Summerland, BC | Overcast, 19°C
8th Generation Vineyard
Eight generations of winemakers. Ten generations of grape growers. One small farm on the shore of Okanagan Lake.
In 1783, Christian Schales planted three acres of vines in the village of Dalsheim, Rheinhessen. Eight generations later, his descendant Bernd Schales grows grapes and makes wine on seven acres beside Okanagan Lake, working with his wife, Stefanie, herself the tenth generation of a grape-growing family. Their three kids are the ninth generation.
“We are a small winery. Around 4,500 cases a year, every grape picked by hand, every step from vine to bottle done by us. Working the vines all season keeps us close to every detail, so we can respond to change and adjust when it matters. That deep, hands-on knowledge is at the heart of what we do.”
We didn’t name our wines after virtues to be clever. These are the family inheritance. Tested by a conscription into Napoleon’s army, a vine plague that nearly ended European wine, two wars, an emigration across an ocean, and one long, brutal Okanagan cold snap. Every generation gets tested. Every generation has answered.
The newest releases, straight from the farm. Most of our wines are made once and are gone when a vintage sells out. That’s it until next year.
Three shipments a year, chosen by our winemaker. No membership fee, 10% off everything, first access to wines that never reach the shop floor, and a free tasting for you and five friends whenever you visit. It’s the closest thing we offer to being adopted.
Tastings run about thirty minutes: one cider, five wines, and as much or as little family history as you’re in the mood for. A $15 per person fee is waived when you take a bottle home. In summer, we pour on the patio, in the courtyard, in the garden, under the cabana wherever the shade is best.
