Staying in business: optimism at Pentâge Winery

Photo: Paul Gardner and Julie Rennie

The past two winters undoubtedly have been the most challenging that Paul Gardner and Julie Rennie have experienced since 1996, when they bought a derelict orchard at the south edge of Penticton for a vineyard. They have been selling the products of Pentâge Winery since 2003 although the tasting room opened only in 2011, initially in the massive 500 square-metre (5,500 square foot) cave that Paul dug from the crown of hard rock commanding this winery’s million-dollar view of Skaha Lake.

Paul farms the winery’s two Skaha Bench vineyards, which total 6.5 hectares (16 acres), growing so many varieties – including even Zinfandel - that one vineyard is called the Dirty Dozen. “I would still rather make small lots of interesting wine than big tanks full of wine,” he says. The winery has been producing about 5,000 cases of wine in most years and has developed a strong following. But the last two hard winters will have an impact on the winery’s production that will test the dedication of Pentâge’s patrons. Judging from a recent winery newsletter, Paul and Julie are up to the challenge.

They write: We trust this newsletter finds you in good health. Like many of you, we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of spring.

We wanted to take a moment to provide you with an update on the recent challenges our vineyards have faced due to the severe winter weather in the past two years. Temperatures as low as -27°C were recorded in our area early this past January, serving as a reminder of Mother Nature’s firm hand and our primary role as farmers. Over the past couple of years, we have certainly felt the impact, experiencing some top loss last year, and this year we are observing some bud damage. Contrary to some media reports, we are not currently seeing as much potential damage during pruning. However, the true extent of this year’s damage remains unknown until the vines begin to grow around May or June.

Encouragingly, last year the vines were able to make headway to recovery from the cold snap in 2023. With the benefit of an early 2023 harvest and a fall fertilization program, we're keeping our fingers crossed that the vines have weathered this recent cold event. As we navigate these challenges, we want to assure you that we remain optimistic. Currently, we are in the midst of vineyard pruning, carefully tending to the vines in anticipation of the upcoming growing season, hopeful for a positive outcome.

Do we have wine? Absolutely. Thanks to our practice of bottle aging most of our wines at the winery, the potential worst-case impact of these two cold winters will not be noticeable for several years for the reds and our Rhone white blend. Unfortunately, our fruit-forward whites may experience some impact, resulting in limited quantities. Currently, some of the 2023 wines are in tanks waiting to be bottled. Despite a 50% reduction in yield in 2023, the small and highly concentrated berries have us extremely excited about this vintage.