Wynnwood Estate Cellars co-owner Dave Basaraba talks wine in the Wynndel BC tasting room.
A VISIT TO WYNNWOOD CELLARS WINERY
Wynnwood Estates Winery is one of those small enterprises that many wine lovers just can’t drive past without stopping in to check out. And with the steady stream of summer tourists driving on Highway 3A, en route to or from the Kootenay Lake ferry or summer cottages on the shore, it is already gaining popularity with travellers.
I made the 15-minute drive from Creston on a recent sunny afternoon to visit with co-owner Dave Basaraba, who also doubles as vineyard manager and winemaker. He loves working in the wine shop. And that’s a good thing, because he and his wife Margaret (who also works in the shop) live in a house a stone’s throw away.
Dave poured us each a glass of Pinot Noir and we took advantage of the afternoon sun to sit on lawn chairs, chatting while we looked out on the patchwork quilt of farms to the south, the Creston Valley spread out below us and the Selkirk Mountain range providing a backdrop to the postcard scene.
The 12-acre property, just north of Wynndel, has undergone a dramatic change since last year. The small Cat bulldozer sitting nearby serves as a reminder that Dave grew up on a farm and is rarely happier than when he is working on the land. He has filled dips and cut down hillocks to create a gentle slope for new vines that will supplement the 10-acre vineyard further north, on steeper slope that borders on Duck Lake.
Dave is a carpenter, too, and has done much of the work on the winery and tasting room. The cast-in-place concrete window frames and other little details give the place a sense of permanence and old world charm.
We were enjoying our sips of very silky Pinot Noir when our reverie was interrupted by the arrival of three visitors. Dave remembered them as members of a little hiking group who had visited last year, and soon he was entertaining them with wine samples and stories, easily engaging all in conversation. I joined them in a tasting that included Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Pinot Noir, all of which were well received.
A half hour later, just as the group was about to make its purchases and move on, another car pulled up, this one with four women out for a tasting adventure. There are three more of us and they’ll be here in a minute, they announced. Seven is a crowd in the small tasting room, so I exited for a walk around the property before heading homeward.
Those moments in the warm sun allowed me to reflect on how Dave’s passion for wine has evolved to this point. A decade ago, he and Margaret hosted our wine group in their partially underground home in Canyon. Out in the large garden were rows of grapevines that Dave babied to help them survive each winter. His experimentation served him well after he partnered with sawmill manager Michael Wigen to create a vineyard on the limestone-filled hillside above Duck Lake.
Temperatures at that location are typically a couple of degrees warmer than in Erickson, where Creston Valley’s first two wineries are located. And the late afternoon sun reflects off the lake in the summer and early fall, helping to ripen grapes and form higher sugar content in the fruit. Early plans to build a winery on the hillside were abandoned when Dave and Margaret bought the Wynndel property and Wynnwood Cellars Estate Winery has been evolving ever since.
The first few vintages indicate that Basaraba and Wigen made a great decision when they decided to team up, and they got incredibly lucky because the Duck Lake property was already owned by the Wigen family’s business. A new vineyard in an untested location involves lots of risk and experimentation and it’s been fun to watch it develop and produce wines that are bursting with promise, ones that will only continue to get better as vines mature and roots tap deeper into the limestone base, drawing up minerals that add complexity to the fruit flavour.
The Wynnwood story is really only in its first chapters, but it is already turning into a real page-turner.
I made the 15-minute drive from Creston on a recent sunny afternoon to visit with co-owner Dave Basaraba, who also doubles as vineyard manager and winemaker. He loves working in the wine shop. And that’s a good thing, because he and his wife Margaret (who also works in the shop) live in a house a stone’s throw away.
Dave poured us each a glass of Pinot Noir and we took advantage of the afternoon sun to sit on lawn chairs, chatting while we looked out on the patchwork quilt of farms to the south, the Creston Valley spread out below us and the Selkirk Mountain range providing a backdrop to the postcard scene.
