Hester Creek Estate Winery: 2023 British Columbia Winery of the Year

OLIVER, British Columbia — A remarkable passion project that began in 1968 spread vines across 76 acres of what is now Canada’s Golden Mile Bench, which makes Hester Creek Estate Winery a living museum for wine lovers in the Pacific Northwest.

British Columbia businessman Curt Garland purchased the historic property in 2004, and he approached it as a curator and steward as well as owner. His investments in farming, hospitality, the winery and his people continue to pay dividends, which are easiest to get a sense for in the wines by Mark Hopley.

“Some of these vines are pretty gnarly,” Hopley says. “They are real tree trunks, and they don’t crop that heavy, so they make my life easy. I just try to respect the vineyards.”

A number of his award-winning wines feature grapes from those original vines that are half-a-century old, lending delicious legitimacy to a claim — “Our roots run deep” — that’s unmatched in the Pacific Northwest at this scale. The story and the showing of Hopley’s wines in recent U.S. competitions led Great Northwest Wine to select Hester Creek Estate Winery as the 2023 British Columbia Winery of the Year.

At the 2022 Cascadia International in Washington state, Hester Creek earned a unanimous vote for gold — a double gold medal — and won best of class for its 2021 Old Vine Pinot Blanc. There was best of class for the 2021 Pinot Gris Viognier. Hopley’s 2021 Viognier and 2021 Old Vine Trebbiano each won a double gold, and his 2021 Block 12 Sémillon earned a gold.

Last fall, at the 2022 Great Northwest Invitational in Hood River, Ore., a judging conducted for West Coast wine buyers and sommeliers, Hester Creek received a double gold for its bargain 2020 Merlot-based Character Red and a gold for its methode Champenoise 2019 Old Vine Brut.

Later that month, Hester Creek entered three qualifying wines into the 23rd annual Platinum Awards. Each earned a Platinum. The 2019 Old Vine Brut and 2021 Old Vine Pinot Blanc were voted 94 points. The 2021 Sémillon scored 93 points.

At the San Francisco International, the 2021 Old Vine Pinot Blanc got double gold, while the 2021 Viognier and 2019 Old Vine Brut won gold. In Australia at the Global Fine Wine Challenge, the 2021 Pinot Gris Viognier was golden with a score of 97 points and the 2021 Old Vine Trebbiano received 93 points.

Hopley has displayed astounding consistency from the 2020 and 2021 vintages — his first two as head winemaker. At the 2021 Cascadia International, Hester Creek entered six of Hopley’s wines. Five of those earned a gold medal or better, including the 2020 Pinot Gris Viognier, 2020 Sémillon, 2020 Viognier and the red Meritage-style bottling named for Garland.

“First and foremost winemaking starts with farming, and Curt saw that,” Hopley says. “He saw the potential of this site and the history of this site. And he’s given us the tools for us to be successful. We’re not handcuffed, and he’s never hesitated to up the quality.”

Hester Creek roots reach back to 1968

The story of Hester Creek begins with Joe Busnardo, an Italian immigrant who had the temerity to experiment with 80 varieties and invest in vinifera during an era when much of the Okanagan Valley wine industry was wedded to winter-hardy hybrids. In those days, even Château Ste. Michelle in Washington devoted much of its production to non-grape wines.

“People thought Joe was crazy at the time,” Hopley says, “but he rolled the dice and was always ahead of the game.”

It is the white Italian variety Trebbiano that Busnardo is most closely tied to. When he sold that Oliver property and moved to Vancouver Island, he took some Trebbiano cuttings with him for the new home of his Divino Estate Winery.

“There’s really no one else producing Trebbiano,” Hopley says. “The varietal is pretty cool to work with, and we’re reaping the rewards.”

Early on, Hester Creek made the Trebbiano off-dry, but today it is dry yet still fruity.

“It’s a huge part of our story,” Hopley says. “It’s a little more like Riesling than an Auxerrois, and it has big acid and it can hang real heavy, but it hangs less now that it’s older. We lose the sun fairly early in the day because we are on the west side of the valley, so it does really well in our climate.”

Fermenters, Merlot clone from Italy key contributors

Another novelty that’s earned attention and respect is what Hester Creek refers to as “Italian” Merlot, which plays a significant role in the Character Red.

“It’s an Italian clone of Merlot from Joe that can really drive the bus,” Hopley says. “It’s part of the original plantings, and very unique — very peppery. It’s soft like Merlot, but it’s spicy and a fairly late-ripener, too.”

Another key component, particularly to the red program, is Garland’s investment in Ganimede fermenters from Italy. Rather than needing a device or a pump to “soak” the cap, the tank uses the carbon dioxide created during fermentation to gently move the cap and make the wines softer, more approachable.

Cabernet Franc also continues to survive from those first plantings, as does some Pinot Blanc, a white Burgundian grape that’s largely unappreciated aside from Canada’s first female Master of Wine — Barbara Philip — and Hester Creek.

