24 — Friday, October 1, 1999 — North Shore News Saturma’s island wine harvest Bob Mackin News Reporter WEST Vancouver lawyer Lawrence Fage has brought a little bit of the Okanagan to an idyllic piece of the Southern Gulf Islands. Page and wite Robyn transformed a 35-hectare sheep farm on Saturna Island five years ago into a winery on the south- western side of the island. At 31 square kilometres and with 315 permanent residents, Saturna is the second largest, but least populated of the Southern Gulf Islands. The island’s name is derived trom Saturnina, a ship navigated by Spanish explorer Jose Maria Narvaez along the coast in 1791. Narvaez would’ve been thrilled last Saturday when the Pages showed off Saturna Island Vineyards for the second straight year with their Harvest Festival. It nearly didn’t hap- pen after the coast was socked with an overnight windstorm that continued through Saturday morning. By afternoon, the clouds disappeared, the wind died and” the power.was restored. The day turned into a success under unny skies and towering sandstone cliffs. Chef Hubertus Surm cooked an autumn feast with Salt Spring lamb sausages, boiled corn on the cob and homemade fruit pies. The culinary creations of Surm, former head chef at ‘Granville Island’s Isadora’s Co-op: Restaurant, went down nicely ¥ with a 1998 Semillon (Chardonnay made from SUNSHINE breaks through the skylights of the winery building at Saturna Island Vinoyards. Okanagan grapes but bearing Saturna’s label. (A line of 1999 wines, the gre batch from Saturna’s fields, is being bottled this fall). Jim Foster and the Rockin’ Hoodoos brought their brand © of rock and roll frem Victoria aad played it from a flatbed truck in an open meadow between the two vineyards. Children of all ages bobbed for apples and later jumped into a tub for some grape-stomping. After all, what’s a winery festival with- out some grape-stomping? Surm moved to the island two years ago to take up resi- dence at the Page’s other property, the Saturna Lodge and Restaurant. They remodeled the former Boot Cove Lodge into a relaxing seven-room hideaway, ideal for a weekend with a loved one or an executive retreat. That’s where Surm pleases palates year-round. The lodge itself is a leisurely walk from the BC Ferries’ Lyall Harbour dock. Rebecca Cozine, | the Pages’ daughter and Jodge manager, likes to tell visitors it’s close enough to the ferry that she walked back and forth in the final stages of her pregnancy earlier this year. The Pages plan to add accommodation and dining facilities to their winery site, a leisurely ininute drive from the secluded lodge. The winery was set up with the assistance of Eric von Krosigk, the vintner son of Buko von Krosigk, the brewer ‘from Okanagan Spring Brewery. The Pages’ company, Saturna Beach Estates, i is raising funds | for development and operations of the winery through yenture - capital corporation Saturna Estate Winery and Resort: Thirty- one. fully serviced lots on the waterfront, adjacent to the vine- yards, are being offered for sale. aot ‘Ah, to live between water and wine! - # For information on the winery and lodge, call 1-888- ° 539-8800 or (250) 539-2254 or go to the Web site .-: Getting there: Fo: information on BG Fetries’ ” SCrvi ." Saeurna from Tsawwassen, via Galiano,’ Mayne or Pender - Islands; call-1-888-BCFERRY (1-888-223-3779) or go to . Harbour Air (278-3478) and Seair (273- 890) offé; floatplane service from Coal Harbour or Sea’ Island‘ to a dock at Satuima by the’ Pages’ waterfront home. ° FUN: for the - whole family: at: the Satu Harvest Festival, including grape-stomping. Encased in-a sturdy maple frame and wrapped it in : soit elegant sleigh bed from Roots Home Furnishings: 3097 Granville St., Vancouver tel. 738-641 1. iv =335