The 12-acre property, just north of Wynndel, has undergone a dramatic change since last year. The small Cat bulldozer sitting nearby serves as a reminder that Dave grew up on a farm and is rarely happier than when he is working on the land. He has filled dips and cut down hillocks to create a gentle slope for new vines that will supplement the 10-acre vineyard further north, on steeper slope that borders on Duck Lake.
Dave is a carpenter, too, and has done much of the work on the winery and tasting room. The cast-in-place concrete window frames and other little details give the place a sense of permanence and old world charm.
We were enjoying our sips of very silky Pinot Noir when our reverie was interrupted by the arrival of three visitors. Dave remembered them as members of a little hiking group who had visited last year, and soon he was entertaining them with wine samples and stories, easily engaging all in conversation. I joined them in a tasting that included Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Pinot Noir, all of which were well received.
A half hour later, just as the group was about to make its purchases and move on, another car pulled up, this one with four women out for a tasting adventure. There are three more of us and they’ll be here in a minute, they announced. Seven is a crowd in the small tasting room, so I exited for a walk around the property before heading homeward.
Those moments in the warm sun allowed me to reflect on how Dave’s passion for wine has evolved to this point. A decade ago, he and Margaret hosted our wine group in their partially underground home in Canyon. Out in the large garden were rows of grapevines that Dave babied to help them survive each winter. His experimentation served him well after he partnered with sawmill manager Michael Wigen to create a vineyard on the limestone-filled hillside above Duck Lake.
Temperatures at that location are typically a couple of degrees warmer than in Erickson, where Creston Valley’s first two wineries are located. And the late afternoon sun reflects off the lake in the summer and early fall, helping to ripen grapes and form higher sugar content in the fruit. Early plans to build a winery on the hillside were abandoned when Dave and Margaret bought the Wynndel property and Wynnwood Cellars Estate Winery has been evolving ever since.
The first few vintages indicate that Basaraba and Wigen made a great decision when they decided to team up, and they got incredibly lucky because the Duck Lake property was already owned by the Wigen family’s business. A new vineyard in an untested location involves lots of risk and experimentation and it’s been fun to watch it develop and produce wines that are bursting with promise, ones that will only continue to get better as vines mature and roots tap deeper into the limestone base, drawing up minerals that add complexity to the fruit flavour.
The Wynnwood story is really only in its first chapters, but it is already turning into a real page-turner.
A third winery--Wynnwood Cellars--is added to the Creston Valley mix
Wynnwood's vineyard lies atop a limestone hillside overlooking Duck Lake.
We recently spent a few hours at what is about to become the Creston Valley’s third winery.
As we drove home, I thought about how much fun it has been to watch the development of the wine industry in what 20 years ago was generally considered to be an inhospitable climate for vinifera and even some hybrid grape varieties.
Then, six years ago (has it really been that long) Al and Marleen Hoag opened the doors to Skimmerhorn Winery and Vineyard. The long-time orchard operators had seen the writing on the wall for the traditional fruit industry and, coming across what they believed to be a perfect location to grow grapes, they made the move into the wine business. A couple of other canny decisions — hiring New Zealand winemaker Mark Rattray and opening a bistro to add another draw for visitors — helped the new endeavour to succeed.
Four years later, a neighbouring vineyard was also producing and Baillie-Grohman Estate Winery opened its doors. Committed to using only vinifera grapes and intensive vineyard management, owners Bob Johnson and Petra Flaa hired another Kiwi. Dan Barker was not so long ago named New Zealand’s young winemaker of the year and he has proven to be a perfect match for what Johnson and Flaa dreamed of accomplishing. One doesn’t have to sift through many wine and food publications in Canada before the Baillie-Grohman name starts to pop up.
Wynnwood Estate Winery, set to open its doors to the public on a 12-acre parcel just north of Wynndel on Highway 3A, has established itself as unique by locating its vineyard on a limestone rock-covered slope that drops down to Duck Lake. With slightly warmer temperatures than the vineyard in Erickson and the advantage of water that reflects the late afternoon sun onto the vines, the vineyard is already producing Merlot grapes, a rare red vinifera other than Pinot Noir in this area.
