Wineries of Skaha Lake

 

Anthony Buchanan has been working in BC wineries since 2006 gaining a reputation as a winemaker. In 2014 he started his own label. In 2022 he opened his winery in Kaleden on the Vantage Point property. A true family winery with wife and co-owner Nichol and two children Ashlyn and Lawson.

Winemaker:Anthony Buchanan
Winemaking Philosophy: In the vineyard and the cellar, I believe in minimal handling and intervention only when necessary. Our wines are fermented by ambient yeast which is naturally present in the vineyards and cellar. We do not use any enzymes, tannins or other products to manipulate our wines. 

 

Located in the small town of Kaleden on Skaha Lake west side. The winery is owned by Sarah and Murray Bancroft. In 2016 we planted 100 percent pinot noir vines from Dijon clones (115, 667, 777) on 3.5 acres of virgin land. They own a total of 5 acres. The winery is named for the large stand of white Birch trees along the top vineyard block.

They have both traveled to France extensively since their early 20s, and took their young daughters to Paris for a sabbatical year in 2016-2017. With a long-time interest in wine, Murray, or “the trained pallet” as he is call , has participated in both vendange (harvest) and winemaking in Champagne and Bordeaux, and continues to return every year. While working as an international culinary consultant, he spent evenings and weekends studying viticulture at California’s U.C. Davis. For her part, Sarah enjoys “researching” wine (especially rosé) with friends and family any day of the week.

Winemaker:
Winemaking Philosophy:“less is more” philosophy, employing natural winemaking practices with minimal intervention 

Black Market Wine Co

198 Spruce Ave
Kaleden

 

A new winery owned by Rob Hammersley and his wife Michelle Shewchuk. To start their own venture, the couple teamed up with winemaker Mark Simpson, who makes superbly crafted wines under BC Wine Studio umbrella, his Okanagan Falls winery. They make about 1800 cases.

New tasting room opening spring 2020.

At Black Market Wine Co. we’re all about breaking the rules set up by the traditional wine making establishment. Small and nimble, we seek opportunities that others often don’t. We know the land, the climate, and the people. We explore the valley’s vineyards, we kick tractor tires while talking shop with local farmers, and we make wine because we love it – the art and perfection of it.

Winemaker: Mark Simpson BCWine Studios

Blasted Church Vineyards

378 Parsons Road
RR #1 S-32 C-67
Okanagan Falls, BC V0H 1R0

Perched high on a rolling hillside that cascades into Skaha Lake, this is undoubtedly one of the most majestic vineyard sites in the valley. Blasted Church was founded by Chris and Evelyn Campbell. Sean Morrison is the current owner . He purchased a majority interest in the summer of 2021 and brings his experience from large corporate companies to our managerial team.

The estate is 42 acres with 13 different varietals planted. This consists of 8 white and 5 red, primarily Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Viognier, Chardonnay and Chardonnay Musque, Blaufrankisch and Gamay.

 

The winery selected its name from the history of the land. The winery was built where there once stood a church.

The name Blasted Church gets its name from an expedition in 1929 that set off to a deserted mining camp near Oliver 16 miles away from Okanagan Falls to dismantle and bring back an old wooden Church. To loosen the nails, foreman Harley Hatfield had the idea of blasting the church with dynamite, and it worked perfectly. The 120-year-old church was later reassembled and still stands in Okanagan Falls.

The winery produces about 19,000 cases a year from its own 17 hectare (42 acre) vineyard) and local vineyards. The winery's label design concept is one of the most talked about.

The winery has won numerous awards including Lieutenant Governor’s Awards for Excellence in British Columbia Wines, for its 2012 Holy Moly Petit Verdot. Cabernet Merlot 2008 took home the grand prize by winning the red wine of the year at the 2011 All Canadian Wine Champs.

The winemaker is Evan Saunders who joined the winery in 2014 as a cellar hand and became our winemaker in 2017.

“Our winemaker, Evan Saunders, takes both a fun and scientific approach to winemaking. His background in sciences accompanied by his mirthful personality shows itself in his winemaking philosophy. As you can assume by looking at our labels, we don’t take ourselves too seriously, however our winemaking process is complex and precise.

We’ve nailed down how to produce delicious classic wines from your Pinot Gris to your Merlot, and Evan has gone above and beyond with the Small Blessings series. With a more labour-intensive process, the small batch wines allow Blasted Church to do something truly original and create flavours like no other winery. If you’re looking for a reliable wine that delivers every time and if you also want to try something out of the box, we’ve got a wine for everyone.”

