Wines and Vines!

This episode we’re joined by John Skinner, the proprietor of Painted Rock Estate Winery and president of the Okanagan Wine Initiative. John and Painted Rock have won numerous awards, from Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year to Decanter’s 2020 Canadian Wine of the Year. 

John is one of the foremost champions of BC and Canadian wine, both in advocating for the industry at all levels of government, while also aggressively driving the recognition of Canadian wine internationally. 

One of the themes you’ll hear from John is his pursuit of elegance, and the patience and dedication it takes to achieve. This started with the foundation of Painted Rock, which John and his wife Trish took their time to find, from how they planted and now how they farm their grapes and make their wine. 

A common theme in our episodes is the importance of recognizing others, perhaps most perfectly embodied by Karnail Sidhu, and John is no different. You’ll hear much about an internationally regarded wine consultant from Bordeaux, Alain Sutre, who has heavily influenced Painted Rock’s evolution.  

The last major theme in this episode is “international”. John shares why he believes it is critically important for BC, and Canadian wine, to export internationally and build a global reputation built on our own identity. 

We recorded this video at Painted Rock, and you can find the video and clips at our Youtube channel, Vintality. 

It was an absolute pleasure to talk with John, I think you’ll really enjoy our conversation. 
Resources

1. Painted Rock Estate Winery
2. John Skinner Bio
3. The Okanagan Wine Initiative

This episode we’re joined by Karnail Sidhu, owner and operator of Kalala Organic Estate Winery in Kelowna BC. Karnail’s original background is an electrical engineer and he has a funny story how he ended up in the wine industry. 

Karnail and Kalala have won numerous awards, most recently he was the BC Grapegrowers Association Viticulturist of the Year. This is a peer-selected award showing the standing he holds in the BC wine industry.

There are a few repeating themes you’ll pick up on. The first is the primacy of education – to always be learning. Karnail walks his talk here and you’ll hear some harrowing stories where this turned out well, and others where they became moments of learning. Another theme is the importance of gratitude and recognition of those who’ve supported you. Karnail goes out of his way to credit all those around him, colleague or employee, who played a role in his success. The last theme I’ll mention is the challenges of being an outsider – something Karnail experienced both as a new immigrant to Canada as well as an East Indian in the BC wine industry. 

Sitting with Karnail I was impressed by his kindness for others and passion for viticulture. Take a listen.  

Resources

1. Kalala Organic Estate Winery
2. 2019 BC Viticulturalist of the Year
3. Summerhill Pyramid Winery

This episode we’re joined by Severine Pinte a managing partner at Enotecca Winery and Resorts where she oversees Le Vieux Pin and LaStella wineries. Sev is an impressive figure, a dual threat as a winemaker and viticulturalist. She’s played an important role in raising the quality of the BC wine industry and for that has received numerous awards. Her latest was as the Wine Business Monthly’s June 2020 winemaker of the month. 

I think you’ll enjoy hearing from Sev on her early wine education in France as well as her thinking around changes she’s been making in her vineyard management. Sev is very committed to the next generation, sharing her thoughts on breaking into the wine industry as well as what she’s doing to improve her vineyards for the next generation. 

In this conversation I was joined by my friend, Anthony Rasotto, a financial planner working with small businesses and you’ll hear from him as well. 

We recorded this episode out in the vineyard at Le Vieux Pin where we had a couple moments of wind noise. You can see the video on our Youtube channel.  I really enjoyed this conversation with Sev and I think you will too.

Resources

1. La Stella Winery
2. Le Vieux Pin Winery
3. Wine Business Monthly Winemaker of the Month
4. General Viticulture by Pierre Galet (English)

This episode's guest is John Clerides. He is the owner of the incredibly successful Marquis Wine store, the premier wine shop in BC, as well as a number of other ventures and businesses. 

You’ll hear from John how he modelled his store after Kermit Lynch’s Adventures on the Wine Route, his reliance on a mimeograph machine, which I’m fairly sure was powered by dinosaurs, why John thinks biodynamic practices actually lead to better wines, and much more.  
I always love talking to John, both because of his desire to push the wine industry forward and because of his blunt way of doing it. I think you’ll particularly enjoy how John went from knowing nothing about wine to running a hugely popular wine shop – and all the European travel that took and why the soccer field plays such a critical role. We discuss how to take BC wine to the next level, why that requires generational knowledge and why he thinks it needs to happen under an organic or biodynamic banner.

In this conversation I was joined by my friend Anthony Rasotto, a financial planner working with small businesses and you’ll hear from him as well. We recorded this conversation in John’s wine shop, and you can find the video on Youtube at our channel, Vintality.

John is a respected voice in the industry and someone always worth listening to. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and I think you will too.

Resources

1. John's email: [email protected]
2. John's store Marquis Wines
3. Kermit Lynch's Adventures on the Wine Route
4. Non-profit Fresh Roots
5. Nichol Vineyards
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