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.
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Why pop a cork when you can sabre?
At Evolve Sparkling House on British Columbia’s Naramata Bench, the wine is only part of the proposition. The rest is about place, ritual and giving bubbles a room of their own.
There is something slightly theatrical about opening a bottle of sparkling wine with a sabre. At Evolve Sparkling House, it feels entirely appropriate. The blade flashes, the cork flies, and suddenly the polished new tasting room overlooking Okanagan Lake feels less like a winery than a stage set for the ritual of celebration. It’s playful, a little extravagant and undeniably fun; which, as it turns out, isn’t a bad way to understand Evolve.
Because Evolve isn’t simply another Okanagan winery making sparkling wine. It’s an attempt to build an entire experience around it.
Read MoreWhen I first tasted the St. Katharina Vineyard sparkling wine at Burdock & Co. in Vancouver, I immediately needed to know more.
A terrific Summerland Sparkling wine.
A friend had ordered the bottle, and after one sip, I was hooked. Not only because it was terrific, but because it came from British Columbia and I had somehow never heard of it.
A few weeks later, I found myself walking through the 2.5-acre vineyard in Summerland with winemaker Jordan Kubek, trying to understand how a neglected patch of old Pinot Noir had become one of the Okanagan’s more compelling sparkling wines.
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With Christine Coletta and Steve Lornie (L) at Garnet Valley Ranch [credit: Leeann Froese]
As a wine writer, I’ve spent a lot of time in Summerland. It’s where I often stay when I am in the Okanagan Valley and a place I have regularly recommended to readers as a base for exploring the region. Over the years, it has become familiar in a more personal way, through the wineries I return to, the people I have met, and the friends who have made their homes there.
That familiarity makes the events of the past several days particularly difficult to watch. The Bald Range wildfire has forced the evacuation of the entire population of Summerland, a community of approximately 12,000 people. The province has described the fire as one of the fastest and most aggressive wildfires it has seen, and it remains out of control. With hot, dry conditions and wind continuing to challenge firefighters, the situation remains dynamic. Power and water had also been shut down.
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A clear vision.
Once upon a time, the path to luxury wine was paved with pedigreed appellations, critic scores, and mailing lists so exclusive they made Château Marmont feel like a Motel 6. Bordeaux First Growths, Grand Cru Burgundies, and $300 Napa Cabernets set the standard for what “luxury” in wine looked like, tasted, and cost.
But a shift has been happening. What started as a quiet movement has grown into something impossible to ignore. Today, a new class of wines is redefining luxury that is less about château clout and more about originality. And the names generating the most buzz aren’t necessarily the ones with the longest histories, they’re the ones making the most compelling wines.
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