Signature wine: Hatsfield Fuse

 

Located at the north end of Skaha Lake . This places at the south end of Penticton. Owned by Teresa Murray Wiseman, whose father Glennallyn Murray bought the land and planted the vineyard in the 70s with all German clones. They were among the first the first vineyard in Penticton and among the very first in the Okanagan producing Gewürztraminer.

Glennallyn also had the first wine  tour bus which only went to his place and then later to Langs 

We are very small and humble but have big pride! The good Kind from tons of hard work ,minimal vineyard practices,hand picked and hand crafted wines.

signature wine is Glennallyn ( named after my father!) a Gewürztraminer.in

Winemaker: Russel Wiseman
Winemaking Philosophy:s

Farm Gate Winery

346 Hwy 97
Kaleden BC

Perched atop the hills of Skaha Lake just outside Penticton, Farm Gate Winery rests above a heritage orchard with sweeping vistas of Skaha Lake, vineyards, and orchards flowing out from the serene back patio. Its rustic interior speaks to the properties orcharding heritage as does the attached fruit stand that sells iconic and heirloom produce from the Okanagan and neighboring Similkameen Valley.

Reclaimed from an abandoned orcharding homestead and popular highway fruit stand conveniently located just north of Okanagan Falls off Highway 97, the property has been wholly renovated.

Owned by . Pieter Smits who also owns Backdoor.

Philosophy:

 

Kraze¯ Legz Vineyard and Winery


141 Fir Avenue
Kaleden, BC V0H 1K0

Krāzē Legz Vineyard and Winery is a family owned and operated estate winery. Gerry and Susan Thygesen visually differentiated this winery from its peers by adopting a Roaring 1920s theme.  The winery’s whimsical name is meant to suggest the “legs” formed on the inside of a wine glass after the wine is swirled. It is the first winery to open in Kaleden. Susan and Gerry purchased the property in 1995 but did not plant the vineyard until 2007. They grow Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc

Home of Skaha Vineyards

Winemakers: Gerry Thygesen
Philosophy:

Lakeboat Vineyard and Winery

236 Linden St
Kaleden

 

Tara Mathison was a traveler who loved to taste wines in the various regions she visited. Tara is a former lawyer who gave that career help to raise her three daughters. She became involved in renovating houses and bought one for that purpose in Kaleden. It just so happened to next to the former Topshelf winery.

Tara took over the vineyard hiring professional to reestablish the vineyard. The 3.5 acre vineyard has Pinot Gris, Merlot and Chardonnay. The Winery opened July1 2022. Mireille Sauve  winemaker.

The name comes from her love of the longboat history on the lake.

 

Painted Rock Estate Winery

400 Smythe Road
Penticton, BC V2A 846

 

 

 

The vineyard, growing about 50,000 vines, has been developed on property south of Penticton and east of Skaha Lake that old-timers still call Braeside Farms. 60-acre Blackhawk property is owned by John Skinner. It was decided to plant the primary red components of the classic Bordeaux blends, including a small planting each of Malbec and Petite Verdot to provide spice for their blend and to broaden blending options for their winemaker

The winery's initial release is about 750 cases each of Red Icon and Merlot, 800 cases of Syrah, 320 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon and 175 cases of Chardonnay. John's target for full production is about 5,000 cases a year.

Painted Rock refers to the ancient pictographs that were found painted on the rocks behind the vineyard bluffs. When John discovered the pictographs, he knew that they were significant not only for his family, but also for the community. John contacted the local First Nations band to understand their meaning, and when he learned that they were symbolic of a spirit walk, or a coming of age, he knew that he had found the name for his winery.

The tasting room was a winner at the 2014 Architecture Design Awards

John Skinner was named entrepreneur of the year in 2013 by Ernst and Young

The winery exports to Ontario, Alberta, Tokyo and China

Signature wines: Merlot Chardonnay, Syrah, Cab Sauv and a blend Red Icon

Consultant: Alain Sutre

Winemaker:
Philosophy: "This is a journey to discover what our terroir is capable of producing. I asked my Bordeaux consultant who does our blending to throw out the rule book when it came to Okanagan blends. Think outside the box. To that end our Red Icon has quite unheard of percentages like 20% Petite Verdot….it is a truly Okanagan wine Our Philosophy is rooted in the simple idea that wine should be made for friends and family to enjoy. With a dedication to quality and a respect for the terroir, Painted Rock ensures that each grape is of superior quality, proving that the best wines are made in the vineyard."

