The GOODS from Okanagan Crush Pad

Summerland, BC | Okanagan Crush Pad is proud to have successfully transitioned Switchback Vineyard and has now received their Certified Organic certification.

When Switchback Vineyard was converted from a fallow orchard in 2006, it was designed with local expertise and farmed conventionally. The vineyard team poured immense energy into the project and was proud of the results, which lived up to local standards. At that point, there were less than 60 hectares of organic vineyard land in BC and to plant an organic vineyard was not top of mind for new vineyard farmers, Steve Lornie and Christine Coletta.

The decision to convert to organic growing was inspired by the winery team’s work with Italian oenologist and winery consultant Alberto Antonini. Antonini pointed out what was being done globally and why organic grapes are the foundation of making wines that reflect where they are grown.

Antonini’s suggestion hit home when Coletta spotted a rash on her dog Echo and pieced it back to a walk through the vineyard which had been recently sprayed with pesticides. “Clearly these chemicals were affecting humans and animals and it had to stop,” she noted. “Alberto’s words about caring for our land and how vineyards need to be ‘alive’ in order to make wines that have a sense of place, all snapped into my head. I gained a clear plan, and it took me two seconds to convince the rest of the team.”

Before converting, the first step was to analyze the vineyard. Enter internationally respected terroir expert Pedro Parra, who had joined the winery team to assist them in the hunt for a new Okanagan vineyard site. Pedro and a team from Chile magnetically mapped Switchback Vineyard, and dug pits throughout for full analysis of site and soil.

It was revealed that there were many micro zones and that each should have originally been planted with a different clone and root stock to suit unique circumstances. As the team wasn’t prepared to replant the site, Parra recommended a program to mediate the farming practices to achieve premium results. These changes are part of the foundation of precision viticulture, where each vineyard lot, and even each vine, is treated individually by hand.

Following Parra’s recommendations, the team made radical changes to the vineyard, implemented by Theo Siemens, Okanagan Crush Pad’s vineyard manager. Changes were made to pruning, watering, ground cover crops, and the use of animals in order to balance the vineyard and put it on a ‘healthy diet’. With this new farming regime in place, Switchback Vineyard has been farmed organically since 2011. Sheep, chickens, ducks, and two miniature donkeys complete the picture. Read the full story on the farming and process.

The vineyard receives its official organic certification in August 2015 and Antonini and Parra join the Okanagan Crush Pad team to mark the occasion.

The next step for the winery team is to develop the winery’s Garnet Valley Ranch, a 312-acre Summerland site, that has been farmed organically from the day we built it. Adding to this, the contract growers the winery works with are now in transition to organic growing, setting the stage for a fully organic wine program. The winery is now on a three-year-track to use organic grapes exclusively for the production of its own wines.

“It has been an amazing amount of work. We were like parents of newborns: over-anxious, over-bearing and hovering,” commented Coletta. “Perhaps we are a little more relaxed about the process now and have built up confidence in our conversion process and the outcome. That confidence has led to the next phase.”

Details

16576 Fosbery Road, Summerland, BC | V0H 1Z6
Winery phone: 250-494-4445 | Order wine: 604-800-3738 [email protected]
Web: www.okanagancrushpad.com | Facebook | Twitter
Order wine: 604-800-0601 | [email protected]

Gallery

The People

Christine Coletta, Owner
Steve Lornie, Owner
Matt Dumayne, Chief Winemaker
Jordan Kubek, Sparkling Winemaker
Julian Scholefield, Operations Manager
David Scholefield, Wine advisor
Alberto Antonini, Consulting viticulturist & winemaker
Leeann Froese, Marketing and Communications
Alison Scholefield, Brand Manager
Whitney Law, order desk and THE Club @ Crush Pad

About Okanagan Crush Pad

Okanagan Crush Pad, producer of Haywire and Narrative wines, is quickly building a reputation as one of the premium producers in the Okanagan. The winemaking team includes world renowned Tuscan-based consultant Alberto Antonini, wine expert David Scholefield, and winemaker Matt Dumayne.

Located in beautiful Summerland, BC, the winery overlooks Switchback vineyard, an organic site that is also home to roaming sheep and chickens. Okanagan Crush Pad crafts wines that are symbolic of the region’s unique high mountain/northern desert setting which has an intensely hot, short growing season with hallmark cool evenings.

The winery is the first in Canada to extensively use concrete tanks and wines that are fermented and aged in concrete carry the Raised in Concrete™ designation. Visitors to the guest center, built right into the heart of the production facility, get a rare glance into the art of winemaking.

Tasting Lounge & Wine Shop Hours of Operation

April – May | Open Thursday – Sunday from 10:30am to 5:30pm
June – October | Open daily from 10:30am to 5:30pm
October 15 – December 15 | Open Tuesday – Saturday from 12:00pm to 5:00pm

Off Season | Outside the above noted times our wine shop is always open for purchases by appointment.
Please call ahead so that we can be sure someone is available to assist you: (250) 494-4445 ext 1

Accolades

Haywire Gamay Noir Rosé 2013 | Vancouver Magazine Top 100 Category Award Wine for Best Rosé Wine. “Okanagan Crush Pad is at the forefront of innovation in B.C., with superstar consultants Alberto Antonini and terroir expert Pedro Parra helping define new directions. Light, crisp, and bone dry, our best rosé combines the juicy berry fruit of gamay and savoury, herbal aromas of the Okanagan. Seriously structured and ageable, it is a lovely expression of our unique climate. Its tart finish is perfect for Dungeness crab cakes or melty grilled cheese sandwiches.”

Haywire Canyonview Pinot Noir 2011 | Lieutenant Governor’s Award Winner 2014 for Excellence in BC Wines. 91 points by Tim Pawsey. “One of just 12 wines awarded in this year’s B.C. Lieutenant Governor’s Awards, from low yield, with judicious use of used French oak, dark cherry notes with some mineral hints, well-structured but very approachable (91 points, $35 from the winery (haywirewinery here.com). – See more.

Haywire Wild Ferment Pinot Gris 2012 | 92 points by John Schreiner. “Haywire Switchback Vineyard Wild Ferment ($29.90). This is 100% Pinot Gris but the varietal has been omitted from the label. The winery is trying to establish its organic Switchback Vineyard as a stand-alone brand. Think Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, which does not put the varietal on its label either. This is a richly textured wine with aromas of honeysuckle and herbs and flavours of pear and citrus. The finish lingers.”