110 BCBusiness oCtoBer 2015
may join the team once construction
of a new 25,000-square-foot winery is
complete. The cellars and the produc-
tion facility are expected to be ready
for fall harvest, with the hospitality and
visitor's centre, guest suites and kitchen
opening next spring. Wine shop hours:
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. year round
BarTier Bros.
Born and bred in the Okanagan, Michael
and Don Bartier launched Bartier Bros.
as a virtual winery in 2009, making
wine through Okanagan Crush Pad in
Summerland with grapes purchased
from the Cerqueira family's vineyard in
Osoyoos. Last January, the Cerqueiras
retired and the Bartiers bought their
15-acre vineyard. "We had a very close
relationship farming with them to the
point where we're family," says Michael.
"It's a very special thing that we've come
across." Joe Cerqueira is helping build
the winery facilities, and his daughter,
Sophia, is involved with hospitality.
Michael, a winemaker at other wineries
for many years, is both viticulturist and
winemaker, while Don, a
CGA based in
Calgary, handles •nancial matters and
Alberta sales as well as farming a small
vineyard with his wife's family in Sum-
merland that supplies Bartier Bros. with
Gewürztraminer grapes. The new win-
ery opened in summer 2015. Wine shop
hours: Easter weekend to mid-October,
10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
KismeT esTaTe Winery
Kismet Estate Winery, which opened
its tasting room in May 2014, is also
owned by two brothers: Sukhi and
Balwinder Dhaliwal, who emigrated
to the Okanagan from India about 20
years ago. Starting with •ve acres, the
Dhaliwals now have about 200 acres
and are one of the largest independent
grape growers in the valley. Balwinder's
brother-in-law, Dapinder Gill, is the
winemaker. "I've pretty much grown
up with Sukhi and Bal, so I had known
them before my sister got married,"
he says. "We had family connections."
Originally an accountant, Gill learned to
make wine by talking to the winemakers
fiELd noTEs
(Clockwise) Don and
Michael Bartier of
Bartier Bros.; Time's
25,000-square-
foot winery under
construction; Harry
McWatters, founder of
Time Estate Winery
Continued on page 113
