The GOODS from Okanagan Crush Pad

Summerland, BC | With September around the corner, and heading back to school on the minds of many, there are some BC vintners who are headed the opposite way. The team at Okanagan Crush Pad is proud to present its ‘graduating’ class of 2013: Harper’s Trail, Jentsch Cellars, and Sage Hills.

As BC’s first full-fledged custom crush winemaking facility, Okanagan Crush Pad helps BC grape growers emerge into winery owners. The Summerland facility is the first of this kind in Canada, where a team of industry leading consultants offers diverse services to the wine industry. Custom-crush clients choose from a list of available services ranging from vineyard management and winemaking, to branding, packaging, marketing, communications, media relations and sales distribution.

Last year the team at Okanagan Crush Pad (OCP) helped launch four new wineries, while in August 2013, three additional BC winery clients received winery manufacturing licenses. Winery co-owner Christine Coletta is proud of the client vintners and is happy to see them graduate to the next level: self-sufficiency.

“This is what OCP is here to do,” she says. “We point people in the right direction, help them eliminate costly mistakes and help them launch with a quality portfolio that can set the stage for market acceptance. When we were developing and launching our own brand Haywire, which itself started in 2009 as a virtual wine, we discovered that there was a shockingly low level of written information, trade industry support, or people to help us wade through the legal requirements, licensing and red tape. Arms of government do not always talk to one another,” she continues, “and it can be overwhelming trying to figure out who to go to for information along the way.”

As a statement of success for what is Okanagan Crush Pad’s core business model, three vintners are now out on their own for fall 2013 after getting their start at OCP. Jentsch Cellars and Sage Hills are located in the Okanagan, and Harper’s Trail is the first winery to emerge from Kamloops.

Harper’s Trail co-owner Vicki Collett is thrilled to have her winery doors open in Kamloops. “We’re getting many visitors to the tasting room and receiving very positive response on all the wines and our operation here,” she says. “We have opened with confidence and quality wine, and know doing this would not have been possible without getting our start at Okanagan Crush Pad. It was the perfect solution for us. We suggest the OCP approach for others like us, who are ready to take their grapes from field to bottle, but need a bit of help with winemaking, or time to prepare their infrastructure.”

The innovative model behind Okanagan Crush Pad has proven a winner. Since it opened its doors in September 2011 the winery has more than doubled production, and is now at capacity with several clients (including house brands Haywire and Bartier Scholefield) producing 34,000 cases annually.

This past spring BC Business magazine recognized OCP as one of its top innovators of the year, and the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association awarded the winery its Technology & Innovation trophy.

The Okanagan Crush Pad winery, which is also home to its own brands Haywire and Bartier Scholefield, is open to the public June 15 to September 15.

For more information regarding the winemaking facility for clients, or for public visitors, please visit www.okanagancrushpad.com.

Details

16576 Fosbery Road, Summerland, BC | V0H 1Z0
Winery phone: 250-494-4445 | Order wine: 604-800-3738 [email protected]
Web: www.okanagancrushpad.com | Facebook | Twitter

Gallery

The People

Christine Coletta, Owner
Steve Lornie, Owner
Michael Bartier, Chief Winemaker
Matt Dumayne, Associate 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 Winery, is based in beautiful Summerland, British Columbia, overlooking the 10-acre Switchback Vineyard site and Lake Okanagan. The winery is home to Haywire and Bartier Scholefield, as well as other brands that have been made at the custom crush facility. With a team of dedicated industry leaders, OCP’s mantra has been to improve the quality of Okanagan wines through shared space and ideas. Since September 2011, the winery has opened its doors to provide home to smaller producers and growers within the Okanagan Valley, while focusing on their own boutique line of hand crafted wines. Keeping with the philosophy that less is more, grapes are handled with minimal intervention with an eye on pure fruit expression that accentuates the Okanagan’s distinctive terroir. Aided by six concrete egg fermenters by Sonoma Cast Stone, Okanagan Crush Pad is the first Canadian winery to introduce these modern vessels to the market.

Okanagan Crush Pad boasts an impressive state of the art facility, but owners Christine Coletta and Steve Lornie stress that it is their winery team that remains the hallmark of their success. Respected winemaker, Michael Bartier is an Okanagan native that has a refined understanding of the valley. Coupled with the global experience of internationally acclaimed wine consultant Alberto Antonini and OCP’s wine advisor David Scholefield, the team strives to create distinctive, quality driven BC wines. The winery is responsible for the boutique labels Haywire and Bartier Scholefield but is equally committed to bringing small producers from field to market.

The winery is not open regularly to the public but is designed to be a shared working space for winemakers to work closely together. Tastings and visits to the winery can be made by appointment through Alison Scholefield at [email protected].

Accolades

Bartier Scholefield Rosé

Review on Tim Pawsey’s www.HiredBelly.com | “Bartier Scholefield 2010 Rosé gets better every time we taste it. Looks pretty too. Lovely salmon colour in the glass, raspberry earthy notes on top.”

Recommendation in Georgia Straight by Jurgen Gothe | This one delivers hints of ripe strawberries as well as truffles—no mean feat!—for an intriguing—guess the grapes, Uncle Frank!—dinner companion. Not-quite-salmon-but-beyond-apricot is the colour. Think I could sell that to Sherwin-Williams? Great, crisp finish.

Bartier Scholefield White

Review by Christopher Waters in The London Free Press, 24 Hours Edmonton, 24 Hours Vancovuer, Fort MacMurray Today | It boasts terrific integration and focused peach/apricot character that makes real the cliché that a blended wine is better than the sum of its parts. Made in a unoaked, old school way to amplify the flavours that came with the fruit, you could say it’s a “no B-S white.”

Haywire Pinot Gris

One of Julianna Hayes Top Wine Picks for 2011 – Okanagan Saturday | “Intense aromas of pear, golden apple, yellow grapefruit and lemon meringue pie. Delivers all that character on the palate with mineral and mouthwatering acidity. Stylish.

Reviewed by Kasey Wilson in The Globe and Mail | It’s a deliciously pure, fresh white that displays citrus and delicate mineral nuances highlighting our lighter West Coast cuisine. Influential Tuscan-born winemaker Alberto Antonini acts as a consultant to Haywire, helping craft terroir-driven wines like this one.

Review in Tidings by Harry Herstscheg, 89 points | Fragrant orchard blossoms tease the nose, while ripe pear flavour rides lemony acidity along a crisp, lively palate. Generous lees contact gives a rounder mouthfeel. Flinty minerality lingers.

Haywire Rosé

Reviewed in the Okanagan Sunday | “Haywire 2010 Rose ($25) – Cranberry, cherry, blood orange with some earthy notes. Refreshing.”

Review in Tidings by Harry Herstscheg, 88 points | “Attractive salmon pink colour. Delightful scents of all manner of red fruit. Bright cherry and cranberry flavour upfront set up lean, lingering mineral notes.

Haywire Pinot Noir

Reviewed in Vines magazine | On the nose this has pleasing strawberry and pepper notes. The palate keeps that same delicious peppery character, with the addition of cherry and some subtle herbaceous hints. Some slight grip from fine tannins adds structure and great acidity on the finish rounds out this truly enjoyable wine.”