Kamloops, Similkameen and Creston: major vineyard planting in new area

Photo: Monte Creek general manager Erik Fisher

Two recent wine industry announcements are confirming the rising importance of the Thompson River Valley to the British Columbia wine industry. It is also part of a trend that sees major producers try to expand the footprint of winemaking with purchases in the Similkameen Valley and even near Creston.

In mid-June, Monte Creek Winery General manager Erik Fisher announced that his company has invested $10 million in its Kamloops area facility. That announcement wrapped up information that, for the most part, had been disclosed in pieces previously. The final number is an impressive vote of faith in the Thompson River Valley. Monte Creek’s owners originally bought a large piece of property east of Kamloops in 2007, intending to grow blueberries. When it was discovered that blueberries would not thrive there, the backup plan was grapes, given that there already were a couple of small vineyards established in in the Thompson River Valley. Now, Monte Creek is all in with 75 acres of vineyard (along with another 40 acres in the Similkameen Valley). The original winery, completed in 2015, has been augmented significantly with a gravity-flow production facility and, most recently, a 5,000-square-foot greenhouse.

A few weeks earlier, Andrew Peller Ltd. announced a memorandum of understanding to explore the viticultural potential of the Tranquille farmland near Kamloops. Peller’s initial steps are cautious (as one might expect from a publicly-traded company). However, since Peller is one of Canada’s oldest wine companies, it is hugely significant that it has put its toe into an emerging wine region. Peller’s MOU was signed with Ignition Tranquille Developments Ltd., which controls the land being assessed for vineyard potential. Over the next two years, Peller will collect microclimate data and do soil analysis. The wine company needs to know how many frost-free days the site has; what are the growing degree days; and, most important, how cold it gets in winter. “Once these questions are answered, based on robust two-year-data collection, Andrew Peller Ltd. will make recommendations to Ignition and move forward with 5-acre parcels of agreed-to varietals, with an expected planting date of spring 2025,” Peller’s news release said. Whether there is a smooth road ahead is in question. An environmental coalition called Transition Kamloops Network began marshalling objections last year to developing the Tranquille site.

Currently, there are four wineries in the Thompson River Valley. Sagewood Winery, has a 3 ½ vineyard begun in 2005, opened in 2014. Harper’s Trail Estate Winery opened in 2012, based on a vineyard which was begun in 2008 and has grown to 27 acres in size. Privato Vineyard and Winery also opened in 2012 on a three-acre vineyard begun in 2010.

Monte Creek(above), whose owner Gurjit Sidhu is a major blueberry grower and nurseryman in the Fraser Valley, has emerged as the largest winery in the Kamloops region. Its 75-acres of vines are spread across two vineyards. The one on a south-facing slope on the north side of the Thompson River is planted mostly to vinifera varietals. The one on the plateau on which the winery and tasting room are located grows both vinifera and Minnesota hybrids. The Minnesota hybrids were developed in Wisconsin and Minnesota to be exceptionally winter hardy. For that reason, these varietals are grown in most Quebec vineyards, where the growers replaced the number identification of the varieties with names appropriate to wine labels. Consequently, Monte Creek grows Frontenac Gris, Frontenac Blanc, La Crescent and Marquette, among others.

Photo: Frontenac Gris grapes I expect Andrew Peller will want to assess the Minnesota hybrids, depending on the Tranquille Farms site, which is moderated by the nearby Thompson River and Kamloops Lake. It sounds like a site with potential, according to Dan Fritz, the president of Ignition Tranquille Developments Ltd. Here is his assessment from the news release issued by Peller and Ignition: “One of the things that attracted me to the Tranquille property was its agricultural history and the potential to establish quality vineyards on the property’s southerly sloping, mineral rich but gravelly soil. Only time will tell …”

While the Thompson River Valley has been getting all the recent attention, Anthony von Mandl’s Mark Anthony Group has remained out of the limelight while investing in vineyard land in the Similkameen Valley and, more surprisingly, in Creston. Ian Galbraith, Mark Anthony’s vice-president of corporate affairs, confirmed some of the details about the Similkameen in an email exchange in February. “Recently, we have made a few select investments in key parcels of land in the Similkameen Valley to help increase our knowledge and understanding of the unique climate and soils of this region,” he told me. “This particular parcel of land is currently a mixed fruit orchard that has been grown organically for the past 16 years. We see this as an amazing learning opportunity for our viticulture and winemaking teams to gain first-hand insights into the potential to grow high-quality, organic fruit in the Similkameen Valley.”

Through Evan Saunders, the winemaker at Blasted Church Vineyards (left), I confirmed a report that Mark Anthony Group in the summer of 2021 purchased the Mariposa Vineyard at the south end of the Similkameen. Blasted Church had been buying some of the fruit. There had been about 25 acres of vines in plantings begun in 2011 by a trio of partners including Karnail Singh Sidhu, owner of Kalala Organic Estate Winery. The partners once planned a winery but the project never came to completion. “It is an amazing vineyard with an incredible amount of potential,” Evan told me in February. “I would imagine they [Mark Anthony] will look to replant large pieces of the property. It isn’t in the greatest of health, but the stamp of the terroir is unlike any other vineyard I have worked with. We will certainly miss the fruit. It only produced tiny amounts, but it was a lot of fun and exciting to work with every vintage.” The Mark Anthony investment in Creston was confirmed to me by David Mutch, the co-owner of William Tell Family Estate Winery in Creston. He was a vineyard technician with Mission Hill from 2001 to 2005 before buying land for his small winery.

David says his former employer appears to have purchased property near two established Creston wineries, Baillie-Grohman Estate Winery and Skimmerhorn Winery and Vineyard. David also believes other properties have been purchased as well by Mark Anthony. “It makes me feel not as crazy now for buying in 2006,” David laughs.