New winery embraces rural setting
When my wife mentioned she wanted to check out Priest Creek I thought she was going to take me hiking in the linear park of the same name.
However, Kerry was talking about Kelowna’s newest winery, Priest Creek Family Estate at 2555 Saucier Rd., not far from the trailhead.
So, earlier this week, we skipped the hiking and sipped instead with Darren and Jane Sawin, the owners of Priest
Creek winery.
Darren owns commercial properties in Alberta and Jane used to work for Calgary-based office interior design and manufacturing firm DIRTT.
But the couple always dreamed of raising their four kids on a farm.
So they bought the vineyard and farmhouse (which is actually a French colonial mansion) on the former Priest Creek Ranch property and established the winery.
The tasting room is a separate building made to look like a castle antechamber with a patio out back and lawn for live music performances.
The couple is working with Jason Parkes Customs to make
the wine from estate and contract grapes.
Parkes is the same team of winemakers that craft wines for The Hatch, Black Swift and Indigenous World wineries in West Kelowna and Lakeside in Osoyoos.
Currently, Priest Creek has only three wines, the 2019 Decota sparkling ($19), 2019 Pinot Gris ($23) and 2018 Pinot Noir ($36).
Coming Oct. 15 will be 2016 Cabernet Franc and 2016 Merlot.
“Our goal is to be the pioneer of big reds like Cab and Merlot in
Southeast Kelowna,” said Darren.
“We’re also working with the 10 other wineries in Southeast Kelowna to get a wine trail going. Some of our neighbours (Tantalus, SpearHead, The View, Mirabel and Kitsch wineries) have been so good to us already by recommending us to people who are out wine touring in the area.”
Impact of COVID
Okanagan wineries have been hard hit by COVID and need your support.
A survey done for the BC Wine Institute indicates 10% of BC’s wineries and grape growers are at risk of closing after taking a battering through almost seven months of pandemic.
Fifty-eight per cent of B.C.’s
370 wineries have lost revenue.
Many of us have bought and drank more wine while being more homebound during COVID.
However, many turned to more affordable imported wines as B.C. wines lost some of its market share.
On top of that, restaurants, hotels, distribution agencies and retail liquor stores bought less B.C. wine because of diminished demand.
Two-thirds of wineries believe it will take one to four years to recover and 35% expect more revenue declines between 21% and 50% over the next six months.
Some wineries have done a good job of selling online, but that often can’t make up for lost sales through other distribution channels, including reducedoccupancy tasting rooms and winery shops.
Do your part and drink local whenever you can.
Weightier whites
With fall here, we’re gravitating to heavier white wines to pair with roast chicken and creamy pasta dinners.
The Leatherwood 2019 Viognier ($24) from South Africa, with its supple, but dry, tangerine-pineapple-and-honey profile, was an inspired match for chicken.
And Southeast Kelowna’s
SpearHead 2017 Clone 95 Chardonnay, with aromas and flavours of pear and almond, was the perfect pairing for rigatoni in cream sauce.
Both wines are represented by Vancouver-based Renaissance Wine Merchants with the Viognier sold at BC government liquor stores and the Chard available at select private stores, the winery and online.
Pig Out
The re-formatted Pig Out Festival takes place Oct. 10 with small groups of 28 wine drinkers getting on 56-seat buses to visit four wineries each in Oliver Osoyoos Wine Country.
At each stop, there will be wine tastings and pork-themed food prepared by Oliver Eats.
Pig Out had to be reimagined because COVID restrictions don’t allow the kind of huge gatherings that used to be held at Covert Farms Winery in Oliver featuring wine tasting and barbecue stations.
Pig Out was also one of the largest events during the Fall Okanagan Wine Festival, which isn’t happening this year because of the pandemic.
Tickets to Pig Out Trails are
$69 at OliverOsoyoos.com.