In the five years since River Stone Estate Winery opened its wine shop doors Ted Kane says he has learned a lot about what he can and can’t do. He can do a lot, but he can’t do everything. An assistant general manager is being brought on board to let Ted focus “on what I really enjoy—making wine, thinking about wine, talking about wine, building things so we can make more and always better wine.”
The River Stone property near Oliver runs right down to the Okanagan River, and several new wineries (including Harry McWatters’ Time Estate Winery and Don and Elaine Triggs’ Culmina) confirm the great choice Ted and Lorraine made when they purchased the land.
“We are excited the number of new wineries in our area and the direction the industry is going. We are honoured to be joined in Oliver Osoyoos Wine Country by some of the historical giants in the BC wine industry, and also by smaller wineries like ourselves. The Okanagan is becoming internationally recognized as a place that must be visited and a place to find great wines. The world is discovering what we have known for some time: This is truly a great place to be.”
The secret that River Stone produces great wines has been poorly kept. The Malbec Rosé, winner of the People’s Choice Award at last November’s Rosé Revolution, sold out in early July last year. This year production has been nearly doubled to reduce the disappointment level. |River Stone red wines are also big sellers. This spring will see the release of limited production “R&D wines”, including Malbec/Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc and Gewürztraminer.
~ Lorne Eckersley