Burrowing Owl Estate | |
---|---|
Location | Oliver, British Columbia, Canada |
Appellation | Okanagan Valley |
Founded | 1993 |
First vintage | 1997 |
Key people | Jim Wyse (founder), Chris Wyse (president) |
Cases/yr | 28,000 to 30,000 |
Varietals | Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot gris, Pinot noir, Syrah |
Website | http://www.bovwine.ca/ |
Burrowing Owl Estate is a Canadian wine grower and producer. The estate is based fifteen kilometres south of Oliver, British Columbia, in the Okanagan Valley wine region.[1][2]
The estate was started in 1993 when Jim Wyse, a developer from Vancouver, was looking for new business ideas and purchased a neglected vineyard south of Oliver.[3][4][5] Initial plantings consisted of Chardonnay, Pinot gris, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.[5]
The estate is named after the endangered burrowing owl (A. c. hypugaea or northern burrowing owl) which resides in the area. Tasting fees from the cellar door are donated to a local conservation society.[5][6]
The first vintage of grapes was processed at another winery facility in 1997, prior to the completion of the on-site winery in 1998 which has been used for subsequent vintages.[5][7] The winery was set up to use a gravity flow processing system.[8][9] The original winemaker was Bill Dyer from California,[10] who continued in this role until 2005 when Stephen Wyse, Jim Wyse's son, took over the job.[11] Bertus Albertyn, a South African, took over the senior wine making position in 2010.[12]
Jim Wyse's son Chris Wyse is the current company president.[13]
Burrowing Owl Estate has been described by James Cluer, a Canadian Master of Wine, as a pioneer of the area and one of the iconic wineries of British Columbia.[14]
Burrowing Owl owns 140 acres of vineyards and produces between 28,000 and 30,000 cases of wine each vintage.[9][15] Organic viticulture techniques are used by the winery as part of the environmental policy.[6][16]
The estate produces nine wines, entirely from grapes harvested from their own vineyard holdings.[4]
Red wines produced are made from Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot noir, Syrah, a Meritage blend[9] and a new wine released in 2010, the Athene, a blend of Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.[17]
White wines are made from Chardonnay and Pinot gris.[9]
Burrowing Owl Estate has a restaurant and accommodation at the winery. The restaurant Sonora Room was opened in 2003 and ten guestrooms were completed in 2006.[4][18]
The cellar door, restaurant, swimming pool and accommodation are powered and temperature controlled by a hybrid Solar energy and Geothermal electricity heating and cooling system that also provides heated water for winery use.[16][19][20]
Quails' Gate Winery and Burrowing Owl formed a partnership called Appellation Wine Marketing Ltd in 2009 to sell and promote a portfolio of local and international wines in British Columbia and Alberta.[21][22]