Clos du Soleil served at Canada House

 Photo: Canada House in London

British Columbia’s Clos du Soleil Winery is one of four Canadian wineries serving their wines at this week’s re-opening of Canada House in London.

The other wineries are Peller Estates and Pilliterri Estate Winery, both headquartered in Ontario, and Vignoble Carone, based in Quebec. The wines will be served both at an afternoon reception and at a black tie dinner.

Spencer Massie, Clos du Soleil’s founding partner, has contributed the winery’s Capella 2013, a barrel-fermented blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon.

He jumped at the opportunity to have his wine served because he believes it is “strategically important” for Canadian wines to have a presence in one of the world’s most sophisticated wine markets.

He is currently preparing to select an agent to represent Clos du Soleil wines in Britain. He also expects to participate in a tasting of British Columbia wines that the British Columbia Wine Institute is planning for London this spring.

Clos du Soleil, which is based in the Similkameen Valley, opened in 2008 with about 200 cases of wine. However, the winery is in the midst of major expansion. A 4,000 square-foot winery is under construction, with a new tasting room to open this summer. The winery produced 4,700 cases of wine in the 2014 vintage.

Canada House, the home of the Canadian High Commission in London, has had an enviable high profile location on Trafalgar Square since 1923 when Canada bought what had been the Union Club. King George V and Queen Mary presided at the official opening of Canada House in 1925.

That was the first of what is now three openings. After major restoration in the 1990s, Queen Elizabeth presided over reopening Canada House in 1998.

The Canadian government bought an adjacent building in 2012 and, after selling the High Commission’s administrative offices on Grosvenor Square, consolidated all of the Commission’s operations into a revitalized Canada House. Once again, the Queen has presided at the official reopening this month.