Our beautiful Vistaridge and Dirty Dozen vineyards were planted with North-South orientation allowing the canopy to capture as much morning and afternoon sunlight as possible for photosynthesis. This is also an ideal orientation for sun exposure necessary to dry out the clusters and help avoid mildew issues. Find out more details on these two vineyards below.
In addition to our 15 acres, we lease a two acre vineyard just adjacent to us. This vineyard provides us with Pinot Gris to produce our most coveted varietal. We also have the option of purchasing a few select varietals from local growers that enables us to expand our portfolio when excellent fruit is available.
Come and enjoy our picnic area which has a beautiful view overlooking the vines.
Great wine starts in the vineyard!
Our first vineyard, the site of our winery, was purchased in 1996. This 23 acre property located on Skaha Bench (overlooking Skaha Lake) in Penticton, BC was planted in 1997 with 7 acres of vines consisting of the following varietals: Gewürztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Gamay. We decided to use the Lyre trellising system on this property for all varieties except for the Syrah. The Lyre system was developed in the 1980s in the Bordeaux region and is now widely used around the world. Not as popular here in the Okanagan Valley – we believe this system provides the grapes with ideal sun exposure, lots of air movement and not to mention a comfortable height while hand-tending to the grapes. We used GDC (Geneva Double Curtain) trellis system on the Syrah block (this system is explained below).
Affectionately called the “Dirty Dozen” Vineyard – this 12 acre Skaha Bench property, located just minutes from the winery, was purchased in the fall of 2006. In the spring of 2007 we planted 8 acres of the land with the following twelve varietals making up our perfect “Dirty Dozen”: Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Grenache Noir, Merlot, Mourvèdre, Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier, and last but not least Tempranillo. This property was planted using GDC (Geneva Double Curtain) trellis system – this system design consists of a horizontally divided canopy. The goal of the GDC system is to manage a dense canopy by dividing it in two, allowing more sunlight to reach the fruit renewal zone. Shoots are also positioned downward creating a canopy that has the appearance of two “curtains” on either side.