“We chose to make the Old Vine Brut from the Pinot Blanc partly because it’s got that story of being planted in 1968, but it’s a go-to wine for me — a house wine, an everyday wine,” Hopley says. “The fruit is good. It’s got some structure, and it’s got nice aromatics. And our Pinot Blanc has been getting some legs the last few years because it is such a friendly wine.”

Hopley owes much of his expertise with sparkling wine to Mark Wendenburg when they both worked for the late Harry McWatters at Sumac Ridge Estate Winery. Pinot Blanc played a role in the popular Steller’s Jay Brut, and it was Hopley’s first job out of Okanagan College’s young winemaking program.

“My wife, Sue, and I were trying to find a way to stay in the valley, and there were a lot of wineries popping up,” Hopley says. “In ’95, I took a winemaking course at Okanagan College, and I think it was just the second time it was offered. There were a lot of future winemakers in that class — Bradley Cooper, Bob and Senka Tennant at Black Hills, Paul Gardner at Pentâge. I randomly ran into Harry and I told him I was taking the course, and he said, ‘Great, you should come out and see me.’ ”

Hopley ended up spending a dozen years working for McWatters and his family before making wine at Kraze Legz and then Road 13. That’s where Rob Summers found him in 2013 and brought him to Hester Creek. Summers, hired by Garland in 2006, retired as winemaker after the 2019 vintage. He’d taken Hester Creek from 6,000 to 60,000 cases as Garland’s vine- yard holdings have grown to 115 acres.

“Last year, it was 67,000 cases,” Hopley said. “This year we’ll do about 80,000 cases. The 2022 vintage was the biggest harvest we’ve ever had.”

Arrival of Sheridan marks turning point in vineyard

Australia native Mark Sheridan predicted the rise of British Columbia’s wine industry, so in 1999 he took on the massive job as director of vineyard operations West for Vincor Canada. Hired by Garland in 2010 to oversee Hester Creek, Sheridan’s overall expertise from grape to glass makes him a valuable sounding board for Hopley.

“If you look at the cumulative experience here, it’s off the charts,” Hopley points out. “Iqbal Gill, our vineyard manager, has been here for 34 years. The lab manager, Marie-Christine Hebrard, started in 2006. I’m one of the shorter-term people at 10 years. It tells you that people come here and they don’t leave, and there’s good reason for that.”

Hopley continues to keep blending two of his passions — fly-fishing and broadcasting. He first worked in radio, and he shows that he’s still got the pipes with his podcast on fly-fishing, which he drops on a regular basis. His guest list focuses on guides and reports from fishing resorts, where every cast brings dreams of netting an 8-pound trout.

“If I wasn’t in the industry, I would probably do a podcast on wine because there’s so much to talk about,” Hopley says. “You don’t have to be famous to have the best story on the planet. Everyone has an amazing story to tell, and I want to be that conduit.”

Busnardo’s historic planting would become the epicenter of British Columbia’s first sub-geographical indication — the Golden Mile Bench, nested within the Okanagan Valley. The group that he sold his property to named the winery for one of the four creeks that generated alluvial fans in the sub-GI.

Garland, a trucking industry executive in Prince George, paid $5 million for Hester Creek at an auction. His winning bid looked much better after the arrival of Summers and Sheridan.

Now, both wineries at the end of Road 8 have put “the gold” in the Golden Mile Bench with storied Gehringer Brothers Estate Winery on the north side. German-trained Walter and Gordon Gehringer were named the British Columbia Winery of the Year by now-defunct Wine Press Northwest Magazine in 2006.

2024 will mark 20th year of Garland’s ownership

Next year will mark Garland’s 20th of ownership, and Hester Creek is shining more than ever.

“When Curt bought the winery, it was in a very different place,” Hopley says. “We had the old vineyards, but now we have The Villa and Terrafina — the restaurant. It’s a full estate experience.”

Hester Creek was among the first in the province to offer lodging on the estate, and the six suites that make up The Villa come with vistas of orchards and vines.

“Some of the original plantings are around the old homestead — Trebbiano and Pinot Blanc — and you drive though Block 4 to get to The Villa,” Hopley said. “It’s a beautiful view from the top of the vineyard, and with us being above the valley floor, the cold air drops off the bench. We can hang fruit here well into November.”

Terrafina at Hester Creek is open daily for lunch and dinner from May through October with seasonal hours from November to April.

Head chef Adair Scott, who grew up in Prince George, worked in some of the Okanagan Valley’s top restaurants for more than a decade prior to arriving at Terrafina. Alas, he didn’t get much time to start in his new job when he first arrived at Hester Creek. The restaurant reopened for the 2020 season on March 4. He used the lockdown to plant a garden and develop a honeybee colony on the roof of the cellar.

“With our proximity to the border, you can throw a rock at it, just about,” Hopley says. “We’re at the border in 15 minutes. Before COVID hit, we were getting a lot of Washington state customers. Hopefully, those days are coming back.”

• Hester Creek Estate Winery, 887 Road 8, Oliver, BC, V0H 1T0, HesterCreek.com, (250) 498-4435.