Vineyard
Our Terroir
The Terroir on this 27-acre property is some of the most exceptional in the country. Located on the famed Black Sage Bench, our vineyard has a microclimate that makes it one of the hottest, driest and sunniest sites in Canada. The west-facing orientation combined with our deep desert sand, intense heat and cool nights yield intensely flavorful grapes. With careful irrigation techniques and intensely focused viticulture practices, these are ideal growing conditions for both the “Big Reds” and our aromatic whites.
Our vineyard was first planted in 1996 and has been producing increasingly better wine grapes with each vintage. Plantings include the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc that go into our ultra-popular Nota Bene blend. Further, we grow a deep, luscious Carmenere grape on our site that goes into our single varietal Carmenere. We also grow crisp, ripe Sauvignon and Semillon grapes in our vineyard that are used to create our Alibi white blend. We also have approximately two acres that we use for the growing of our fresh and exciting Chardonnay varietal.
Location
Our 27 acre vineyard is located on Black Sage Road between Oliver and Osoyoos. The vineyard is nestled in the sun-burnt hills on the Black Sage Bench, home to British Columbia's highest quality Vinifera grapes. The rugged desert earth, long sunlight hours and cool nights yield the intensely flavourful grapes which we blend to produce our Bordeaux-style Nota Bene, our Sauvignon Blanc / Semillon blend Alibi, our flavourful Carmenere and our fresh and exciting Chardonnay.
Vineyard Stewardship
Black Hills Estate Winery utilizes a term that expresses our relationship with our vineyard and the exceptional terroir with which we have the privilege to work. We call it “Vineyard Stewardship”. By this we mean that we feel honoured to be the stewards of this incredible piece of agricultural land and we want to harness its potential to create the best possible fruit imaginable. Likewise, we have the highest respect for the legacy of this vineyard and the role that agriculture plays in the environmental cycle. We are committed to sustainable, environmentally-friendly farming and winemaking practices. All of our vines are hand-picked, hand-pruned and maintained by vineyard workers manually. We have been awarded Environmental Farm Plan Status by the B.C. Environmental Farm Plan. This plan is administered by the Federal and Provincial Departments of Agriculture as well as the BC Agriculture Council and the Investment Agriculture Foundation.
We are proud to have been awarded this designation and we proudly continue to operate under the best practices of the Environmental Farm Plan.
Winegrower/Vineyard Manager
Steve Carberry is the Winegrower for Black Hills Estate Winery. In this role he has the extremely important dual capacity of managing both our Estate Vineyard and being heavily involved in the Winery as our Assistant Winemaker. We use the term “Winegrower” to accurately reflect this dual responsibility, as well as to highlight his sharp understanding of the importance of growing great quality fruit, in turn producing great quality wine.
Steve has had an illustrious career spanning over a decade in both the operations of vineyards and wineries. He has had the pleasure of “working the grapes” of the Black Hills vineyard for nearly six years now. More than anything, he is passionate about the terroir of our 27 acres of vines. He is never happier then when he is out there being “hands on” and tending to the vines. Whether he is pruning by hand in the winter time, grafting in the spring, irrigating in the summer or picking grapes in the fall, Steve is totally into it!
Steve is often accompanied by his trusty companion, Lola. Lola is a Bernese mountain dog who has attained official status as the Black Hills Winery Dog. When Lola is not out keeping Steve company in the vineyard, she can be found greeting each visitor at the winery building.