Pentâge Winery

4551 Valleyview Road, 
Penticton, BC  V2A 8V8

 

Located on the Skaha Lake bench that runs along the lakes east side. Owned and operated by Paul Gardner & Julie Rennie.  It all began in 1996, already a home winemaker, Paul’s dream was to one day open a winery in the Okanagan Valley. They have 23acres Vistaridge vineyard and a 12 acre Dirty Dozen” Vineyard .

The first vineyard, the site of our winery, was purchased in 1996. This 23 acre property located on Skaha Bench (overlooking Skaha Lake) in Penticton, BC was planted in 1997 with 6 acres of vines consisting of the following varietals: Gewürztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Gamay.

Affectionately called the “Dirty Dozen” Vineyard – the 12 acre property was purchased in the Fall of 2006. Located on Skaha Bench, just a minute away from our winery, 8 acres of this property was planted in the Spring of 2007 with the following varieties: Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Grenache Noir, Merlot, Mourvèdre, Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier, and last but not least Tempranillo (hence the name with the dozen different varieties we planted). 

It started out as a mini-weekend get-away to the Okanagan and the weekend turned into a real estate quest when we happened to stumble upon 4400 Lakeside Road.  At that time the property was an abandoned orchard – “it had everything right wrong with it” said Paul. With his vision and immense passion…..the dream started to unfold.  The land was contoured in 1996 and Spring of 1997 our Vista Ridge Vineyard was planted.  Our first vintage was a small lot of 1999 Syrah and the rest is history…

Play Estates

507 Skaha Hills Dr.
Penticton, BC
V2A 0A9

 

Play Estate Winery is a passion project for Jason Pechet (CEO of the iconic Stagewest Hospitality brand) and long time collaborator and sommelier Mohamed Awad (General Manager, and Wine Maker). For years the two business partners talked about opening a winery in the picturesque Okanagan region. They could never find the perfect vineyard site until Mohamed stumbled upon the Skaha Lake location and immediately put in a call to Jason. The location is at the north end of the lake.

Play Estate will feature an iconic modern architectural building that will house a wine shop and tasting lounge, indoor/outdoor bistro with function space, and a 14 acre vineyard. Wine varietals will be Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscat, and Viognier. Play Estate Winery is projected to produce approximately 4,000 cases in 2016.

Stage West Hospitality is building and will operate Play Winery; and are honoured to have Mohamed Awad as general manager of the property. Awad is well known in the Okanagan as he managed the Spirit Ridge Resort and Vineyards in Osoyoos and is a former manager of the Black Hills Estate Winery.

 

Consulting Winemaker:

 

They make icewine. Their wines are made at the Pentage Winery. REBEL pi is owned by British Entrepreneur  and author Jackie Fast best known for founding agency Slingshot Sponsorship.

REBEL Pi is about the journey and forging new experiences for those who are fatigued with the average

They have produced a Roussanne Icewine a rather grape in BC even rarer icewine.

Winemaker:
Winemaking Philosophy:

Vindicated Cellars


Skahal Lake

The winery is owned by Jeff Del Nin. The Winery's name is Vindication Cellars and is located near Skahal Lake. The winery is not open to the public.

I was a Canadian living and making wine in Australia. I came to BC on a vacation with my wife and we toured through the Okanagan Valley.  We were so impressed by the potential of this region that we uprooted our life in Australia, sold everything, and moved here to make wine. I have invested everything I have, and all of my energy in making wine in this spectacular part of the world. I believe the wines I am producing truly Vindicate my decision to move here. - Jeff Del Nin

It was in In 2007, Jeff started making wine under his own label, Vindication Cellars. The power and concentration of my red wines has become legendary in select circles. He planted 3 acre vineyard on the east side of Skaha lake just south of Penticton.  This was done so that Jeff could plant the varietals that he believe are the future of BC wine: Pinot Nero (made from Italian clones of Pinot Noir) and Teroldego. I also wanted to pioneer new clones and grape varietals from Italy, which is part of my family heritage.

Signature wines: Pinot Nero, Teroldego.

Winemaker: Jeff Del Nin
Philosophy: My goal is to produce intensely flavoured, authentic wines that capture the essence and unique characteristics of the vineyard site. It is my vision that these wines should stand amongst the best wines in the world.  I farm a modest parcel of land and I have divided it up into a very high number of smaller zones. I harvest each zone separately and make the wine into small lots. Everything is done by hand, or using only the most basic equipment.  This affords a closeness and intimacy with the wines and the soil that is only possible in a small, artisanal operation. When you drink my wine, you are sampling my vision, my passion, my struggles, and most importantly, you are connecting with the land through the wine.

photo credit John Schreiner