The vineyard was the result of a happy coincidence. Michael Wigen, whose family owns Wynndel Box and Lumber Ltd. sawmill, and who has a deep interest in fine wines, had been flying a potential investor around the valley as he looked for a likely vineyard location. A short time afterward, then-Canyon resident Dave Basaraba, who shares Wigen’s wine passion, told Michael that he thought there was an ideal spot for a vineyard to the north of Duck Lake.
Basaraba described the location and Wigen replied, “You’ve got to be kidding. I think we (Wynndel Box and Lumber) own that land.”
Not so long afterward, machinery was moved in and Basaraba was supervising the landscaping for what has evolved into a 10-acre vineyard with slopes and gullies that would look at home in Italy or France.
The partners made a decision not to chance a winery construction on the hillside property, not least because it would involve enormous expense. Instead, the winery and tasting room has been built on property Dave and Margaret Basaraba purchased a couple of years ago. With its direct access to Highway 3A and the many tourists that drive along toward Kootenay Lake each summer, the location looks ideal.
We walked around the unfinished building, talking about finishing and landscaping, and sipped from bottle and barrel samples of wine made from the Duck Lake vineyard over the past two years. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc have been produced in small quantities and they are all showing characteristics that belie the vineyard’s youth. Some experimenting has been done to determine the most suitable style of wine to be made from each grape and no doubt the trials will continue in the coming vintages, too. But I am convinced that there is something special unfolding at Wynnwood Estate Winery and I am excited that it will only serve to enhance the overall wine industry in the Creston Valley.
At one point the conversation turned to, “Where will the fourth vineyard and winery be?” There were no firm answers, but no one questioned that idea that there is more development to come in this newly emerging wine region.
April 2012 - La Dolce Vita
As we drove home, I thought about how much fun it has been to watch the development of the wine industry in what 20 years ago was generally considered to be an inhospitable climate for vinifera and even some hybrid grape varieties.
Then, six years ago (has it really been that long) Al and Marleen Hoag opened the doors to Skimmerhorn Winery and Vineyard. The long-time orchard operators had seen the writing on the wall for the traditional fruit industry and, coming across what they believed to be a perfect location to grow grapes, they made the move into the wine business. A couple of other canny decisions — hiring New Zealand winemaker Mark Rattray and opening a bistro to add another draw for visitors — helped the new endeavour to succeed.
Four years later, a neighbouring vineyard was also producing and Baillie-Grohman Estate Winery opened its doors. Committed to using only vinifera grapes and intensive vineyard management, owners Bob Johnson and Petra Flaa hired another Kiwi. Dan Barker was not so long ago named New Zealand’s young winemaker of the year and he has proven to be a perfect match for what Johnson and Flaa dreamed of accomplishing. One doesn’t have to sift through many wine and food publications in Canada before the Baillie-Grohman name starts to pop up.
Wynnwood Estate Winery, set to open its doors to the public on a 12-acre parcel just north of Wynndel on Highway 3A, has established itself as unique by locating its vineyard on a limestone rock-covered slope that drops down to Duck Lake. With slightly warmer temperatures than the vineyard in Erickson and the advantage of water that reflects the late afternoon sun onto the vines, the vineyard is already producing Merlot grapes, a rare red vinifera other than Pinot Noir in this area.
The vineyard was the result of a happy coincidence. Michael Wigen, whose family owns Wynndel Box and Lumber Ltd. sawmill, and who has a deep interest in fine wines, had been flying a potential investor around the valley as he looked for a likely vineyard location. A short time afterward, then-Canyon resident Dave Basaraba, who shares Wigen’s wine passion, told Michael that he thought there was an ideal spot for a vineyard to the north of Duck Lake.
