Creston Valley Farmers’ Market visitors will have noticed that there is a new kid on the block—Red Bird Estate Winery.
The Erickson winery, Creston’s fourth, celebrated the release of its first wines at Casey’s Community House in June, and has quickly become a popular addition to the Farmers’ Market.
Red Bird Estate Winery is the culmination of a dream Remi and Shannon Cardinal have been working toward almost from the beginning of their 15-year relationship.
Remi and Shannon met in 2003 when they were working in the forest industry in Northern Saskatchewan—”counting trees together,” Remy said on Monday, and soon discovered a shared interest in wine. That interest would take them to Europe for a year, where they backpacked and used their French work visas to find vineyard and winery work in the Bordeaux, Beaujolais and Cognac regions of France. They also traveled to and visited wineries in Italy, Greece, Turkey and Spain.
“That experience broadened our horizons quite a bit,” Remy said.
After returning to Canada, the couple worked in several provinces, always with eyes open in search of a place to start a vineyard. Shannon studied viticulture in Penticton.
“Over time we looked for land in the Okanagan—all the way north to Salmon Arm, then in Quebec, and then in Creston,” Remy recalled. A short residence in Nova Scotia had ruled that province out—”Pretty harsh winters,” he smiled.
On an early visit to Creston they met Dave Basaraba, co-owner of Wynnwood Estate Winery in Wynndel, and found a source of encouragement and knowledge that made them feel that Creston was the place to be. Coincidentally, they stayed at the Goat River Bed and Breakfast on Lamont Road in Erickson. They would eventually purchase the 7-acre property and plant about half in grapes.
Last fall their small first harvest was taken to a facility in Okanagan Falls, where consulting winemaker Mark Simpson turned the Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer grapes into wine. Remi and Shannon also purchased red grapes to make Meritage, a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot (45 per cent each) and Cabernet Franc, which is proving popular with local buyers. Their first vintage resulted in about 350 cases of wine.
This fall, a larger harvest should result in a doubling of production and will be made on site at the Lamont Road property, south of the J.H. Huscroft Ltd. sawmill. In their garage, Remy and Shannon show off their recent purchases—six stainless steel tanks. In the centre of the space sits their “tasting room”, a single oak barrel.
The Cardinals expect to remain “garagistes” for two years before constructing a winemaking building and tasting room. Shannon points out the site of an outdoor pool, which they plan to turn into a barrel storage cave.
Parents to two pre-schoolers, Remy and Shannon are loathe to build up a mountain of debt. They both work, Shannon as an environmental consultant and Remy as a sheet metal worker, and have learned that patience is a virtue.
“We don’t want to get too big,” Shannon said. “Our goal is to eventually produce about 2,000 cases a year, and for Remy and I to do most of the work, hiring part-timers as they are needed. Getting bigger doesn’t necessarily mean the return on investment will be bigger.”
As the Cardinals settled into their Erickson home and set about planting the vineyard, they found a supportive community around them. The other three wineries have all been helpful. Baillie-Grohman Estate Winery and a neighboring vineyard John and Sandy Haley provided cuttings from vines. Baillie-Grohman and Skimmerhorn Winery have both offered help by crushing and pressing grapes for the next harvest. Both, along with Wynnwood Estate Winery’s Dave and Margaret Basaraba, were in attendance at Casey’s on June 15 for Red Bird’s launch event.
Their distinctive and beautiful label, with a stylized red bird and appealing script, Red Bird wines has been well received by local wine lovers, and Remy and Shannon are convinced they are on the right track.
“We might need to add a sweeter white wine in the future, and we would love to make a Rose,” Shannon said. “We have gone through an extensive branding and identity process, but we also need to be responsive to our market, which is primarily the Kootenays.” New plantings of Gamay-type grapes are planned.
Wandering around the Lamont Road property, with its vineyard coming along nicely, it isn’t difficult to look ahead a couple of years and envision a busy tasting room and winery. Until then, though, Shannon and Remy will continue to work toward their goals methodically, and with the same patience that making fine wine requires.
Red Bird Estate Wines are available at several Kootenay farmers’ markets, and in restaurants, including Casey’s Community House. The Red Bird story can be followed on Facebook. A web site, redbirdwines.com, is currently under construction.
