Recently, Urban Diner’s Paul Kamon caught up with BC winemakers’ Michael Dinn and Heidi Noble of Joie Wines to talk about their latest adventures in the Okanagan Valley.
Urban Diner: You both originally came from the restaurant industry, how and why did you two start in the wine business?
MDHN: We met at a time when we were both ready to leave the restaurant industry and try something new but we didn’t want to leave our community, the Vancouver restaurant trade, behind entirely. Friends in the wine trade convinced us to take day jobs as wine agents so we both spent the next 3 years learning all about the business of wine. I (Michael) had been going to Okanagan wine country as a wine buyer for restaurants since 1996 and Naramata since 1998 and when Heidi saw it with me for the first time in 2000 she agreed with me that it was a special place. We had an offer to learn winemaking from a friend with a successful winery and in 2002 we made the leap and bought an old farmhouse and five acres for about half of what a Commercial Drive fixer-upper would have cost us. The rest has been a crazy, excellent ride.
UD: Heidi, you are on the verge of releasing your first book, “Menus from an Orchard Table“, can you share some of your food philosophy and inspiration for creating this?
HN: My dominant philosophy is to cook with local ingredients at their seasonal peak. This assures high quality, the best of flavour and overall affordability when the ingredients are most readily available. By focusing in this manner I have been able to develop an intimacy with each individual ingredient and to gain a greater understanding about the place in which I live through the ingredients that are available to me. As for inspiration, that has come from moving to a new place that provides such an incredible bounty (the Okanagan really is a cook’s paradise) and finding an entirely new set of raw ingredients to which I am able to apply my own past restaurant experiences, training and repertoire.
UD: What is an important detail every wine grower and maker should remember but always seem to forget?
MDHN: You can’t make great wine if you don’t drink great wine. It is so important to know what the rest of the world is doing as far as winemaking goes because the industry is in its infancy in BC. We believe that it is crucial to stay in touch with and keep drinking the best producers from our favourite regions, particularly those that have climatic relevance to the Okanagan Valley. We are most inspired by the wines of Germany, Burgundy, Alsace, & Northern Italy. These are places that have been making wine for thousands of years and have so much to teach us. Winemakers who only drink BC wine are not going to get better unless they broaden their horizons.
UD: What is a little known and interesting fact about BC’s wine industry that people should know?
MDHN: Just how small we are on a world scale. The entire BC industry produces about .4% of the entire California industry. The pride that British Columbians, particularly restaurants & retailers, have taken in BC wines, coupled with the constantly increasing tourism industry and the relatively small area (6000 acres) that is still plantable means that we are unlikely to ever be in an export situation, except for the big guys like Mission Hill, Vincor and Andrew Peller. This isn’t a bad thing as places like Switzerland and alpine regions of France such as the Jura and the Savoie all make beautiful cool climate wines that are consumed almost entirely domestically. It means that they have to come here and have the full experience if they want to try the wines.
UD: What is the current greatest challenge facing BC’s wine industry?
MDHN: The sharply rising costs of production due mainly to the shortage of grapes and the fact that land costs for new plantings have as much as tripled in the last 5 years. The strong demand for BC wine has driven up the demand for grapes and our average price per ton from our growers has increased by 33% in three years. The price of vineyard land on the Naramata Bench is some of the most expensive in the world, on par with Burgundy and the Napa Valley. All of these factors are putting upwards pressure on the price of wines to which there is no end in sight.
UD: Share with us your most stressful moment creating Joie Wines…
MDHN: Working 330 days a year for 4 straight years. The cumulative effect of this has been more stressful than anything else. We are looking forward to slowing down a bit after this year.
UD: In 10 years, what does the Okanagan Valley look like?
MDHN: That depends a lot on whether development is managed and farmland stays protected. If this happens, we will see tourism continue to boom, another 100 or so wineries springing up, several high end resorts bringing better accommodations and dining, an increase in population and opportunity and probably a doubling of the planted acreage that currently exists. If development is not managed to an overall plan that takes into account all of the stakeholders in this Valley, we will end up experiencing the uncontrollable sprawl that plagues Kelowna throughout the entire Okanagan and in the process, killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.
UD: Excluding your own, name 6 of your favourite BC wines (3 red, 3 white)…
MDHN: Elephant Island “Little King” Methode Champenoise, Herder “Josephine” Meritage, Blue Mountain Pinot Noir, Pentage Semillon/Sauv Blanc, La Frenz “Alexandria”, Golden Mile Pinot Noir.
UD: It is your last meal on earth, where and what are you eating?
MDHN: Piedmont, in a small trattoria in the middle of nowhere, without a menu, eating wave after wave of whatever local specialty they bring to the table and washing it down with fabulous dry Moscatos, Nebbiolos, Barberas and Dolcettos.
UD: What 5 restaurants you would recommend for a cross-section of BC dining?
MDHN: Dining out is our favourite sport so only five choices is not going to do it, 50 might be more appropriate but here is a quick cross section of only a few of our favourite places: Vij’s, Go Fish, Zambri’s (Victoria), Sobo (Tofino), Phnom Penh, Sooke Harbour House, Octopus’ Garden, Fairburn Farm (Duncan), Red Chili Szechuan (North Van), Lumiere Tasting Bar, Falafel King (Denman).
——————— advertisement v
