The WineryWe were once known for our quaint Quonset Hut on our Black Sage Road vineyard. This quaint but technologically limiting facility was a landmark for years on the Black Sage Road wine trail. It was renowned both for its humble character as well as the “Sorry, Sold Out” sign that seemed to be always mounted outside.
This all changed in 2007 when our operations were moved into a new winery only 1000 metres away designed by renowned architect, Nick Bevanda. This new winery proudly won a 2008 Lieutenant Governor's Award for architectural excellence. We are the only winery in Western Canada to have ever received this award. The inspiration for our design was the vision of a Crushpad right in the heart of our vineyard and in the closet possible proximity to our grapes. Having our winery immersed in our vineyard enables instantaneous processing of the grapes within minutes of picking at harvest time. This in turn allows for an exceptionally high level of freshness of the grapes at crush time, giving a truer expression of our terroir. Our grapes are hand-picked and brought from our vineyard to our winery where they are sorted, destemmed, slowly fermented, then pressed into oak barrels and cellared to produce our high quality hand-crafted wines. Our winery facility has been a godsend to the winemaking craft, as it has enabled an exact handling of the wines in temperature-controlled conditions. We are very excited with how this new winery has further enabled the continued progression and evolution of our sought-after wines. This in turn enables us to remain a small production, hand crafted winery with a very high quality winemaking orientation. WinemakerOur Winemaking Team's endless dedication to winemaking and their fastidious attention to flavour profiles results in Black Hills' highly regarded wines. They have the greatest respect for the terroir of our vineyard at Black Hills and realize how the wines must continue to be an accurate expression of them. Graham Pierce, Winemaker
Graham Pierce is the Head Winemaker for Black Hills Estate Winery. In this capacity he oversees every facet of our winery operations and is a passionate hands-on operator. He crafts ours wines using the same painstaking, exact vinification techniques that have been employed since our first wine vintage in 1999. This includes practices such as the “uber-gentle” handling of the grapes at crush time; or selecting appellation-specific oak barrels from select coopers; or the continuous, obsessive monitoring of each barrel of wine's progression in the cellar; or any of a hundred different quality practices that have helped create and sustain the legacy of the wine from Black Hills Estate Winery. Winery Tours & TastingsThe wine shop is closed for the season but will re open April 28th 2012. For further information please contact info@blackhillswinery.com or call 250-498-0666. Winery EventsNOTA BENE RELEASE PARTY Date: June 9, 2012 Price: $159.00 (plus tax). Price of admission includes all you can drink Black Hills wine, locally inspired food fare, a range of entertainment, shuttle pick up and shuttle drop off in Oliver and Osoyoos area. Join us for a lovely afternoon in our winery, immersed in the middle of our scenic vineyard and experience a truly sensory indulgence. Several stations will be interspersed throughout the winery in a way that will encourage social interaction. Each station will feature culinary creations perfectly paired with our wines. Rounding it off will be the great live music and entertainment. This entertaining collection of local musicians from the Okanagan Wine Industry has a lively music format that will be great for the party. This event will be a great opportunity to meet the team behind Black Hills.
You will also have the opportunity to meet other enthusiasts of Black Hills wine from across Canada. For those that are interested, we will be running tours of the winery and take you right into the vines to allow you to get to know the terroir of the vineyard. Combine all this with great food, great wine and entertaining music- and it is bound to be a very enjoyable afternoon.
Tickets can be purchased at the wine shop or by calling us at the winery 250-498-0666 x 1. Working Vineyard and Terroir Experience Tasting Date: Saturday, September 29 2012 Time: 8:30 am to 12:30 pm Cost: $80.00 include bragging rights, vineyard picnic and wine. Tax not included Roll up your sleeves and have some fun! Start with a short lecture called "Vineyard 101" followed by a walking and a sensory tasting tour of our vineyard. In a unique experience called "Wine & Grape Pairing" you will get to taste various grapes right off the vine then compare it to the finished wine of that varietal from a previous vintage. If conditions permit, our Vineyard Manager will then carefully guide you as you help pick bunches of precious grapes from select rows of vines. A total hands on experience! After all that hard work, we will visit our winery for a winery tour and a sneak preview Barrel Tasting. A light Alfresco Vineyard Picnic paired with 2 glasses of Black Hills wine is included in this experience. Ticket price include bragging rights, vineyard picnic and wine. Tickets can be purchased at the wine shop or by calling us at the winery 250-498-0666 Annual Harvest Celebration Party Date: Saturday, September 29 2012 Time: 5:00 pm to 8:30 pm Cost: $149.00(tax not inc.) Price of admission includes all you can drink Black Hills wine, locally inspired food fare, a range of entertainment, shuttle pick up and shuttle drop off in Oliver and Osoyoos area. Each year we surprise our patrons by doing something different. Past experiences include Magnum Pool Party, Celebrity Chef and Winemaker Dinner and Vertical Tastings.
Passion/ About Us
Black Hills Estate Winery is owned by Vinequest Wine Partners Limited Partnership. The Board of this Limited Partnership is comprised of five individuals who share this passion: Glenn Fawcett, Jason Priestley, Gary Nissen, John Houghton and Dale Burstall. In conjunction with our Vineyard & Winery operational team, we collectively share the passion for producing the highest quality wines possible from our terroir. That passion extends to every aspect in the creation of the wine, from vineyard to bottle. We are always striving to fine-tune our viticultural and enological practices to share with you the best and most interesting wines our terroir can express.
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