Lumber company branching out with a vineyard
If Gorman Group decides to again reward its employees with an unexpected bonus, the cheques may be accompanied by some unique wines.
A new 24-acre organic vineyard is being planted on Gorman family-owned land next to the mill in West Kelowna, reclaiming part of a hillside burned in a forest fire last August.
“We’re supposed to be good land stewards and yet we had this big barren hillside right at our mill. We thought, ’Surely we can do something better on it’,” Nick Arkle, Gorman’s chief executive officer, said Wednesday in an interview.
“That led to the idea of a vineyard, which we think is quite an exciting project,” he said.
Almost 50,000 vines are being planted with eight varieties of grapes. Millworker Craig Galloway, a Gorman family member, is overseeing the operation, assisted by viticulture expert and long-time Okanagan winemaker Reid Jenkins.
Gorman Group, a family-owned company, announced this week it was giving its hourly workers bonuses of up to $5,000 to help them with the rising cost of living. Arkle said the company was in a strong financial position because of high lumber prices recently and wanted to share the good fortune with its workforce of about 1,000 people.
The land where the vineyard is being planted was owned by Eunice Gorman, who passed away last September at age 100. She had been the last surviving founder of Gorman Bros. Lumber Ltd., established in 1949 by brothers John and Ross. Eunice was married to Ross, who passed away in 2014.
Along with being a serious commercial endeavour, the new vineyard is also a nod to the mill’s founders, Arkle said.
“They were fruit farmers, first and foremost, before a harsh winter froze their trees and forced them to look elsewhere to make a living for their families,” Arkle said. “This winery is a tribute to their legacy.”
Last August, the Mount Law fire spread quickly down toward the mill and the West Kelowna community of Glenrosa. Thousands of people were evacuated, but dozens of mill employees rushed back to work to spray down the industrial complex and protect it, as they had in 2008 during an earlier fire.
Devotion like that to their employer has long been a feature of Gorman’s operations, with the sentiment reciprocated by this week’s announcement of the $5,000 bonuses.
Supply chain issues and labour shortages have complicated the vineyard’s development. And while the site has excellent growing conditions, the shallow bedrock common throughout the Okanagan has required revision of the vineyard’s layout and irrigation systems a number of times.
First harvest is expected in the fall of 2024. The obvious name for the product isn’t available because there is a Gorman Winery in Washington state.
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Arkle said with a laugh. “Maybe we’ll call it Sawmill Vineyard.”