Pentâge Winery

VOICE (V): How did it all start?

 

Paul (P): My wife Julie brought me to the Okanagan on Easter weekend in 1996. What was meant to be a short getaway turned into a real estate hunt, and when we saw the property at 4400 Lakeside Road, we fell in love with it. Neither of us was involved in the wine world at the time. I was still working as a marine engineer, and my only experience with making wine was dabbling with wine kits in the basement of my Vancouver home. I did have a neighbor that introduced me to some great wines, and I think that was when I saw the light or better yet tasted what was possible from different grape varieties. I contoured the land, ordered grapes, and in the spring of 1997, planted the initial 5 acres of vines on what we call Vista Ridge Vineyard. One of the varieties was Syrah, which was rare in the area back then.

Someone once told me that it must be easy to make wine as an engineer because you are process-oriented. I think that's partially true. However, I always say that if you are a foodie and know how to cook, you can make wine because like cooking if you pay attention to using the best ingredients and the process of preparing the food you are nearly assured good results.  The wine is created in the vineyard, and you are simply shepherding it through the process. The growing of the perfect grape is the main challenge, and it is a time-consuming challenge as a lot of hand work is required. It's all about the fruit - good fruit makes good wine. Our first vintage was in 2000, and the rest is history.

 

V: What was the journey like building the winery from scratch?

 

P: This has all been a lot of sweat equity. We were actively involved in most of the project  from start to finish.  You need to be able to wear a lot of hats in this industry you will be involved in or personally do the farming, winemaking, packaging, machinery repair, and marketing/sales. I first had to move a bit of earth here and actually thought I would just jump on a bulldozer and push the earth around “how hard could that be”. Luckily the person who rented the machine to us was able to provide a skilled operator and I might have done 10% of the work after instruction. Next came the vineyard layout and infrastructure, ordering the grapes and planting. Of course, once planted it was a wake-up call for how much care and love you need to give the young plants. From 1997-2000 I was still working  as a marine engineer and juggling various small jobs as well as getting the farm started. By 2000, the winery became my full-time job. Julie commuted from Vancouver on weekends, which continued until around 2007 and the winery was becoming self supporting. .

I remember building the foundation for the tasting room on September 11, 2001. After completing the tasting room, I started the project of our famous natural rock cellar. It took me over 10 years to complete, involving the facility design and digging out a massive 465-square-meter cave from hard rock.

To succeed in the wine business, you must commit to it as a 24-hour business. Growing grapes is incredibly labor-intensive and time-consuming. I joke that I only work a half day, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., realistically with a farming and winemaking business it is even longer as you never really leave until its physical wheels up on the plane to a vacation. But the important thing to remember is if you are doing something you have a passion for it does not feel like work. Well… maybe it does feel like work, and you will get tired and exhausted some days but it makes it easier to keep going. That is an idea of commitment you should be willing to make, otherwise I don’t think you can make a small winery work.

Currently, I am my only employee, I have been lucky enough to work with some good people over the years in the pursuit of fine wine making.  Julie has a couple of people  helping her in the wine shop, and two foreign workers are assisting us in the vineyard. Come harvest we usually are able to find some picking help which also lend a hand with the winemaking. That's our entire team.

Many people nowadays are disheartened, and their work ethic has diminished because they think they will never afford a home. I can understand how this can be disheartening. I can only say that this was not an inexpensive endeavor to start and maintain and only by working three jobs and taking on extra side projects to fund everything were we able to make it a reality. If you truly want to do it, you can, I hope.

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V: When did you realize you had made it as a winery?

 

P: I don’t recall the exact moment, when Julie as able to move up full time after 11 years is probably a good indication of the time required. I do  remember selling my first case of wine. Today, we sell around 5,000 cases a year. While that’s modest for a winery, it suits us perfectly. We craft wine that people enjoy and that brings them happiness, which is what truly matters. Although our operation could produce more, we choose to keep it small batch to ensure quality and meticulous attention to detail. We’re exactly where we want to be.

The moment we start producing anything less than exceptional, it becomes just a job. I want to keep my passion for the craft alive. If you buy one of our bottles and don’t enjoy it, I’ll refund your money. We pour excellence into every bottle.

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V: What makes your winery unique?

 

P: From the beginning, our philosophy has been to release wine only when it is ready to drink, a practice we call "bottle aging." We allow our reds and select whites to mature in the bottle before release, so customers can enjoy beautifully aged vintages immediately or continue to age them in their own cellars.

Our natural rock cellar is also special. It features natural climate control and houses the barrel cellar and custom-designed stainless-steel tanks. The beauty of it lies in its energy efficiency; the space requires no heating or cooling. It naturally maintains a reasonably steady temperature swinging between  8.5 and 21 degrees Celsius.

 

V: How does the 2024 vintage look like?

 

P: We won't be harvesting this year. Despite the lush green appearance of the vines, they're not producing fruit due to two consecutive harsh winters. As a land-based winery, our license limits us to using grapes exclusively from our own land or another vineyard in BC, unlike commercial wineries. After much discussion, the government has decided to permit us to bring in juice from the United States this year. I want to give a special shout-out to Chris Holler of Popular Grove Winery, who anticipated the situation early on. When the government was still deliberating, Chris took the initiative to organize the logistics for sourcing US grapes and distributing them to the valley. I was fortunate to get on their list, and their efforts are truly commendable for the industry. Thanks to the Holler family, we’re able to buy juice for the 2024 vintage, except for the reds. For those, we're still working with the 2018 vintage and letting the 2021 and 2022 vintages age in the cellar according to our bottle-aging philosophy.

 

V: Do you think climate change is becoming more challenging for farmers?

 

P:Every time I hear about climate change, I can't help but think, "Really?" As a farmer, I'm constantly interacting with Mother Nature, and I'm familiar with the natural variations and shifts in climate. Until about two weeks ago, it was straightforward to review historical data on high and low temperatures, precipitation, snowfall, and wind for our area on the Environment Canada website for Penticton. However, a recent website update has made accessing this data a bit more complicated, requiring more clicks. Despite this, the information is still available.Reviewing this data has been an eye-opener, highlighting how weather patterns have always fluctuated over time. For instance, I wouldn't have wanted to farm in Canada during the 1940s, given the extreme weather conditions of that era. While records from the early 1900s can be somewhat sketchy for some regions, it's clear that weather variability has always been a factor. We need to adapt and work with these natural events as they come.

 

V: How do you find the Penticton wine Community?

 

P: When we began, we were the 87th winery in BC, and now there are likely around 300. I’ve gotten to know most of the key people who have worked in this valley. The wine industry here is generally a joyful one. I’m open about my methods and have no hesitation in sharing them if someone asks. I believe that if we all produce great wine, it will attract more people to appreciate and visit the Okanagan.

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