Basaraba described the location and Wigen replied, “You’ve got to be kidding. I think we (Wynndel Box and Lumber) own that land.”
Not so long afterward, machinery was moved in and Basaraba was supervising the landscaping for what has evolved into a 10-acre vineyard with slopes and gullies that would look at home in Italy or France.
The partners made a decision not to chance a winery construction on the hillside property, not least because it would involve enormous expense. Instead, the winery and tasting room has been built on property Dave and Margaret Basaraba purchased a couple of years ago. With its direct access to Highway 3A and the many tourists that drive along toward Kootenay Lake each summer, the location looks ideal.
We walked around the unfinished building, talking about finishing and landscaping, and sipped from bottle and barrel samples of wine made from the Duck Lake vineyard over the past two years. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc have been produced in small quantities and they are all showing characteristics that belie the vineyard’s youth. Some experimenting has been done to determine the most suitable style of wine to be made from each grape and no doubt the trials will continue in the coming vintages, too. But I am convinced that there is something special unfolding at Wynnwood Estate Winery and I am excited that it will only serve to enhance the overall wine industry in the Creston Valley.
At one point the conversation turned to, “Where will the fourth vineyard and winery be?” There were no firm answers, but no one questioned that idea that there is more development to come in this newly emerging wine region.
April 2012 - La Dolce Vita
A visit to the Wynnwood Cellars vineyard overlooking Duck Lake
Lorne Eckersley and Wynnwood Cellars co-owner Michael Wigen.
On the weekend my oldest son took a drive up Highway 3A to check on the progress of vineyard that slopes down to Duck Lake. Ten acres of vines are now in position and some produced grapes last year, with more to be harvested in this and coming years.
The wines will be made under the Wynnwood label, a salute to the Wigen family’s history of operating a sawmill in Wynndel. Vineyard owner Michael Wigen has teamed up with local wine enthusiast Dave Basaraba to create the vineyard, which is different in many ways from those closer to Creston.
The Wynnwood property is situated on land that slopes dramatically downward from the highway to railroad tracks and on down to Duck Lake. It abounds with limestone, a desirable asset because grapevines love stone, drawing the minerals from them. Some of France’s best wine producers are situated on limestone-rich land.
Early indications are that red grapes that won’t ripen in the Creston Valley’s climate have a shot at the Duck Lake location. The property is at a lower elevation and it gains light and heat from its proximity to the shallow lake and the late afternoon sunlight that reflects off the water.
I’ve sampled some of the test wines made from grapes grown at this location and the results have been very impressive. Basaraba said the hope is to have a winemaking facility on site for this fall’s harvest.
If not, the grapes will be hauled to a custom facility in the Okanagan. The prospect of another, and entirely different, wine producer in the Creston area is exciting and I’ll keep readers posted as more news emerges.
August 2011 - La Dolce Vita
The wines will be made under the Wynnwood label, a salute to the Wigen family’s history of operating a sawmill in Wynndel. Vineyard owner Michael Wigen has teamed up with local wine enthusiast Dave Basaraba to create the vineyard, which is different in many ways from those closer to Creston.
The Wynnwood property is situated on land that slopes dramatically downward from the highway to railroad tracks and on down to Duck Lake. It abounds with limestone, a desirable asset because grapevines love stone, drawing the minerals from them. Some of France’s best wine producers are situated on limestone-rich land.
Early indications are that red grapes that won’t ripen in the Creston Valley’s climate have a shot at the Duck Lake location. The property is at a lower elevation and it gains light and heat from its proximity to the shallow lake and the late afternoon sunlight that reflects off the water.
I’ve sampled some of the test wines made from grapes grown at this location and the results have been very impressive. Basaraba said the hope is to have a winemaking facility on site for this fall’s harvest.
If not, the grapes will be hauled to a custom facility in the Okanagan. The prospect of another, and entirely different, wine producer in the Creston area is exciting and I’ll keep readers posted as more news emerges.
August 2011 - La Dolce Vita
