wanted to pay by the acre instead of by the ton and to have more say in the techniques used to grow the grapes, in order that the resulting flavours suited the style of wine they wanted to make.


In 1979, Dick’s elder son Ben returned to the Okanagan to operate the growing vineyards on the shoulder of Mount Boucherie.


In 1984 the B.C. Estate Winery Association was formed by five of the original small wineries in the valley—Sumac Ridge under Harry McWatters, Gray Monk under George and Trudy Heiss, Uniacke, which is now CedarCreek, Divino and Claremont, initially for marketing wines as Okanagan Wine Cellars. Some years later, it opened up membership as more small wineries were formed, and they were joined shortly by such names as Quails’ Gate, Gheringer


winemaker Elias Phiniotis helping to get it up and running. The first vintage was actually produced at Mission Hill Family Estate Winery, while the second was produced on the site in 1989—25 years ago.


In 1992 Tony


New label for small-lot premium wines that will be available only at the winery.


Brothers, Hainle and Summerhill. During the late 1980s, Ben Stewart was involved in urging fellow growers to disband the marketing board in favour of contracts with wineries, in part because some wineries were offering more to growers than the marketing board price, so they could achieve the fruit characteristics they desired.


With passage of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement in 1989 the industry in the Okanagan, led by McWatters, decided that in order to survive it must pursue the premium wine market—to compete successfully with the additional U.S. wines that agreement would allow to flow over the border.


A federal grape pull-out program helped growers with the cost of replacing the old labrusca hybrids with viniferas—which growers once thought couldn’t survive winters in the Okanagan.


In 1989, as the province and industry produced a premium wine industry strategy that resulted in creation of the Vintners’ Quality Alliance (VQA) system and the B.C. Wine Institute to manage it and establish standards, Dick and Ben decided to take the next step and get involved in the wine business. Quails’ Gate Estate Winery was founded by Ben Stewart in 1989 in an old packinghouse, with consulting


British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Fall 2014 11


Stewart returned to the Okanagan to help out with a business plan and his six weeks there has stretched into a few decades. In 1993 the company was restructured and Ben became a partner instead of the owner of the winery.


In 2000, their two


sisters were brought into the company as well, and that injection of capital allowed the 2007 expansion into a new winery building, incorporating a restaurant and meeting space. From early production of 5,000 cases of wine from their farmgate winery, the family gradually expanded to 25,000 cases, and today the winery produces about 50,000 cases, specializing in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Additional


vineyards from other parts of the valley have been added to the family’s holdings, for a total today of 180 acres, and 80 per cent of the grapes used are family-grown. The family has diversified as well,


partnering with the Napa Valley Zepponi family in 2012 to create Plume Winery, with a focus on Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. The pioneer 1873 log Allison House, which was the home of the first European settlers in West Kelowna, is where the fledgling winery’s tasting room had been located, but with construction of the new facility, it became a historic attraction on the property, mainly used for events and as a gift shop.


To celebrate this year’s 25th anniversary, Quails’ Gate is introducing a new label dedicated to the owners’ mother Rosemary, which will be unveiled on a new tier of mid-price, small-lot premium wines that will only be available at the winery.


A new label design will gradually be introduced to all the wines, beginning with these new offerings.


“Our goal is to produce exceptional wine at the $18 to $30 price point. We have a great winemaking team,” Tony says.


“Ben, Cynthia, Andrea and I are working hard to create a family business model that will carry on for future generations,” he adds.


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