Mission Hill Family Estate

As Canada’s Winery of the Year for the second time in seven years — it was the Canadian Wine Awards’ first recipient of the title in 2001— Mission Hill Family Estate Winery bears out the truism that good wine begins in the vineyard. Since Mission Hill began acquiring Okanagan vineyards in 1996, it has accumulated approximately 900 acres — about 12 per cent of all the vineyard acreage in British Columbia. Most of Mission Hill’s vineyards are in Southern Okanagan terroir that produces the majority of the Okanagan’s medal-winning wines, notably powerful reds. The winery also has key vineyards near Naramata, east of Kelowna, and just below the winery on Mount Boucherie; all cooler terroirs which grow white wines and Burgundian reds.

This mix of terroirs gives Mission Hill the varietal depth to support a large portfolio of quality wines. The winery submitted 20 wines to this year’s competition and brought home two gold medals, six silver and eight bronze, a remarkable success rate in a tough competition.

The vineyards are farmed by professional viticulturists under the discerning eye of John Simes, Mission Hill’s veteran winemaker. The advantage does not stop there: the grapes are processed in a winery equipped with leading edge winemaking tools, including an elaborate sorting table, French-crafted oak fermenters and thousands of barrels in cellars dug into rock.

It is not a matter of chance that Mission Hill has emerged as one of Canada’s top wineries. This winery’s lofty goal, according to proprietor Anthony von Mandl, is nothing less than to be one of the world’s 10 best wineries. Improbable? Not if one believes in the potential of the Okanagan. 

 early hint of that potential came with Mission Hill’s 1992 Chardonnay, winner of the Avery’s Trophy for Best Chardonnay at the 1994 International Wine & Spirits Competition in London. This was the first Okanagan chardonnay made by Simes. The former head winemaker at New Zealand’s Montana Wines, he took over the Mission Hill cellars in September of 1992. Like any good winemaker, he began his job by tasting the ripening grapes in the vineyards of Mission Hill growers (the winery then owned none of its vineyards). Surprised at the “brilliant” quality of the chardonnay, he scrambled to order new barrels, becoming one of the first winemakers in British Columbia to barrel-ferment chardonnay. By going the extra mile, Simes made the wine that won the first serious international recognition for the Okanagan wine industry.

Winery owner von Mandl got his first inkling of the Okanagan’s potential in the 1970s. Then a hustling young Vancouver wine merchant, he did a feasibility report on Okanagan winegrowing for Josef Milz, a Mosel vintner he represented in Canada. Milz decided against investing there, but the seed had been planted. In 1981, von Mandl purchased Mission Hill, a winery that had been through two receiverships and still had dirt floors. The winery had opened in 1966, dramatically perched on the brow of Mount Boucherie, an extinct volcano. The first owners could not do much with the breathtaking view because winery tasting rooms were not allowed at the time. The rules had changed by 1981 for the 14 wineries then in British Columbia. Ever the visionary, von Mandl predicted in a speech soon after buying the winery, that “this majestic valley is resting on the threshold of being an economic giant.”

Mission Hill bought its first vineyard in 1996, emboldened by the Avery’s Trophy victory and, in part, nudged when a competing winery tried to buy the vineyard. Since then, Simes has been charged with looking for and snapping up good vineyard land, starting in the late 1990s with sun-drenched property southeast of Osoyoos, right against the American border. Now, these vineyards produce both syrah and the component varieties for Oculus, Mission Hill’s flagship red. The heat units here are essential for delivering mature, full-flavoured grapes. “You can’t fix green grapes,” Simes says. And he doesn’t have to.

Mission Hill’s vast cellars, where the surrounding rocks provide ideal wine-maturing temperatures, were blasted from the mountain during a six-year-long winery rebuild. In 1996, von Mandl retained Seattle architect Tom Kundig to turn what was a tired facility into an architectural wonder among British Columbia’s wineries. “It was clear to me that a landmark showcase winery was absolutely essential to the future of the Okanagan,” von Mandl said.

He invested an estimated $35 million in the project, with a view to building something that would be impressive for generations. The new Mission Hill now has a timeless Tuscan style, with a bell tower rising above a spacious courtyard that includes an amphitheatre and a medieval fountain. It is bordered on one side by an open air dining promenade with Roman columns. “The winery turned out to be more spectacular than I ever could have imagined,” von Mandl said later. Articles about it, appearing in the wine, travel and architectural press, have helped raise the profile of the entire Okanagan.

Clearly, Simes and his winemaking team, Wade Stark and Kathy Malone, now have the resources to make wines matching von Mandl’s grand vision, including, since 2005, access to the advice of Michel Rolland, the world’s leading wine consultant. The 17 oak fermenters — no other Okanagan winery has similar fermenters — were imported from France (at a stunning $17,000 each) as part of a Rolland-inspired program to make more elegant reds. Simes points out, however, that Mission Hill’s wines are made by him and his team. Rolland, he says, “brings an important outside perspective.”

Going forward, Mission Hill’s multi-tiered portfolio will focus only on its premium wines — Oculus, plus the Select Lot Collection and Reserve ranges. The popularly-priced (under $20) Five Vineyards range of wines is being migrated to a recently-launched brand, Ganton & Larsen Prospect Wine Co. With each step, Mission Hill Family Estate continues to position itself globally as a top 10 winery, revealing the great extent of the Okanagan’s potential.

Vancouver writer and wine judge John Schreiner has written extensively on Canadian wines for 30 years. He is the author of several bestsellers, including The Wineries of British Columbia. In 2002 the Okanagan Wine Festivals Society recognized Schreiner with its annual Founder’s Award.
This article originally appeared in the December 2007/January 2008 issue of Wine Access magazine.