DECEMBER 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Langley meadery finds the sweet spot Festina Lente goes to extraordinary lengths to make wine from “bee to bottle”


by RONDA PAYNE


LANGLEY – Logical, methodical, smooth: these aren’t the words most people would use to describe starting a winery. Nor would most people move from an idea to opening in less than 18 months. But then, Festina Lente in Langley is not your standard winery. Rather, it’s a meadery, and one that’s been built around environmental stewardship from the time planning started in January 2016 till when the tasting room opened May 1, 2017. Since opening, they’ve already doubled their earliest sales expectations. The quick growth is a sharp contrast with the name of the winery, an old phrase meaning “make haste slowly” – a principle that guides the care owners Bill and Teresa Townsley put into tending their bees, their land and the more than 20 types of mead they’re making. “There’s a lot of loss of


agricultural lands,” Teresa says. “We want to see as much of that preserved as we can.” To do this, Festina Lente


makes full use of its own five acres while pasturing their bees on several additional parcels that give the bees a total of 40 acres of range. The sites are free of pesticides and other sprays, ensuring the bees keep buzzing at their best. “We take care of our wine


from bee to bottle,” Teresa explains. “Even the chickens are part of the winemaking process.”


The chickens she refers to peck peacefully around a patch of land in front of the property next to the house/tasting room/winery. Spent apples, blueberries and other fruit from the winemaking process are fed to the chickens, which Teresa believes makes them happy. “And we get great eggs out


of it,” she adds. “It’s part of being carbon-forward. We put more into the environment in making the wine than we take out of it.”


When asked to explain her view of carbon-forward further, she explains that having bees in the local area supports the activities of local farmers; with winemaking and storage on-site, there is limited transportation cost; produce used to create different types of mead is grown on-site except for local blueberries and cranberries; and the zero-carbon corks used at bottling are made from sugar cane. “We hope to have this


entire farm on solar power as Bill Townsley watches wife Teresa pour a glass of Bonus Eventus Melomel. RONDA PAYNE PHOTO


well,” notes Teresa. “We’re not there yet.” The Townsleys moved onto


philosophy we raised our children with and our crops with.”


flavourings in [the mead] right at the beginning and let them co-ferment with the honey.


“Bill was learning about bees and it’s like crack. Once you have a few [hives], you need more.”


The concept also applies to how they make mead. Mother Nature, Teresa feels, likes to add the element of surprise to things.


the property about seven years ago and started a hobby farm. The concept for the farm shifted gears as they focused on reducing waste and making use of what existed on site. Avoiding modification of their house, for instance, they opted for smaller tanks of 400 and 500 litres because these are what could pass into the house. “That’s why it looks like a


house,” she says of the building. “It’s the old farmhouse.” A slower pace is also how


the Townsleys handled their livestock as hobby farmers. “You could force them [horses and other animals] … or use a nice methodical plan,” Teresa says. “It’s the same


The couple works with Mother Nature rather than try to force her. The current release of


Festina Lente’s Luna mead, bottled on August 21, the day of the solar eclipse, has a subtle hazelnut flavour which the Townsleys attribute to the bees foraging on maple pollen.


“I doubt we can ever


recreate that,” Teresa says of the unique flavour. Other wines incorporate


fruit from on and around the property. Pomona, for example, is made by co-fermenting honey with crabapples. Bacchus Pyment uses fox grapes from 40-year- old vines. “We put all of our


It’s more complex and unique than just adding apple juice at the end.”


The wines are switched up seasonally to complement what customers would be eating at that time, so summer meads are lighter whereas fall wines are more complex. “Our goal was to make wine that pairs well with food,” notes Teresa. “They are a little drier, more food-friendly wines. Maybe that’s the grape winemakers in us, but we wanted something familiar.” Teresa handles


administration and sales while Bill naturally gravitated to making the wine because his father taught winemaking, brewing and cheesemaking at UBC. An emerging interest in beekeeping led to the decision to make mead. “Winemaking and mead-


making go hand-in-hand, some of the techniques,” Teresa says. “Bill was learning about bees and it’s like crack.


Once you have a few [hives], you need more.” Several other artisan beverage makers on 16th Avenue, including Township 7 across the street and Fraser Valley Cider a


short drive east, means the location has been ideal. Mead also allows Bill to pursue winemaking year- round. “That’s one of the


differences between mead and grape wines,” he says. “Mead, you extract the honey usually once a year but it lasts, literally, for years.” The fact that it lasts so long


also presents a challenge: the honey resists fermentation. “It’s slightly more complex


making mead than grape wine,” says Bill. Nevertheless, the disciplined approach appears to be paying off. Rapid growth in sales means the Townsleys are strategizing to keep up with demand, determined to make haste – but slowly. While the meads are primarily available in the tasting room right now, Bill says retail sales are in the cards once production is sufficient to support ongoing demand.


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