Van Westen Vineyards continues to succeed with old-school approach on Naramata Bench

NARAMATA, British Columbia — Rob Van Westen is about as old-school as it gets in this modern era of the British Columbia wine industry, and he believes that not enough people realize how difficult farming of any kind is in the Okanagan Valley.

“Some people think we all have helicopter pads and drive Lamborghinis,” he says. “I drive a 1997 Dodge pickup truck.”

These aren’t the salad days of the Okanagan Valley wine industry, and yet Van Westen and his team at Van Westen Vineyards are producing some of the Pacific Northwest’s best wines. He entered three wines into the Platinum Awards last fall. Each attained a rating of at least “Platinum.”

The Van Westen Vineyards Estate 2022 Viognier ($30) received 95 points, a Double Platinum — reflecting a unanimous vote among judges — and emerged as best of class in a category that attracted 15 Northwest examples that won a gold medal in the previous 12 months.

“It’s all about being patient enough for the grapes to physically ripen,” Van Westen says. “In theory, Viognier is a red grape hiding in a white skin. It needs to ripen properly. I’ve tasted a lot of not physiologically ripe Viognier in my life.”

The 2021 Viscous Riesling ($27.50), a product of Mosel clone 21B, twice qualified for the Platinum, including a platinum award from the British Columbia Lt. Governor’s Awards program.

“It’s off-dry, but not by much,” he says.

Van Westen earned his third Platinum via his 2020 V Red Wine ($45), a Right Bank Bordeaux-inspired blend of five varieties — Merlot (47%), Cabernet Franc (25%), Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. It marked the 12th vintage for the blend known by the Roman numeral five.

Each of the wines qualified for the Platinum via a gold medal at the 2023 National Wine Awards of Canada.

“One hundred percent of the wines are grown by us — and I’m a wine grower, not a grape grower,” Van Westen says. “Every grape cluster has been looked at by me by the time there’s 95% veraison, and I do the final thinning myself across 17 acres. I’m ruthless in my thinning, and the balancing of the wine is done in the vineyard.”

Demise of apple industry leads to Van Westen Vineyards

In terms of viticulture, Van Westen looks back in appreciation upon the education he received at Okanagan College from Bill Eggert, who founded Fairview Cellars near Oliver.

“We planted grapes in 1999,” Van Westen says. “We did that to diversify from the apples and cherries my Dad grew since he bought this land in 1972. It was the demise of the apple industry by 1999, and I decided that I didn’t want to prune the apple trees that winter. Grapes were the new thing up here.”

In the cellar, Van Westen essentially has two winemakers on his team — longtime friend Tom DiBello and Michael Sutherland.

DiBello, a New York native, grew up surfing in Southern California and landed a job at iconic Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars in Napa after graduating from the University of California-Davis enology program. His journey led him to Washington’s Columbia Valley before being recruited to Canada in 2000, taking CedarCreek in Kelowna to new heights during his decade there. By 2011, he’d launched his own brand, embarked on a successful career as a consultant and became a Canadian citizen.

“We’ve known each other for 20-plus years, and he’s the godfather of my daughter,” Van Westen says. “I wouldn’t be making wine without him guiding me. He told me what varieties to plant, what clones to order, what rootstock to use, which barrels to buy and what yeasts to use.”

Sutherland graduated from Okanagan College’s winemaking program and spent seven years in the cellars of a number of the Naramata Bench’s top producers on his way to Van Westen for the 2020 harvest.

“Tom and I are mentoring this next-generation winemaker in Mike, and ever since he came to join me four years back, my wines have definitely improved with his OCD winemaking,” Van Westen quipped.

When Van Westen began with the 2003 vintage, he opened with 135 cases and became the 16th winery on the Naramata Bench. There are three times that many now.

“Back then, I was just a farmer who was learning how to ferment,” says Van Westen, who has since added Pinot Noir, Malbec and Petit Verdot to his plantings.

Thanks to DiBello and Sutherland, his production is from 1,800 to 2,200 cases now, depending upon the growing season.

“Can you believe Tom DiBello pours in my tasting room?” Van Westen says with a chuckle. “And his wife, Tari, told me that she would pay me for having him work in my tasting room.”

At 6-foot-6 1/2, Van Westen, 57, is an imposing figure in the British Columbia wine industry — even though he says he’s lost half an inch because of the weight of farming. And along the way, he’s developed a reputation of being a maverick, even by the standards of his neighborhood in the Okanagan Valley.

“I’m a little bit of a black sheep on the Bench,” he admits.

String of calamitous vintages concerns Van Westen

And while many of the Okanagan Valley wineries operate tasting galleries that are an architect’s dream, Van Westen pours his wines out of a facility on his farm that is known simply as “The Shed.” There are no frills, just barrels, bottles, competition medals and a moose head. Much of the modest $10 tasting fee he charges benefits BC Children’s Hospital and The Naramata Playschool Society.

“It’s what’s in your glass that’s important,” he says. “Originally, I didn’t plan on having a tasting room, but I came up with one in 2008 when there was a housing crisis in the States and the media said people couldn’t afford to go out and eat and drink.”

Thanks to DiBello, praise from critics, a following among sommeliers across Canada and a thirsty wine club, Van Westen isn’t worried about his selling what he makes. The question isn’t quality, but quantity.

“Last year, we had the wildfires and the road closure because of them, and a low crop because of winter damage the year before,” he said. “Usually I sell 20-30 tons of my grapes, but I only had 60% of my normal crop, and I fermented 90% of that crop.

“This winter, we were minus-13 Fahrenheit at my place on Jan. 24,” Van Westen added. “Some people reached minus-30, which means you are replanting. I am hopeful we have some sort of a crop this year, but only in late May I will know for sure. Last year, I thought we were wiped out, but we ended up at 60 percent of a crop overall, and maybe 30% on Viognier, Malbec and Merlot, so we’ll see. I’ve got Cab Franc in canning jars that have buds pushing, which is shocking to see. And there’s life in the Riesling.”

Two years ago, Eggert sold his winery, and Van Westen said the Okanagan Valley wine industry seems to be at a tipping point.

“It’s a fact that more than 20% of the wineries in the province are on the open market, but who is going to pay $300,000 per acre when you’ve had back-to-back years of winter damage?” Van Westen asks. “If it happens again soon, I don’t mind turning a couple of my acres into cows, growing some hay and wearing a cowboy hat.”

At this point, however, despite the back-to-back bodyblows from Arctic blasts, the reception for his wines by critics and supporters is heartwarming as Van Westen continues to be a draw for the fascinating and diverse community of Naramata Bench producers.

“If you are a farmer, you’ve got to be an optimist,” he says. “If I was a pessimist, then I wouldn’t be doing this. I’m going to give it another go because I can afford to — for now.”

• Van Westen Vineyards, 2800 Aikins Loop, Naramata, BC V0H 1N0, VanWestenVineyards.com, (250) 496-0067.