Usually when I go to BC wine country, its for some sort of business trip although theres always a good dose of pleasure involved as well. My most recent getaway was all about pleasure but the elements of my business that punctuated the sunny weekend were absolutely welcomed.
My wife and I were visiting our friends Alishan and Rhys, who live in a 100-year-old house on a four-acre property, nestled in the dusty, sun-baked mountains of the Similkameen Valley. We go way back with them, all the way to the late 1990s when I was managing a long-gone restaurant where they were regulars. Grunge and trip-hop supplied the soundtrack while menus were chock full of balsamic reductions, sun-dried tomatoes and pesto pesto everywhere. My wife (girlfriend at the time) and I felt an immediate kinship with Rhys and Ali; all of us were battling immigration regulations as Alishan and I were both in the process of sponsoring our respective future spouses, both of them hailing from Australia. While I worked my way up the ranks of Vancouvers restaurant industry, tackling various routes of wine education along the way, my wife did the same thing in the PR and marketing direction, while Rhys and Ali settled in wine country, learning that trade while also dabbling in artisan baking.
Fast forward to 2013, where Rhys and Alis life now includes two lovely daughters, a couple cats and a loveable and slightly-weathered farm dog named Calvados. Rhys teaches wine courses, consults and does a fair bit of writing, while Alishan makes and sells naturally-leavened artisan breads at the Penticton Farmers Market from a sourdough starter shes cultivated for 10 years now.
On top of all this, Rhys tends a tiny home-property vineyard of Chardonnay and Riesling while Alishan makes excellent handcrafted wines from those grapes (and a few others from around the Valley), all under the Little Farm Winery label.
While they work non-stop, seven days a week, our glimpse into their day-to-day life offered the smoke-and-mirrors perception that living in wine country must be a dream. Of course, they were kind enough to put all of the nitty-gritty work aside while we enjoyed barbecues, visited neighbouring wineries and swayed in hammocks. Needless to say, we usually had a wine glass in hand, and a couple of times it was oh-so-charming that our glasses contained wine that came from the very vineyard that was our setting. My wife and I love their wines and BOY would it be awkward if we didnt!
Its a teeny-tiny family operation and though I meant to share their story and wines with their first vintage last year, they made so little that there was hardly enough to go around. This year theres a little bit more so if youre interested in honest, clean wines that express British Columbias Similkameen Valley with love, you really should give em a whirl.
Do check out their story at LittleFarmWinery.ca, and track down their wines at private wine stores around town. Their Little Farm 2012 Riesling ($29.90) is bright, crisp and crunchy with green apple, lime, honey and marzipan, while their Little Farm 2012 Rosé ($24.90) is made from 100 per cent Cabernet Franc and bone-dry, with currants, raspberry, rhubarb and a good smattering of dried herbs.
If youre having trouble tracking something down, find me via KurtisKolt.com or tweet me @KurtisKolt.
