Dinner in dome rings in new year
Ten groups of New Year’s Eve revellers will celebrate with their bubble inside a bubble at a West Kelowna winery.
Frind Estate Winery, which bills itself as North America’s only beachfront winery, has 10 large plastic bubbles on its patio overlooking Okanagan Lake.
The geodesic enclosures were an adaptation to COVID-19 protocols earlier this year, and they’ve been left in place through the winter as a seasonal attraction.
“Experience dining unlike anything you’ve done before in the Okanagan and join us for an intimate private dinner on our lakefront patio this winter,” the winery says on its website.
“Curated dinner menus and plenty of wine” are offered, for prices that begin at $110 per person, the website says.
The bubbles, which the winery refers to as ‘domes,’ are fully booked for New Year’s Eve, an employee said Tuesday, but the structures will be available until the end of February.
Winery founder Markus Frind says his family has a 500-year history of farming in his native Germany. He made his fortune by
founding the Plenty of Fish dating website in 2003 and then selling it in 2015 for Match.com for $575 million U.S.
Frind bought the 5.3-hectare property on Pritchard Drive for $7 million in 2017. It had been the residence and farm of former B.C. premier Bill Bennett, who died in 2015.
“Markus’ main focus is to make money.
There’s a reason why he’s a successful businessman,” Frind’s sister-in-law Sue Kanciar, told West Kelowna council in Oct. 2018 when the city supported development of the new winery.
“The whole premise is this winery is exclusive,” she said. “Our wines are not going to be $17. We’re catering to a different demographic.”