Observatory Winery’s dedication to Grüner Veltliner

Photo: Observatory's Blair Gillingham

In this difficult year for the Okanagan wine industry, winemaker Blair Gillingham has taken on the challenge of building his own brand, Observatory Wines, around one varietal: Grüner Veltliner.

Currently, Observatory has just two products in the market: 190 cases of a 2022 Grüner Veltliner and 350 cases of a red Bordeaux blend from the 2020 vintage. The red is made with purchased wine from a very good vintage, blended by Blair. The purpose of the red is to gain profile for the Observatory brand since Grüner Veltliner is not a widely known varietal in the Okanagan.

Almost certainly, there is almost no one in the British Columbia wine industry more passionate about the varietal than Blair, a passion he acquired after working for two years at a leading winery in Austria. “I really do love Grüner Veltliner,” he says. “If I can make the brand just around Grüner, producing a sparkling wine, and early release wine and a late release style, that is where I would like to focus my time.” Blair grew up in Saanich on Vancouver Island, near the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, and that inspired the name for his brand. Initially, he considered becoming a teacher after high school. However, a gap year in Australia, where he worked at a ski hill, kindled an interest in wine. “I met some people at the ski hill whose family owned a winery in the Hunter Valley, so I went up and saw what they were doing at harvest,” Blair remembers. “That was pretty interesting.” Soon after he returned to Victoria, a sister who was working in the wine shop at Sumac Ridge Estate Winery, suggested he move to Penticton and get involved in the wine industry. In 2001, he began working in the cellar at Sumac Ridge.

In 2004, Blair took several courses at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, preparing for a possible transfer to Brock University’s winemaking program. In the end, he decided against moving to Ontario. “I said I am just going to stay doing the apprentice thing,” he said of his winemaking education. “That is how I managed to travel the world and gain these other opportunities.” In 2006, he worked at a New Zealand winery. When he returned to the Okanagan, he found work at the Jackson-Triggs winery – and made the crucial connection that led to his obsession with Grüner Veltliner. A German winemaker, Johannes Hasselbach, was working the harvest at Jackson-Triggs at the time that Blair was there.

In 2010, when Blair decided to work in a European winery, he approached Johannes at Gunderloch, the Hasselbach family winery. Through Johannes, he got fulltime employment at Weingut Jurtschitsch, a well-regarded family-operated winery in Austria. Grüner Veltliner is Austria’s most important white varietal. Blair stayed at the Austrian winery for two years, gaining valuable winemaking experience and, of course, an appreciation of Grüner Veltliner. “Over a period of time, I became a junior kellermeister,” Blair says. “I worked with the cellar master and we oversaw all the operations in the cellar. I had everything from Gelber Muskateller to Grüner Veltliner. We had Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot as well. It was great.”

When Blair decided to return to the Okanagan in 2012, he found work with Bill Eggert at Fairview Cellars. “I worked at Fairview for a year and a half,” he says. “That was a solid year and a half. I learned a lot working with Bill.” Grüner Veltliner came into Blair’s life again when Fairview decided to plant a small block at property near Gallagher Lake. “I managed to get the second year of fruit from it,” Blair says, “but Bill realized it is a trending variety and decided to keep it for himself after that.”

Blair left Fairview in 2014 to work a harvest in New Zealand. Then he came back to the Okanagan to become the winemaker at Ruby Blues Winery for seven years until leaving after the 2021 vintage to focus on his Observatory brand. A winter spent crunching numbers led to the conclusion that it was not feasible to start an independent winery. So he joined Howling Bluff Winery as winemaker in 2022 and moved just before the 2023 harvest to Noble Ridge Vineyard & Winery to work with Benoit Gauthier, Noble Ridge's director of winemaking. The Observatory brand moves under another winery's license, with Blair continuing it. He is also trying to work out an arrangement with the owner of a Penticton orchard to replace fruit trees with a small Grüner Veltliner vineyard next year. “I am 42, so I have a good, maybe, 20 years of winemaking left in me,” Blair says. “It will take from next spring five years to get those vines producing. In the next five years, do I obtain some land and build a property? Not sure.”

The 2022 Observatory Grüner Veltliner is made with grapes from the vineyard at the Pipe Dreams Vineyard north of Oliver. Blair has purchased fruit from there before and even helped make the wine in one vintage. It is one of the few sources of that varietal in the Okanagan; none of the others are selling the fruit at this time. That is why he is trying to nail down a source under this control. He continues: “I love making wine and I have no issues making wine for somebody else. I just love being immersed in all things wine. If I can continue to make a small amount of Observatory, then that’s totally fine with me.”

Here are notes on the two wines.

Observatory Grüner Veltliner 2022 ($27). A portion of this was fermented in stainless steel and a portion was fermented in a neutral barrel, with lees stirring and partial malolactic to increase texture and mouthfeel. The portions were blended and rested on the lees for six months before being bottled. The wine is complex, beginning with citrus aromas. The palate is generous with tropical fruit flavours. 91.

Observatory Red 2020 ($31.50). This is a blend of 63% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc and 16% Malbec. The wine reflects the elegance of the 2020 vintage, with aromas and flavours of black currant and dark cherry. 91.