How Blue Grouse is becoming a Cowichan Valley powerhouse

Photo: Paul Brunner and wife Cristina Plenge

I was in for a big surprise when I dipped into the website of Blue Grouse Estate Winery, which I have not visited in several years. This is no longer the sleepy winery I remember from the 1990s. When Paul Brunner acquired the winery in 2012, the vineyard totalled just 8 ½ acres and the winery was a functional plain-jane building. The first thing Paul did was have a new winery built in 2015, transforming Blue Grouse into one of the destination wineries in the Cowichan Valley. The architecture is quite stunning, with a roof line inspired by the back of a grouse.

I attended the grand opening and got to chat with Hans Kiltz, the German veterinarian who had opened Blue Grouse in 1992, making the wine in the basement of the Kiltz family home. Hans thought that the gorgeous new winery was a little over the top. I wonder what he would say today. Paul Brunner, a mining engineer who clearly is better financed than Hans ever was, is on quite a roll. An additional 6 ½ acres of vineyard was planted in 2017, followed by 20 acres in 2020 and 2021. It will all have been certified organic by next year. Once that is done, Paul intends to develop another 35-acre vineyard by 2024. The grand total under vine will be 70 acres, with a big emphasis on Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. Bailey Williamson, the winemaker the Brunner family lured from the Okanagan shortly after buying the winery, will have the fruit needed to ramp up production. Then, we may see more Blue Grouse wines in markets other than Vancouver Island.

Blue Grouse has been on quite a journey from its beginning. The first vines were planted in this vineyard between 1986 and 1988 by John Harper, a viticulturist who had moved there when his Fraser Valley vineyard was taken over by developers. John planned to develop a winery in the Cowichan Valley but his financial backers failed to raise the money. After Hans Kiltz took over the vineyard in 1990, Harper moved to a nearby property and began developing a vineyard that now, under the ownership of John Kelly, is Glenterra Vineyards. John Harper died in 2001. He would be totally astonished if he could see that his expectations have been more than exceeded by Paul Brunner. Here are notes on three current releases from Blue Grouse.

Blue Grouse Quill Chardonnay 2021 ($25.90 for 240 cases). The wine, made with Cowichan Valley fruit, was fermented for four weeks in neutral oak barrels. After completing malolactic fermentation, the wine was aged in French oak for eight months. The wine begins with aromas of vanilla, butter and apple. The flavours are bright with notes of citrus. The texture recalls Chablis. This is the winery’s first Chardonnay with Cowichan fruit. 89.

Blue Grouse Pinot Gris 2021 ($27.99 for 320 cases). This wine is made with estate-grown grapes. The vines are up to 35 years old. The fruit was divided into two lots. Some 40% of the juice was fermented cool in neutral French oak and spent a total of eight months in oak. The other 60% was fermented for 20 days in stainless steel and remained on the lees for a total of seven months before being blended with the barrel portion. The result is a complex wine which begins with butterscotch aromas mingled with stone fruit, all of which is echoed on the palate. The finish is persistent. 90.

Blue Grouse Pinot Noir 2020 ($45.99 for 225 cases). The wine is made from estate-grown grapes. The vines were planted between 1992 and 1994 and the clone is unknown. Slow fermentation began in an amphora and finished in the amphora along with new 500-liter French oak puncheons and neutral French oak barrels. The medium-bodied wine begins with a lovely aroma of spice and dark cherry which is echoed on the palate. 90.