Time Winery set to open downtown this weekend
Penticton’s first urban winery in decades is tentatively set to open its doors for a soft launch this weekend.
After nearly two years of construction in the old PenMar Theatre building on Martin Street downtown, Time Winery is finally ready to welcome guests, pending a final inspection and issuance of an occupancy permit.
During the soft opening period, executive chef AK Campbell will offer a selection of daily appetizers, features and drink options.
Time Winery is owned by Encore Vineyards, and is the sister winery to Evolve Cellars and the McWatters Collection label.
It is headed by Okanagan wine pioneer Harry McWatters and his daughter, Christa Lee McWatters Bond.
Leading up to the soft opening, Time announced the appointment of Graham Pierce as director of winemaking.
Pierce spent the past seven years at Black Hills Estate Winery, famous for its Nota Bene, and at other Okanagan wineries before that.
“His pedigree of winemaking and knowledge in handling Okanagan fruits will allow Evolve Cellars, McWatters, and Time Winery to continue making exceptional BC VQA certified wine that is a reflection of the land where the grapes are grown and the talented people who craft them,” McWatters said in a press release.
“The fun challenge will be to oversee and make a range of wines; from fruit-forward, juicy Evolve Cellars wines, to the complex and textured wines of Time Winery and the McWatters Collection,” Pierce said in the release.
“After crafting still wines for so many years, I am most excited about the chance to create my first small-batch sparkling wine.”
Time is considered an urban winery because it’s detached from the agricultural area where grapes are produced.
Although it’s unique in the South Okanagan, the first urban winery was actually Casabello, which opened in 1966 at what is now the site of Real Canadian Superstore.
McWatters got into the wine business as a salesman for Casabello, and in the 1980s went on to found Sumac Ridge in Summerland, which became B.C.’s first estate winery.