Road 13 Vineyards: John Oliver Collection

Last March, Road 13 Vineyards introduced a new line of premium wines, called the John Oliver Collection, honouring BC’s 19th premier, John Oliver.

John Oliver was born in England in 1856 and he immigrated to Ontario with his family in 1870. Seven years later the Oliver family moved to a farm in Delta, BC, where John worked the land and became involved in local politics. In 1900 he was elected to parliament and became leader of the Liberals, the opposition party at the time. After being appointed minister of agriculture and railways in 1916 he became premier of the province from 1918 until his death in 1927.

John Oliver was known as Honest John, “an advocate for women’s rights, and a champion of the working man.” (Road 13 Vineyards) He is also known for bringing to life an irrigation canal in the South Okanagan that transformed the barren, desert landscape into orchards, farms and, later, vineyards. The project, which started in 1921 and took two years to complete, also created jobs and futures for veterans returning from the First World War.

The Town of Oliver, BC was named after Honest John and it is now home to many wineries, including Road 13 Vineyards.

2020 John Oliver Selection Syrah $80.00

This Syrah contains 0.4% Malbec. The Syrah grapes were sourced from reserve blocks on both the Golden Mile and Black Sage Bench. The wine from each area was fermented and aged separately in French oak barrels (45% new) for 18 months. 20 barrels were made.

After three hours in the decanter there are aromas of prune, white pepper, dried cherries, cedar and liquorice pastels. This is a dry, full bodied wine with medium+ acidity and tannins. The palate offers of black plum, dried cherry, cedar, liquorice pastels, white pepper and raisiny notes with a medium+ finish.

2020 John Oliver Selection Cabernet Sauvignon $80.00

This wine contains 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot. The Cabernet grapes were sourced from a reserve block in east Osoyoos. The grapes were handpicked, sorted and fermented for 28 days, then aged for 18 months in French and American oak. 216 cases were made.

This wine was also decanted for three hours prior to tasting. There are aromas of blackcurrant, blackberry and black cherry, with a herbaceous undertone, leading to notes of cinnamon and nutmeg. This is a dry, full bodied wine with medium+ acidity and high tannins. The palate offers blackcurrant, black cherry, blackberry, bramble, herbaceous notes, salinity and cinnamon with a long finish.

Road 13 Vineyards

As you may already know, Road 13 Vineyards has not always been known as Road 13. The property on which it now stands was purchased in 1970 by Peter and Helga Serwo. Peter and Helga immigrated to the Okanagan from Germany in 1966. For a decade they grew peaches on their property, but in 1980 they decided to replant their land with grapes. Peter and Helga were amongst the first growers in BC to plant premium vinifera grapes. 

The Serwos built themselves a winery to accompany their vines. Peter, a builder by trade, designed and built the winery, modeled after a 17^th century Bavarian castle. The winery was named Golden Mile Cellars, as it was located on the Golden Mile Bench. 

Golden Mile Cellars sold most of their grapes to other producers, only making about 1000-1500 cases of wine of their own each year. Peter and Helga’s daughter travelled to Germany to study winemaking with the intention of returning to work for the family business. Plans changed however, and when their daughter decided to stay in Germany, the Serwo’s put their property up for sale. Enter Mick and Pam Luckhurst. 

Mick was born and raised in Port Alberni. He had a marketing diploma from BCIT and had worked as a lumber broker, a real estate developer and operated a building supply business. Mick’s wife Pam was born in Manchester and, when Mick first met her, she was a flight attendant. Over the years the two partnered in various business ventures together.

In 2003, after spending three winters building houses in Edmonton, the Luckhursts moved to Osoyoos Lake for a bit of a reprieve. They spent that summer entertaining friends, touring through wineries and inadvertently falling in love with the wine business.

The couple wasted no time acting on their new dream. They purchased Golden Mile Cellars from Peter and Helga Serwo in October 2003.

In 2008, Golden Mile Cellars rebranded, changing their name to Road 13 Vineyards. As mentioned earlier, Golden Mile Cellars was located on the Golden Mile Bench. The Golden Mile Bench is located at the foot of Mount Kobau, which is known for its calcium and mineral rich soil, produced by glacial deposits, creating a distinct terroir.

By rebranding, Golden Mile Cellars was giving “Golden Mile” back to the area. A press release at the time stated “As Golden Mile Cellars [we] would never be able to present the region to the world by ourselves. Thus it is important that all of our wineries in this area own the term, to be able to make and market its wines and to be able to tell the story of them. So now Golden Mile belongs to the area rather than to one winery.” (Gothe, J.) The Golden Mile Bench was named British Columbia’s first sub-appellation in 2015. 

In 2018 Mick and Pam decided it was time to retire. In November of that year it was announced that Road 13 Vineyards had been purchased by Anthony von Mandl, owner of several Okanagan wineries, including Mission Hill Family Estate. 

www.road13vineyards.com

References

Fisher, R. (October 31, 2010). John Oliver. Retrieved from: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/john-oliver

Gothe, J. (October 22, 2008). Golden Mile Cellars Turns into Road 13 Vineyards. Retrieved from: https://www.straight.com/article-167077/winery-turns-road-13

Schreiner, J. (November 30, 2018). Road 13 Purchased by Anthony von Mandl. Retrieved from: http://johnschreiner.blogspot.com/2018/11/road-13-purchased-by-anthony-von-mandl.html

Schriener, J. The Wineries of British Columbia. Whitecap Books, 2004, North Vancouver.