Chinese buyers take a shine to Okanagan wines

Painted Rock Vineyards, one of the Okanagan's top new wineries, has signed a distribution agreement with a Chinese wine brokerage in a strategic alliance that will see from 10 to 20 per cent of the winery's production shipped overseas.

BY VANCOUVER SUNAUGUST 23, 2011

Painted Rock Vineyards, one of the Okanagan's top new wineries, has signed a distribution agreement with a Chinese wine brokerage in a strategic alliance that will see from 10 to 20 per cent of the winery's production shipped overseas.

The contract, the latest sign that B.C. wines are attracting serious international interest, will provide the winery with a guaranteed cash flow as well as broader exposure in Asia, proprietor John Skinner said in an interview.

"Their intent is to tie it up for the entire Chinese market," Skinner said of the brokerage, which runs the rapidly growing North American Premium Wine Shop chain in China.

"I am very flattered that they approached us with the intent to have an exclusive distribution contract with Painted Rock."

Skinner said the deal provides the Chinese wine brokerage with certainty of supply and gives the winery an assured cash flow. He intends to use the added financial security to spend more time on his dream of producing the best wine the Okanagan climate allows.

"They are good partners and it fits into where we want to go," he said.

The Chinese deal is for from 500 to 1,000 cases of wine a year. But as production is still ramping up, there will still be enough of the wine available in B.C. to meet local restaurant and consumer demand, Skinner said.

Painted Rock produced 2,800 cases of wine in its first vintage, 2007, and current production is approaching a ceiling of 5,000 cases a year.

Skinner, a former Vancouver stock broker and wine lover, began the winery in 2004 with the first release in 2009. He spent several years scouting the valley for the ideal location and found it on a 12.5-hectare former apricot orchard on the east side of Skaha Lake. He believes it has features that give it a unique micro-climate ideally suited to grapes.

Evening light reflected from the lake and the heat retained by the Skaha bluffs above the vineyard give it an extra-long growing season, he said, which contributes to ripeness and complex flavours in the fruit.

To ensure the vineyard produced wine up to the potential of the site, he hired French wine consultant Alain Sutre, who has also consulted for Osoyoos Larose and Burrowing Owl, two of the Okanagan's perennial top producers.

"It's his opinion that our terroir is very special," Skinner said.

"And I have provided him with carte blanche, as close as we are able to, to make sure that all of the steps that we are taking are aimed at producing the ultimate wine that we are able to produce."

Painted Rock wines have garnered attention locally and nationally.

Its inaugural vintage captured two of the 2010 lieutenant-governor's awards for excellence in wine. It has also received flattering reviews from Toronto wine writer Natalie MacLean and B.C. wine writer John Schreiner, who have both given Painted Rock wines 90+ point scores.

Painted Rock is not the only winery to attract attention in China, which is rapidly developing a wine culture. It is just the latest.

Christa Frosch, a realtor who runs Sotheby's Vineyard Collection of wine properties in B.C., said in an interview that the quality of the wines coming out of the Okanagan has reached the point that they are attracting international business interest not only in the wine but in the land that produces it.

She said she is working with a dozen groups, mostly from mainland China and Europe, who are looking for vineyards in the Okanagan Valley. They view wineries as the perfect combination of investments in land and business.

"For someone wanting to spend money, instead of just buying a house, they can buy a business," she said. "And land is a very safe place to invest your money."

Frosch was involved in the recent sale of the Okanagan's first farmgate winery, Lang Vineyards, to Bravo Enterprises, a company owned by Chinese entrepreneur Yong Wang.

Wang decided to purchase the vineyard, which was in receivership, when he visited the site during a trip to Canada. He fell in love with the view, said Lucy Wong, who is representing Wang in Canada.

She said the change in ownership will mean a return to the winery's roots: It was the first farmgate winery when it was founded in 1990 and original owner Gunther Lang gained renown for his Riesling and Marechal Foch wines.

Wang hired Lang as a consultant and is investing in new equipment and a new tasting room to attract local wine lovers. He also plans to export some of the wine in the future, but for now, his focus is domestic.

"We are going to look after our own business here in B.C. and bring Lang back to where it was before," Wong said.

"Talking to Gunther Lang gave [Wang] the passion for the wines."

Another vineyard, First Estate Cellars at Peachland, has also been purchased by a Chinese investor. James Wong bought the seven-hecare Peachland property last fall. Like Lang, the vineyard also produces Riesling and Marechal Foch. It has been bought and sold several times in the last decade