Gray Monk Estate Winery – affectionately known as the “Home of Pinot Gris” – tends to their loyal fan base as carefully and lovingly as they do to their vines and wines.
The winery’s name, Gray Monk, is the English translation of the Austrian name for Pinot Gris, a varietal sourced from the Alsace, first planted in Canada by George Heiss in the Gray Monk home vineyard in 1976.
The winery’s classic beauty, superb vintages and consistently high standards create supporters that are amongst the strongest in the world of Okanagan Wines. And the awards just keep coming!
Since shortly after its inception, Gray Monk has been acknowledged as one of the region’s premier wineries, bringing home awards from competitions in Canada, North America and around the world. This year is no exception. Perhaps renowned wine connoisseur
Anthony Gismondi says it best:
“Gray Monk knocks it out of the park at the World Wine Awards of Canada 2013,” he stated.
Recently, their 2011 Gray Monk Riesling won the triple honour of being recognized as Best of Variety in the $15 to $25 category, Category Champion and the Best of Country in the prestigious WineAlign World Wine Awards of Canada.
Judging for the awards included 19 top wine experts nationwide. After a week of carefully scrutinizing the 1,000 wines entered from around the world, the best wines made their way to the top.
One of the original 5 estate wineries that helped shape today’s BC Wine Industry, the Heiss family is proud to remain as British Columbia’s oldest family owned and operated winery. It’s worth the drive to visit the winery in person, both for the world-class restaurant and the opportunity to savour the flavour of any of a number of reds and whites being sampled each day.
~ Deanna Rainey