owned by friends with a kindred pioneer spirit.
With systems in place, Red Rooster Winery was proudly born in 1997 in Naramata, on the property where the Mahrers also lived at the time. The couple began with five wines: one a blend with the clever name, “Bantam”; several ice wines; one of the first Champagne-method wines; a vin santo, and; several now fairly obscure white wine varieties such as vidal and verdelet.
With their continued success, they soon outgrew the site. So with the same entrepreneurial spirit, they started to design and build a newer and larger production facility with an expansive wine shop building closer to Penticton on the Naramata Bench. (The original location was sold and is now home to Therapy Winery and Guest House.)
The second Red Rooster Winery
In the fall of 2002, Beat first moved the fermentation tanks to the new site and started to improvise and build again, creating a dazzling showpiece on the Naramata Bench.Incorporating a love of nature, art and music, the newly re imagined Red Rooster became renowned for events and weddings – and wine – and was the first winery site with an upstairs art gallery. A talented roster of artists were featured monthly and the Mahrers held a series of successful Bohemian Wine Festivals, where monies raised were donated to the Naramata Elementary School for art supplies.
During the height of their success, Peller Estates, a Canadian-based company with many wineries in their portfolio became very interested in the Mahrer’s winery. And after a series of negotiations, it was sold in 2005. But Peller did not purchase the various small vineyards Beat and Prudence owned, so the Mahrers went back to their roots of growing grapes.
With one foot still in the business, and with a three-year non-competition clause with Peller, Prudence had time to formulate another plan to get back into the business she loved so much.
In the spring of 2007, Ruby Blues Winery – initially named Ruby Tuesday (after one of Prudence’s favourite songs) – was launched. Beat, who declined to be an operator but instead tend to the vines, gave her his full support for the boutique winery, with a declared goal of “not to become big.”
The vibe at the boutique winery is funky and non-pretentious, a fun place with exceptional wines from well-established vines, all from the Naramata Bench. The spirit of art and music continues to flourish here with artists participating in the design and décor throughout, and a 60s peace and love theme including colourfully-painted vintage VW vans.
The wines at Ruby Blues have boasted countless awards including the most memorable: the four times when BC’s Lieutenant Governor came to Ruby Blues to personally hand them the awards – one of the most coveted and prestigious of BC’s wine awards.
Fast forward to 2024. Together with winemaker Graham Pierce, who has the same amount of years of experience in the industry, Prudence and Pierce have launched new products such as sparking wine in cans, and a low-alcohol, low-calorie piquette to address new tastes in alcohol consumption.In an era when tasting room fees are routine, Ruby Tuesday only asks that its guests smile. If they are not smiling when they arrive, they are certain to be smiling by the time they leave. John Schreiner.
The Mahrers are know to be very kind to the people who help with their harvest. They serve several traditional comforting meals over the harvest season. Prudence is known for her signature pumpkin soup, warm with curry and cayenne spice, Tyrolian-bacon or speck – a nod to the couple’s Swiss roots – and made extra rich by incorporating cream and eggs. It’s served with thick slices of Beat’s 18-hour no-knead bread.
They are also know for donation to local charitable organizations.
There is a tasting fee at Ruby Blues The tasting fee is A SMILE
Now a days when wineries are charging up to $20.- (or more) for a tasting and do not waive with purchase, (or only with purchase of 3 or 6 bottles), they are selling tastings and not wine. This is our opinion, and we earned countless compliments for doing so. Just because of that, nobody leaves without purchase and on top with the highest recommendation to everyone they meet.
With a smile on her face, Prudence says, “for most of the years, I was the first to come in, and the last to leave the building. Now I have the most amazing core team around me, and I am now the last to come in and the first to go out. Prudence says, I enjoy working in the vineyards. In early summer you will see me selecting and tucking shoots. And in all these 25 years I never missed one harvest day! So wave to the vineyard workers when you drive in to our place, it might be me....”I can say, that Ruby is doing extremely well in this rather hard time of economic crisis.
I am super proud and grateful for my staff and business model.
An interesting fact when Red Rooster Winery won a Lieutenant-Governor’s Award of Excellence in 2003 for a Gewürztraminer, Prudence Mahrer, rushed to buy a new dress because the awards ceremony was in the intimidating ballroom of Government House in Victoria.
A few of Ruby Blues Awards
2016 Lieutenant Governors Award of Excellence for Canadian Wines
for the Viognier 20152015 Lieutenant Governors Award of Excellence for Canadian Wines
for the Viognier 20142014 Lieutenant Governors Award of Excellence for Canadian Wines
for our Viognier 20132012 Lieutenant Governors Award of Excellence for Canadian Wines
for our Viognier 20112020 All Canadian Wine Championships – Double Gold for our Gewürztraminer 2019
2018 All Canadian Wine Championships – Peace & Love & Bubbles, Sparkling Wine of the Year
2016 All Canadian Wine Championships – Double Gold for our Commune Pinot Gris 2015
2015 All Canadian Wine Championships – Double Gold for our Ruby Blues Viognier 2014
* Prudence Mahrer is an effervescent personality who grew up with the music and culture of the 1960s. That included a Rolling Stones song, Goodbye Ruby Tuesday, about a free-spirited young woman following her dream. That inspired the name of the winery when, following her dream, she convinced her husband, Beat, to launch their second Naramata winery in 2008. Unfortunately, an American restaurant chain with 900 locations, Ruby Tuesday’s, has been around since the 1970s (with a single Canadian location in Niagara Falls). When they objected, Prudence renamed the winery Ruby Blues in an apparent allusion to a Beatles song. “Some of the songs from the Sixties have so much meaning in them,” she believes.
**Red Rooster Winery, which opened in 1997, was their first. They sold the chateau-styled winery in 2005 to Andrew Peller Ltd., intending to retire. They travelled in winter and piloted their floatplanes in summer. Prudence, who also spent the summers running their 5.6 hectares (14 acres) of vineyard, soon discovered how much she missed the winery and meeting the public. Had there been a support group for ex-winery owners, she says, she would have joined it. That is why at 55 (she was born in Switzerland in 1953), she persuaded her husband to start Ruby Tuesday. “That’s the reason why I wanted to start again,” she says. “I can easily do another 10 to 15 years.” Believe it: she and Beat are remarkably athletic, having run fitness centres in Switzerland.*
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