A view of the estate from above.
There are few wineries in British Columbia that have remained as steadfast to their original vision as Painted Rock Estate Winery.
We first visited the Skinners’ lakeside property overlooking Skaha Lake in 2020, when founder John Skinner spoke passionately about creating world-class Bordeaux-inspired wines from a single estate vineyard. Six years later, my return came for an entirely different reason—researching a story on helicopter wine tourism.
A tour with Valhalla Helicopters offered a new perspective.
Painted Rock was among the first wineries in the Okanagan Valley to build a dedicated helipad, and arriving by air offers a perspective that’s impossible to appreciate from the road. From above, the vineyard stretches along the eastern shore of Skaha Lake, revealing the site’s exceptional exposure, rolling slopes, and close relationship with the water.
It also provided an opportunity to see how one of BC’s benchmark wineries has navigated the most difficult period the industry has faced in decades.
Painted Rock’s current releases.
Director of Guest Experiences Dawn Blohm guided me through the current releases while filling in the story behind the labels. Since our last visit, one significant chapter has quietly unfolded behind the scenes. Long-time consultant Alain Sutre, who helped shape the winery’s style, retired two years ago after mentoring winemaker Gabriel Reis. Today, the wines are entirely in Reis’ hands and for Painted Rock, that continuity matters.
Winemaker Gabriel Reis [source: Painted Rock].
Reis is hardly inheriting someone else’s blueprint. After 15 years at Painted Rock, he knows every block of the vineyard and every nuance of the cellar, making this less a new era than the next chapter in a story he’s been helping to write for years.
The greatest challenge, however, wasn’t succession, it was 2024. Like so many wineries across BC, Painted Rock suffered catastrophic losses from the January cold event. While many producers turned to outside fruit to maintain production, the Skinners chose not to. That decision reflects something central to the winery’s identity.
Painted Rock is, first and foremost, an estate winery. Every bottle bearing its name comes exclusively from the vineyard surrounding the tasting room. There are no contracted growers, no satellite vineyards and no purchased fruit to fill gaps in difficult years. While many wineries understandably took that route following the freeze, it wasn’t consistent with what the Skinners have built.
The view at Painted Rock with estate vines in the foreground.
The vines survived, but the crop did not. Primary and secondary buds were lost, leaving the vineyard alive but virtually fruitless. In a normal year, Painted Rock harvests between 80 and 100 tonnes of grapes. In 2024, it harvested just 8.
Those 8 tonnes became approximately 80 cases of rosé. Meaning that effectively, there is no 2024 vintage.
Instead, careful cellaring and the winery’s library program have allowed Painted Rock to bridge the gap until the next release. It was undoubtedly a difficult decision commercially, but one that reinforces the commitment to remaining a true estate producer, even when the easier option lay elsewhere.
Fortunately, nature had other plans for 2025. The rebound has been extraordinary, producing one of the vineyard’s largest crops ever. A remarkable recovery after producing virtually nothing the previous season. Those wines are now maturing in barrel, where they will remain for 18 months before bottling next summer.
2025 Painted Rock Rosé.
Patience has become another defining characteristic at Painted Rock. The winery has increasingly extended bottle ageing before release, particularly for its reds. Rather than asking consumers to cellar powerful Bordeaux blends for years before they begin to reveal themselves, the team is choosing to do more of that work themselves, releasing wines closer to the point where they best express the estate.
It’s a philosophy that became apparent throughout the tasting.
The 2025 Rosé of Syrah marks a notable departure from previous vintages. Rather than using the traditional saignée method, the fruit was picked specifically for rosé, preserving vibrant acidity and freshness. Bright, energetic and beautifully balanced, it delivers crisp red berry fruit with refreshing precision and remarkable elegance.
2022 Painted Rock Merlot.
The 2022 Cabernet Franc continues to demonstrate why the variety is becoming one of BC’s greatest strengths. Expressive aromas lead into savoury notes of olive and dried Italian herbs rather than overt herbal character, finishing with impressive persistence and finesse.
If there was one wine that completely stopped me in my tracks, it was the 2022 Merlot. Plush without becoming heavy, it carries exceptional concentration across the palate with seamless tannins and remarkable structure. It stands comfortably among the finest Merlots I’ve tasted from British Columbia.
2021 Painted Rock Red Icon.
The winery’s flagship 2021 Red Icon once again showcases why Painted Rock built its reputation on Bordeaux varieties. Anchored by Merlot with Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petit Verdot, it is layered, composed and remarkably age-worthy, finishing with the extraordinary length that has become a signature of the estate.
Appropriately, the tasting concluded with the 2022 Syrah-Cabernet Sauvignon, a powerful blend that somehow arrives after the flagship Red Icon. Bold, dark-fruited and generously structured, it already offers impressive balance but clearly has many years ahead of it.
Walking back through the vineyard, it was impossible not to notice how healthy the vines now appear. One year they produced almost nothing. The next, they delivered one of the largest crops in the estate’s history. That swing captures the reality of farming in BC. What defines a winery isn’t whether difficult vintages arrive (they inevitably do), but how it responds.
Painted Rock chose to wait, protect the integrity of its estate program and trust the vineyard to recover. Judging by what is maturing in barrel, that patience is about to be rewarded.
A must-visit in BC’s Okanagan Valley.
400 Smythe Drive
Penticton, BC, Canada, V2A 8W6
T: (250) 493 6809
E: info@paintedrock.ca
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