Winchester Cellars - Handcrafted wines from Britsh Columbia

WELCOME TO WINCHESTER CELLARS
What with the kids, dogs, and rusty tractors, it sometimes seems more like Green Acres than Falcon Crest. But we take our wines very seriously. We make small lots of handcrafted wines from some of the finest vineyards in British Columbia, including our own Certified Organic Vineyard on the Saanich Peninsula.

Learn more about our vineyards, winery, friends & family...

BARKING DOG VINEYARD
Our friends Lana & Jon Popham loving tend the only Certified Organic Vineyard on Vancouver Island. Halfway down the driveway you’ll know why it’s called Barking Dog Vineyard, as George the yellow Lab trots out and woofs his greeting. John’s father Ed Popham, a Victoria lawyer and lacrosse legend, dreamed of a vineyard on this well-sited Saanich farm, and Lana & Jon carry on his legacy. The main varieties are Ortega and Bacchus, two cool-climate whites that produce a crisp, balanced blend. Newer plantings include 4 clones of Pinot Noir, and Foch, a hybrid red that makes an earthy red wine.
As Lana is fond of saying, “Can you taste the love?”

SHARP ROCK VINEYARD
Black Hills Winery sits in an enviable position on the Black Sage Bench between Oliver and Osoyoos in the southern Okanagan Valley. Don’t let the Quonset hut and causal air fool you, Bob & Senka Tennant, and Pete and Susan McCarrell are serious growers and winemakers. Their Nota Bene, a Bordeaux-style blend, is one of the most sought-after reds in Canada, and their new Sauvignon/Semillon blend, called Alibi, sells out within days of release. Fortunately for us, Senka has her hands full with Note Bene and Alibi, and we’re able to take the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from their Sharp Rock Vineyard. The site produces grapes of deep intensity and a characteristic earthiness. Pinot is at the edge of its range here but, handled carefully, shows wonderful cherry and black fruit flavours. The ripe Chardonnay is well-suited to barrel-fermentation.

THE VINEYARD YEAR
WINTER: Pruning begins in January or February when the vines are dormant. On Vancouver Island we prune down to one or two of last year’s canes, and lay them out along the wire as arms. In the Okanagan many growers use permanent arms, called cordons, and prune last year’s shoots down to two buds.
SPRING: There’s a magical moment in late March or early April when the tiny buds break open and the first green shoots emerge. Then it’s all the grower can do to keep up with a spray program (to keep mildew and botrytis at bay), and to train the growing shoots up into the trellis. The goal is a light, airy canopy that allows sunlight and air to circulate within the canopy.
SUMMER: As the fruit clusters emerge, the vine gradually shifts gears
and starts to develop and ripen its fruit. The grower responds by managing the crop load through thinning and dropping fruit, ensuring that the vine doesn’t bear too much or too little crop. The keyword in viticulture is balance.
FALL: As the growing season wanes, everyone prays for a dry, warm fall. Grower and winemaker follow “the numbers” carefully: Brix (sugar), acid, and pH. But there are subtler signs of ripeness, including grape color, browning of seeds and stems, softening berries, and of course taste. Finally picking day comes and all hell breaks loose in the scramble for bins, pickers, equipment and tank space. Meanwhile the vines, having completed another annual cycle, drop their leaves and settle into dormancy till next spring.

2005 Sharp Rock Pinot Noir:Black cherry/berry flavours, bright acidity, and a subtle earthiness reflect the near-perfect 2005 growing season. Gentle handling and French oak have produced an elegant, classic Pinot. 400 cases.

2006 Ortega/Bacchus, Barking Dog Vineyard: Vancouver Island’s only Certified Organic wine. Citrus flavours, pineapple, and a refreshing crispness—the perfect summer wine. Available only at the winery and Sooke Harbour House.

WINEMAKING
We’re proud to be garagistes, as the French call small, craft winemakers. It refers to a small-scale, hands-on approach to handling wine from grape to barrel. For instance we gently destem rather than crush the grapes. This leads to a slower fermentation and extraction of flavours. We punch down the fermenting red must by hand rather than pump over the juice. The finished wine is gently pressed and siphoned into French oak barrels for aging. The barrel room is our spice rack. We use different coopers, forests, and toasts for different lots: Francois Freres for Pinot Noir; Saury for Syrah; Cadus for Chardonnay. We grow, and work with other growers, to source the best fruit possible. Then we try to intervene as little as possible--a tweak here, a nudge there, good barrels and a lot of patience.

WHERE TO FIND
We believe in the French philosophy that wine is made to pair with food. Below is a list of many of the fine restaurants and wine merchants - many of them our personal favorites - who carry Winchester Cellars wines.

VICTORIA AND VANCOUVER ISLAND:
The Aerie Resort
Bistro 161, Duncan
Blackfin Pub, Comox
Brasserie l’Ecole
Brentwood Bay Lodge
Canoe
Café Brio
Camille’s
Deep Cove Chalet
Galiano Inn & Spa, Galiano Island
Heron’s at the Bayside, Parksville
Hillside Liquor Store
Il Pecatore’s
Il Terrazzo
La Pommeraie, Cobble Hill
Oceanwood Inn, Mayne Island
Paprika Bistro
The Rosemeade Dining Room
Sooke Harbour House
Spinnakers Spirit Merchants
The Strath Ale, Wine & Sprirts Merchants

VANCOUVER AND WHISTLER:
Aqua Riva
Aurora
Beachouse Restaurant
Bearfoot Bistro, Whistler
Brix
Bluewater Café
Café de Medici
CinCin
Cioppino's
Gotham
Gotham Steakhouse
Glowbal
Horizons
Joe Forte’s
Kit's Wine Cellar
La Gavroche
Liberty Wine Merchants
Listel Hotel
Lumiere
Marquis Wine Cellar
Mistral
Mumbai Masala
Quattro on Fourth
Quattro Whistler
Gusto di Quattro
Rimrock Café, Whistler
Salmon House
Sandbar
Vancouver Club
Vancouver Lawn Tennis Club

FRIENDS:
Everyone loves the idea of working in a vineyard or winery. But these are a few of the good people who actually show up when it’s cold and rainy, and the vines need to be pruned or the grapes pressed. The reward is usually a glass of wine and a slice of cold pizza, but most come away with a tired smile of satisfaction. The feeling is best expressed by John Gay’s quote, stenciled over the tasting bar, “From wine what sudden friendships spring.”

KIDS:
They say “Plant grapes for your children,” meaning, be patient with both parenting and grapegrowing. Our kids liven the place up with their laughter, and even pitch in now and then. Maeve Winchester, an old hand at picking grapes and dodging rattlesnakes on our California vineyard, teaches the ropes to the two young dudes, Julian Winchester and Kye Popham.

WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?
You can’t have a vineyard without a dog, and ours think they run the place. George, a yellow lab, is chief greeter and top dog. Ruby is the golden retriever who lives for attention. They’re not allowed in the tasting room, but have figured out that if they lay down across the threshold, they’ll get some attention from visitors.

We sell most of our limited production in selected restaurants and retail stores, and in person at our winery, a 20 minute-drive north of Victoria.
Our Tasting Room is closed until mid April.

Winchester Cellars offers new releases each Spring and Fall to customers
on our mailing list. These Winchester Repeaters will also be offered wines unavailable elsewhere.

Address:
Winchester Cellars,
6170 Old West Saanich Road,
Victoria, BC V9E 2G8
Tel: 250-544-8217
Fax: 250-544-8218
Email: info@winchestercellars.com