Remembering George Hanson – The Legend

Photo: George Hanson, courtesy of Seven Stones Winery

Seven Stones Winery founder George Hanson died suddenly at home on February 5, 2021. Cause of death is undisclosed at this time. It is a major loss in the Similkameen Valley where he was a pioneer of fine winemaking, including his flagship Bordeaux red called The Legend. It is one of British Columbia’s iconic and collectible red wines. Almost all of the Seven Stones production, about 4,500 cases a year, is red wine. George did not aspire to produce a greater volume. “If I can’t make a living selling 4,000 cases, I am doing something very wrong,” he told me in 2013. “Plus, I still intend to be the winemaker and keep control of that.” Born in Alberta in 1957, George spent 25 years with the telephone company in the Yukon as a human resources manager. His interest in wine, he said, began when a brother married into an Italian family that included a father who was a good winemaker. George also took up winemaking and, by his own account, became the best amateur winemaker in the Yukon. When the phone company offered golden handshakes, George, who had already been thinking of taking early retirement to start winery, took his severance and began looking for vineyard property in the South Okanagan.

One day in 1999, he was driving past a property near Cawston in the Similkameen just as the “for sale” sign was going up. Then a 25-acre parcel growing hay, it had the soil and aspect of an excellent vineyard. George promptly bought it. The next year, he began planting Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc with the intent of producing Meritage wine. Subsequently, he added Malbec, Petit Verdot, Syrah, Pinot Noir and one block of Chardonnay. “The idea is that I would try to make old world wines with a little bit of flair, so they would be new world wines,” George told me. “This is an exceptional place to grow grapes. We have been selling to four or five other wineries and they are all making premium wines.” Initially, he called the vineyard Harmony-One because, in his mind, there was a parallel between a conductor directing an orchestra and a grower managing his vines. That was also the tentative name for the winery when he had consultant Lawrence Herder make an initial volume of red Meritage in the debut 2003 vintage. About this time, he married Vivianne, his first wife, a former natural foods store operator. Because they were building a new home at the vineyard, Seven Stones made no wine in 2004 to concentrate on the construction. The winery resumed winemaking in 2005, and opened in 2007. The Seven Stones name for the winery had been suggested by Vivianne. It is inspired by the massive boulders around the valley and by their indigenous heritage. “I like the ring of the Seven Stones,” Vivianne, who died in 2012, once told me. “It has a bit of a magic to it. I read a lot of books and there are legends about the different rocks. It has lots of marketing potential because each rock has a story. We wanted to make it our own story, too.”

Aside from the wines, one of the features of the Seven Stones winery is the 3,500-square-foot underground barrel cellar built in 2014, connected by a short tunnel to the house. When George initially proposed building a cellar, Vivianne argued that the winery did not generate enough cash flow to pay for it. Then the couple went on a wine tour in Sonoma and George arranged visits to a number of wineries with cellars. “Strangely enough,” George told me in 2013, “after the fourth winery, she said, “You know, honey, we should build some caves.” I said it was a good idea.” The signature of Seven Stones wines, aside from good viticulture, has been developed by George’s meticulous blending. He discussed his methods with me when I was preparing an entry on The Legend for my 2017 book, Icon: Flagship Wines from British Columbia’s Best Wineries. The first vintage of that wine was made in 2008.

“When the grapes first come in, we treat them all the same,” George told me. “I separate the wines by barrel in the cellar. I taste every barrel every month. I start developing my favourites. The next thing I know it is blending time and I have picked out those that go into The Legend.” The wine is always aged in new French oak for a total of 18 months. He equated blending with building a person. “You make the body, which is the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon together,” he explains. “Then you put the personality in and the final dress. That would be Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc.” The blending of The Legend by a careful blending of Meritage and, more recently, several other proprietary reds. George also made some impressive single varietals, notably Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Pinot Noir. George’s death leaves the future of Seven Stones somewhat in question. He had listed the winery for sale in the fall of 2019, aggressively priced at $8.8 million. “If you're not in the market to buy a beautiful, multi-million dollar home, we're willing to bet you still love looking at them,” the realtor gushed. “Especially when they are so extra you can't even believe they're real. We've come across an absolutely dreamy B.C winery for sale and you just need to see it. “This positively giant property sits on 25.34 acres of land, so it’s worth every cent of the nearly $9 million price tag. The home itself has four bedrooms and four bathrooms and a beautiful country-chic interior. The home is bright, welcoming, and classically comfortable. “It’s also outfitted with solar panels to reduce utility costs and be nice to Mother Earth. Next to the home is a modern winery with a huge tasting room. Sprawling on all sides of the home is a stunning vineyard with mountain ranges jutting up around it. It's a pretty serious treat for the eyes, and for the tastebuds if you're a wine lover.” The past year has not been a great one for selling winery properties, even one with a reputation as fine as Seven Stones.