New wineries add excitement to Summerland’s expanding tourism trade

Solvero Wines, in B.C.'s Garnet Valley, has planted at some of the highest elevations in the province, with cooler growing conditions than other parts of Summerland.Jon Adrian/Handout

Garnet Valley, once considered the backroads of Summerland, British Columbia, is becoming a new destination for wine lovers in the Okanagan. “We have got something special going on here. I’m confident of that,” says winemaker and general manager Alison Moyes, of Solvero, which recently opened for public tours and tastings in the newly minted sub-appellation.

Visitors to Solvero receive a behind-the-scenes tour by president and vineyard manager Matt Sartor or Moyes, who previously worked at Liquidity and Stoneboat Vineyards and says she was attracted by the family-owned winery’s focus on pinot noir.

“It’s a very personal experience with the people that are creating the wines,” Moyes explains. After a walk around the winery and barrel cellar, they offer seated tastings of four wines on the crush pad, the receiving area where grapes arrive to be processed, while the tasting room is under construction.

According to Moyes, many of the early guests work in the wine industry. “They have never been out this direction and want to check out this new cool place, Garnet Valley,” she says. “I estimated I would be spending 30 or 40 minutes with a group, but sometimes people are staying to ask questions for two hours.”

Solver's varieties planted on a steep 30 degree slope produce a portfolio of wines that includes pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot gris, as well as a rosé produced from pinot noir.Jon Adrian/Handout

This might be due to the fact that vineyards in the Garnet Valley are planted at some of the highest elevations in British Columbia, with cooler growing conditions than other parts of Summerland. Solvero just planted some gamay vines on the steep hillsides around the property to add another variety to the portfolio of pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot gris. They also produce a rosé from pinot noir.

“It’s rugged terrain to say the least.” Moyes says. The winery’s highest planting of pinot noir vines is in a section of the vineyard that they call K2 to denote the challenging conditions of the 30-degree slope that requires specialized equipment to farm.

Christine Coletta and Steve Lornie, who operate Okanagan Crush Pad and Haywire Winery in Summerland, planted the first commercial vineyard in Garnet Valley in 2014. The couple was drawn to the remote area because they wanted to start an organic vineyard from scratch. Their Garnet Valley Ranch Winery property is also opening for the first time this summer. They have called their visitor centre, The Outlook, in reference to its vista overlooking vineyards and fields.

These new Garnet Valley wineries represent two of the 18 stops along the Bottleneck Drive touring route, which includes cideries, breweries, distilleries as well as wineries based in Summerland. These various operators have banded together to attract attention to the small region and encourage cars to make the turn off the highway instead of continuing on to Peachland to the north or Penticton to the south.