often used for sweet wines. A cross between Muller-Thurgau and
Siegerrebe, Ortega was named in honour of the Spanish poet and philosopher José Ortega y Gasset.
The remainder of the vineyard is planted in three white varieties— Madelaine, Gewürztraminer and Sylvaner. All varieties bud out in late spring and ripen in early fall.
“We have as many heat units as the South Okanagan, but in a shorter period. The spring is later coming and our summer days are longer. We pick around the same time as in the Okanagan,” Jake said.
Robins were a serious problem until Jake started using netting.
Marg and Jake sold their grapes to a winery for a few years until he looked at their red-drenched balance sheet and asked “What kind of business is this?” Practically his next statement was “we’re going to start a winery.” Celista Estate Winery opened on July 2, 2010 and has enjoyed steady growth each year since. “To my knowledge we are the most northern grape winery in North America at latitude 50 degrees, 57 minutes,” Jake said.
Celista wines are sold primarily through the tasting room and at private liquor stores in Salmon Arm and Kamloops.
“This summer sales went well at the Celista Farmers’ Market. I really enjoyed interacting with the customers,” said Marg, who is in charge of marketing, the tasting room and landscaping and general esthetics of their property. Jake’s Wednesday and Saturday morning tours are starting to attract more people.
“This summer we started getting phone calls from people on their boats wanting to know if we could pick them up and bring them to our winery,” Marg said.
Celista produces approximately 1,000 cases annually.
“We’ll increase production only as sales indicate. We’re not here to set the world on fire,” Jake said.
The Ootes’ may not have torched the world, but their wines have certainly been making a name for themselves. In the past four years, Celista has won 32 awards. The highlight to date occurred last May when a Marechal Foch called Inspired Madness won a double gold medal in the All Canadian Wine Championships held in Ontario. “Inspired Madness got its name from
British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Winter 2014-15 17
a Yellowknife friend who admired our large farm property but wondered what we were doing at our age, in our 70s, planting a vineyard and opening a winery. He said this was “Inspired Madness”, so the name for our newest wine was born,” Jake said.
Celista also won a silver medal for its Gewürztraminer and a bronze for Ortega. “It’s really important to have a good wine maker. That’s why we decided not to do it ourselves,” Marg said. In addition to the part time winemaker, the Ootes employ two
hostesses during the season in the tasting room and an experienced vineyard worker.
An entrepreneur to the bone, Marg advises anyone interested in starting a business “to work with what you’ve got, never go back and work until you’ve accomplished something.”
And don’t be surprised if things don’t
turn out to be as straightforward as anticipated.
“We found everything from
production to wine making to marketing to have tremendous complications,” she said.
“We know this farm like no one else.”
Joel Dykstra – FCC Customer
More of Canada’s farm experts choose to do business with FCC
Together, we’ll create the financing plan that works for you. We get to know you, your farm and how you want to grow. If you’re ready to get down to business, talk to one of our farm business experts.
fcc.ca/Expert2Expert 1-800-387-3232
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