| Burrowing Ow! winning high praise NV owners live out fantasy in south Okanagan NEWS photo Mike Wakefield EVER dream of giving up your city job to establish a winery? North Vancouver's Deana Lancaster News Reporter deana@nsnews.com FOR oenophiles it’s a stock, off-the-rack fan- tasy — exit the rat race and find happiness in the Okanagan among the rippling green rows of vines, working the complexities of soil and climate. Jim and Midge Wyse have done it. Sort of. In the early 90s Wys was growing frustrated with the development business. The red tape: the permits, processes and public hear- ings; and the attempts to educate community mem- bers and municipal councils about plans and projects were wearing thin. In 1992 he was working on a small project in Vernon when he heard about a near- by winery for sale. He and his wite Midge had tong been interested in wine and wine-making, and often incorporated winery and vineyard tours into their plans when travelling. They researched the pur- chase — and decided against it. Buc the following vear, when 100 acres of aban- doned, sagebrush-choked vineyards just south of Oliver went on the market, “tr was the message we kept geding, over and over —- buy in the south.” The south end of the Okanagan Valley gets less than six inches of raintall a year, making it the only area in Canada to be classified as desert. Temperatures climb higher then in the north end of the valley, critical for the grapes to fully ripen, espe- cially the red varieties. And it gets hotter sooner, some years by many weeks. And the soil at the site was also a plus — light and sandy, it doesn’t allow for vigorous growth, which means the vines require less pruning and the favour is concentrated in fewer grapes. They decided not to build a winery, but to sell their grapes to other winer- les. The entire family inherit- ed an interest in birds and birdwatching trom fim’s mother (“She’s infected all of us with that”) and they decided to name the proper- ty Burrowing Ow! Vineyards, after the native owl (Athene cunicularia), which resides in the aban- doned burrows of badgers winery and gophers, and is currently being reintroduced into the Okanagan Valley, The first employees he hired were nwo managers, both of whom had worked in the area their entire lives. They left the vineyards, which eventually grew to a total of 292 acres, in their capable hands and continued to live and do business on the North Shore. Then in 1994, Howard Soon, the winemaker at Calona Vineyards, made a small batch of premium mer- lot using grapes from Burrowing Owl Vineyards. The wine won a gold medal at a prestigious wine compe- tition in London. “We were ... impressed,” said Wyse. “And we started thinking about making our own wines, something 2 litde more personal, handcrafted.” He hired the well-respect- ed Bill Dyer, from Sterling Vineyards in che Napa Valley, as his winemaker. They decided to concentrate on only four grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot for red and See Pinot gris Page 19 river rafting + ule kaycking » horseback riding » scuba diving » oceon kayaking rock climbing » paintball » jet boating » hiking » fishing » mounfoin biking backcountry fouring » windsurting » birding » sea & air cherlers » remate lodging affordable axcammedatin. thollenge course » leodership iraining + feam building dim Wyse did it with Burrowing Owl Vineyards and he’s not locking back. they bought them. Rive THESE Het Savings TORERO HELMETS Reg. $120 ‘5 499 SALE 3 YEAR CRASH WARRANTY Between you and the middle of nowhere, there’s a lot of road and a lot of trail, this helmet is designed to taxe on noth. 19 vents and exhaust ports keep you coo) white the ultra-stable Roc Loc fit system helps control that annoying bump/shift factor, Plus. the new snap-fit visor lets you nde into the sunset. Or not. Now go. Go as far as you can. and don't look back. Low hanging branches lay in wait for that kind of stuff. KMP-1 KAMIKAZE MTN PUMP 99 . Reg. $32 sae SAA = Same great features as the Mammoth pumps, but with a fiberglass reinforced nyton barrel and fever # 1° shorter than the Mammoth to easily fil virtually all bikes = Oversized barrel fills ures fast = Pumps te 90 plus PSt ’ © Use. mountain brung * Mount: next {0 bottle cage with SCK-2 Side Chip or optional GCK-2 Gnp Cp to frame tube MAP-1 MTN AIR Reg. $24 99 SALE § 1 5 ® bleume werranty | 4 = Same great features as tne KMP-1 Kamikaze punip | * fibergtass reinforced nylon barrel and fever * Super Iightweight at anty [1S grams © 3° shorier than the MMP-1 Mammoth Mtn pump « Maximum rehabity © Pumps 10 90 plus PSt » Single stroke action © Easily corwerts io fit Presta or Schrader valves = Side Clip attachment system or optional Grp Ckp to frame tube Summer Hours 8am-8pm SIMONS BIKE SHOE: