BCBusiness

122 BCBUSINESS JULY/AUGUST 2017 This Is the Life McWatters starts working in sales at Casabello Wines in downtown Penticton Buys Sumac Ridge Golf Course in Summerland with then-partner Lloyd Schmidt Opens Sumac Ridge Estate Winery Ltd. and releases 1980 vintage 1968 1979 1981 1990 From Sumac Ridge to Time Winery, how Harry McWatters made his mark on the Canadian wine industry Appointed first chair of the British Columbia Wine Institute and B.C. Wine Information Society Summerland is where McWatters purchased Sumac Ridge golf course in 1979, turning it into B.C.'s rst estate winery. At the time, there were just ve wineries of any kind in the Okan- agan Valley. "We were the rst winery with a restaurant in the country, only because we had a golf course, too," says McWatters, who turned 72 in May. "The rst year I think we did 22 Christmas lunches in 20 days—and I cooked them all," he remembers. "Christa washed dishes." He speaks softly, the odd word mu‹ed by music playing in the back- ground, but his enthusiasm for wine and the business of making it in the Okanagan comes through loud and clear. Over the following two decades, McWatters brought the term Meritage to Canada and added a couple more vineyards to his portfolio (see time- line). Then in 2000, he sold everything except half of his Black Sage Vineyard in Oliver to Vincor International (now called Constellation Brands Inc.), later renaming the 60 acres that he'd retained Sundial Vineyard. "I sold Sumac Ridge because we were made an o"er that I couldn't refuse," he says, noting that he stayed on for eight years as president of the wine group and vice- president of Vincor Canada. Last year McWatters, who was born in Toronto and raised there and in North Vancouver, received another irresistible offer. As a result, he sold Sundial Vineyard, where he was building the 25,000-square-foot Time Estate Winery, to Richmond businessman Richter Bai. Instead, Time Winery will be in the 15,000-square-foot former PenMar movie theatre on Martin Street in Penticton, without a vineyard in sight. "When I told Christa-Lee I'm going to accept this o"er, she wasn't real happy with me," McWatters says. "It took prob- ably a week for it to sink in." Although McWatters sold the land, he will obtain fruit from it for several years, as well as contracting with other growers to provide grapes to his specications. Evolve Cellars, one of three brands pro- duced by Encore Vineyards (the others are Time and McWatters Collection), leases a 13-acre lakeside property in Sum- merland with a 4.5-acre vineyard, a res- taurant, a tasting room and winemaking facilities. McWatters is also looking for land to buy, though not all in one block. "Much as that is a nice thing to have, it doesn't give us any œexibility we need going forward," he says. "It's confusing, all the things we've done," remarks McWatters Bond. "Who would have thought, 'Oh, buy a golf course and build a winery'?" So when people ask why they are buying a movie theatre, she replies, "Because he's always looking at something a little bit di"erent." The renovated Time Winery build- ing, which McWatters bought in April and expects to open this summer, will include a complete wine production operation, administrative o¡ces, a wine shop, a tasting bar, a commercial kitchen, a banquet facility, a 75-foot theatre and a 40-seat outdoor patio.¢Thanks to walk-in

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