How to Support Summerland’s Wineries One Bottle at a Time

Job—the Bible’s original hard luck case—has nothing on B.C. wineries over the past few years in terms of faith testing trials. Frost, fire, frost and, as we all witnessed this weekend, fire again, which is back with a vengeance affecting almost the entire region in some form or another. But it’s Summerland where this weekend the Bald Range fire spread so quickly that an emergency widespread evacuation was ordered this past weekend. The preliminary news for the wineries looks broadly positive in that as far as we know, no one has suffered a total loss. But that doesn’t mean there’s not a boatload of hardship. Winery visits—so key to the bottom line—will be decimated for the near future and there’s always a chance of smoke taint affecting a sizeable portion of this years crops. And lets not forget this was an industry that was already reeling thanks to the last killer frost.

There’s a bunch of ways to show the people of the Okanagan that we care about their well being and what they bring to our province (here are the links for the United Way’s BC Wildfire Recovery Fund, and the Red Cross’ Wildfires Appeal), but given that this is a wine column we’d like to focus on the micro-support that comes from looking at a wall of wine at your local retailer and choosing a bottle from Summerland. Even better, go on their website and directly order a case or two. And to be clear, while we’ve put a few of our faves below there are many more wonderful Summerland wineries that make wonderful juice and would love your support right now (we’ve put a list with links at the end).

Pamplemousse Jus

We raved last year about the wines Jorden Kubek, Tyler Knight and James Langford-Smith craft at the fun-but-serious temple of low intervention winemaking. Their sparkling Leon Millet Pet Nat is one of the most distinct wines in the Okanagan (so much so that we actually wrote about it twice), but really anything you can find from this trio will be imbued with a heavy dose of passion and a healthy disregard for blind adherence to convention.

Solvero

The wines of Alison Moyes seems fantastically mature for a winery that’s still relatively new, but she’s been able to craft some wonderful Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the rugged Garnet Vineyards above Summerland. And while we love those aforementioned classics, it’s her Pinot Gris—so often the least interesting wine in a winery’s portfolio—that shows Solvero doesn’t dial in anything.

 

Haywire

Vineyards existed in Summerland long before Christine Coletta and Steve Lornie founded the Okanagan Crush Pad and their label Haywire, but their arrival sparked the renaissance that put the region on the map (and proved a training ground for scores of young winemakers). We’ve gushed over their Gamay, their Vintage Bub and even how cool their winery is, so let’s just say we’re fans. One recent bottle I loved was the Delong-Gee Chardonnay from the organic vineyard of the same name in Summerland.

 

Lightning Rock

We were in love with Lightning Rock’s sparkling wine right out of the gate (when Pamplemousse Jus’ Jorden Kubeck was the winemaker), but since then they’ve continued to bowl us over with clean, vibrant Pinot Noir and more recently some very cool esoterica like a Counoise and a new Chenin Pet Nat.

But these are just the ones we spend the most time with. There’s also Dirty Laundry, Lunessence, Sage Hills, Thornhaven, 8th Generation not to mention many others and some wonderful cideries as well. The Bottleneck Drive Association counts many of the above as members and is a good resource to see who needs your support.