“Open year round, we are so grateful to our local customers,” says Upper Bench proprietor and head cheesemaker Shana Miller.
“They stop in and buy wine and cheese from us in the off-season, put up with the crowds in summer, recommend us to their family and friends and join our Curds & Corks wine and cheese club.”
“They have been with us since the beginning (2011) and are an important part of the amazing community we are building,” Shana adds.
With more than 10,000 visitors to Upper Bench’s beautiful tasting room and vineyard view patio in 2016 and vintages quickly selling out, word has spread and the winery and creamery’s loyal locals are now part of an international following.
Proprietor and winemaker Gavin Miller says there are a limited number of cases of Estate Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon (2013) left.
“Our Pinot Blanc is already all spoken for in the Vancouver market and we sold out of two vintages of Riesling in one year in 2016. We have just bottled the 2016 Riesling and its just as delicious and very dry, with only nine grams of sugar per litre.” Gavin says Upper Bench will also once again have a Rosé on offer and an on-trend Zweigelt (an Austrian grape) in addition their beautiful line-up of reds and whites.
Shana is working some magic in the creamery as well with some new offerings that will be available to Curds & Corks members such as an aged Farmer’s and a Belper Knolle. Sign up for the winery’s newsletter at Upperbench.ca to keep up-to-date and avoid “sold out” disappointment.
~ Elaine Davidson