Opening the Kismet Estate Winery was destiny for the Dhaliwal family. The word “Kismet” is, in fact, “destiny” in Punjabi. Immigrating to Canada in the 1990s with a mere five dollars in his pocket, Sukhwinder Dhaliwal settled into the Okanagan, working hard in agriculture, and was eventually joined by his brother, Balwinder. Their focus turned to managing vineyards as they gained insight into the industry while buying vineyard property on the side. After shifting their efforts into their own vineyards, selling grapes and consulting as leading grape growers, Sukhwinder’s daughter Neelam shares, “We felt something was missing. We wanted to be on the front end interacting with wine consumers and perhaps make a bit more money for our attention to detail in the vineyards.”
While about 90 per cent of the grapes from their 350 acres of property are purchased by other wineries, 10 per cent are kept for Kismet wines. Many varieties are grown there, including rare grapes like Mourvèdre and Grenache. With their track record of growing quality fruit, the brothers were confident that they’d have good quality wine if they had their own winery to carefully craft their own premier grapes.
2018 Awards
In the 2018 British Columbia Best of Varietal Wine Awards of Okanagan Wine Festivals, Gold Medals were awarded to 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve and 2016 Secret Red (red blends) while 2017 Lotus (rosé) took Silver.
In the 2018 All Canadian Wine Championships, 2017 Pinot Grigio, 2016 Syrah and 2016 Mantra (Bordeaux blends) achieved Gold; 2017 Viognier, 2017 Saféd (white blends) and 2015 Cabernet Franc all received Silver; and 2016 Karma (Bordeaux blends) earned Bronze.
Dan Berger’s 2018 International Wine and Cider Competitions yielded Bronze medals for 2016 Syrah, 2017 Lotus Blend (60 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon/40 per cent Orange Muscat) and 2017 Pinot Grigio.
Then, most recently, the results of WineAlign’s 2018 National Wine Awards of Canada garnered Silver Medals for 2016 Reserve Cabernet Franc, 2016 Karma (red blend), 2016 Syrah and 2015 Moksha (red blend); and Bronze Medals to 2017 Pinot Grigio and 2017 Saféd (white blend).
Wine Club and Bistro
Such successful results confirm the family’s assertion it has found its true destiny. Equally deserved, Kismet Estate has earned outstanding reviews on TripAdvisor and other consumer rating sites. Join Kismet’s Wine Club to enjoy access to the Family’s Reserve Vintages and other benefits.
Kismet’s restaurant, Masala Bistro, is also incredibly popular, offering perfect food pairings to match exquisite flavour notes found in their wines. You may book into the winery’s on-site guest house and never leave!