April is BC Wine Month and a feature on Quails’ Gate Winery is a great way to kick-off the celebrations.
Quails’ Gate Winery has been a family owned business since 1989. The Stewarts, the family behind the brand, were recently honoured with the 2026 Wine Growers Canada Award of Distinction. This is the highest peer-recognized honour in the Canadian wine industry. The award recognizes outstanding leadership, long-standing commitment and meaningful contributions to the advancement of Canadian wine and is thought of as the industry’s most prestigious form of recognition.
When you think about long-standing commitment, the Stewart family has been farming in the Okanagan for more than one hundred years. Richard John Stewart came to Canada from Ireland in 1905. He settled in the Okanagan in 1908 where he was eventually joined by his brother, William. In 1911 they started Stewart Brothers Nurseries, growing vegetables and trees for the surrounding orchards and farms. Six decades later Richard’s son, who was also named Richard, would add grape farming to the family portfolio.
Richard Stewart (junior) was born in 1926. Upon high school graduation, he enlisted in the Armed Forces, but World War II soon ended and he was discharged. Richard, also known as Dick, soon switched gears and he headed off to UBC where he graduated with a double major in Agriculture and Commerce. When he returned home to the Okanagan, he worked at his father’s business, Stewart Brothers Nursery, for the next ten years.
In 1956 Dick married Rosemary Boswell, a name that should be familiar to fans of Quails’ Gate wines (Rosemary Block Chardonnay and The Boswell Syrah). That same year, Dick and his father negotiated a deal to purchase Alison Ranch on Boucherie Road in West Kelowna. Dick had developed an interest in grape growing and he started off planting experimental grape varieties. He began planting their first grape vines in 1963, eventually selling the grapes to wineries in the Okanagan. In 1981 he took advantage of an offer from Jordan & Ste-Michelle Cellars, planting two blocks of Riesling at their Boucherie Mountain Vineyard (BMV). A third block of Riesling was planted in 1982, of which 5 acres remain today. These vines would help Jordan & Ste-Michelle Cellars to produce some of the Okanagan’s first age-worthy Rieslings.
In 1989 Dick’s son, Ben Stewart, proposed that instead of selling their grapes to other wineries they could use them to make their own wine, and thus Quails’ Gate Winery was established. Nearly forty years and three generations of Stewarts later, Quails’ Gate Winery is still family owned and receiving well deserved recognition for their significant contributions to the wine industry in both British Columbia and Canada.
2023 Chardonnay $27.90
Grapes were grown in vineyards that have been certified sustainable. These Chardonnay grapes were whole-cluster pressed and fermented in a combination of stainless steel and neutral French oak. The wine was aged on lees for nine months before blending and bottling.
Aromas of pineapple, peach, lemon, butter and biscuits. This is a dry wine, medium bodied with high acidity. The palate offers notes of peach, pineapple, salty lemons with pith and bitter almonds, with a medium finish.
Pair with rich, creamy pastas or try it with crab cakes.
2023 Pinot Noir $34.99
Grapes were also grown in vineyards that have been certified sustainable. Each block was fermented separately on skins for 12-16 days and the wine was matured in both new and old French oak barrels for 9 months.
Aromas of red fruit (cherry, cranberry and plum) with just a hint of strawberry jam, pine and black liquorice. This is a dry, medium bodied wine with high acidity and low tannin. The palate offers flavours of cherries, cranberries, redcurrants and pine resin with a medium finish.
I enjoyed this Pinot with a margarita pizza, but I think it would also go well with mushroom risotto and Easter ham.
2023 Old Vines Foch $29.99
How old is old, you might ask. The Maréchal Foch for this wine was planted in the Quails’ Gate Osoyoos Vineyard in 1978; these vineyards have also been certified sustainable. The grapes were hand harvested and lots were fermented on skins for 10-12 days. The wine was matured in both stainless steel as well as French and American oak for 9 months.
The nose starts off mineral (tar, graphite, smoke) followed by black plum, black cherry, salty black liquorice and sweet spice. This is a dry wine, medium+ in body with high acidity and medium tannins. The palate also starts off quite mineral, before giving way to tart black plums and black cherry, dark chocolate and a medium finish.
This wine needs food, fatty grilled meats or rich and hearty stews or maybe even dark chocolate cake.