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| Homestead Magazine Summer 2008: A wine of their own |
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By Lorne McClinton
Couple liquidates everything they own to buy their own vineyard and winery
There are few better ways to cap
off a long, hard day of work in
your vineyard than sharing a few
glasses of your own vintage wine
with friends. After all, owning your
own vineyard is the stuff Hollywood dreams
are made of. Bruno Kelle and Stella Schmidt
fell in love with the idea of buying a vineyard
while wine touring through British Columbia’s
Okanagan Valley. The couple liquidated
everything they owned in Calgary, Alberta
and used the proceeds to buy a small, rundown,
8-acre Okanagan vineyard and winery
that is located between Oliver and Osoyoos.
"Owning a winery wasn’t something we
had thought about for years and years," Bruno
says. "One day we just decided we’re going
to do it, and within a year we had a winery."
Boyhood memories. Bruno says that, while the decision to buy a winery was sudden, the couple had been thinking of moving to the country for some time. He was sick of being away from home for long periods of time for
work and wistfully recalled boyhood memories
of working with his father on the family’s
tobacco farm in Ontario.
"My dad loved farming, but I took it all
for granted when I was growing up," he says.
"I started to think that perhaps moving back
to the country and starting a family business
would be a good thing for myself and for my
children. I wanted to be out in the sunshine
down in the southern Okanagan. The idea of
being my own boss and making a value-added
product, like wine, really appealed to me."
Stella came across a vineyard for sale on
the Internet and the couple drove down from
Calgary right away to look at it. They found
that it was in rough shape but had potential.
"We thought that if we did some hard work
and put in some sweat equity, we could fix the
place up," Bruno says. "It’s got a great location, right on the highway, and has beautiful grape-growing land. The vineyard has a nice slope, no frost pockets, and had ten varieties of really nice grapes. We put an offer in and they accepted it." Golden Beaver Winery was born.
Play the name game. The couple focused on finding the right name. "Bruno and I wanted to come up with a fun, memorable name,"
Stella says. "We wanted something like Yellow Tail Winery’s label, the Australian one
with the wallaby, but with a Canadian theme."
The result was the unforgettable Golden
Beaver label featuring a grinning cartoon
beaver in shorts hoisting a glass of wine.
The "Golden" part of the name refers to The
Golden Mile, the part of the Okanagan Valley
where their Vineyard is located, and "Beaver"
was chosen because it’s Canada’s National
Animal. While the name is casual, their wines
are first-rate. Their unique specialties are two
Vin de Curé wines made by partially drying
the grapes before pressing.
Learning curve. After purchasing the winery, the couple had a very steep learning curve in front of them. Bruno knew a lot about growing tobacco and fresh herbs, but neither of them had any experience growing grapes or running a winery. They took a wine-making course at the University of British Columbia and hired Gary Strachan, a winery startup specialist, to help them get their feet on the ground. Despite the romance associated with owning a vineyard and winery, the couple
quickly found that running one is really, really
hard work. Eight acres of grapes won’t
generate enough revenue to justify hiring staff
so they have had to do most of the work themselves. Bruno tends the vines and makes the
wine, while Stella looks after the wine shop
and does all the bookkeeping.
"It’s a steady job, 12 hours a day, 7 days
a week," Bruno says. "People come
into the wine shop and tell us they
want to own a vineyard when they retire.
Retire? I’ve never worked this hard in
my life. I used to think I worked hard on my
Dad’s tobacco farm, but no way, this is really
tough work. I lost 20 pounds in three months
when I moved here from Calgary and haven’t
put it back on. I’m skinny as a pole right now
but I’m in great shape."
Despite all that work, the couple feels it’s
worth it when neighbors, family, and friends
drop by at the end of the day. They pull out
a few bottles of wine, get some crackers and
cheese, then just sit back and enjoy life.
"In the end, that is what keeps us moving
forward," Bruno says. "We love the wine industry.
We’re working hard now but someday
we hope we can relax, enjoy the fruits of our
labor, and watch my kids take over."
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