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WINEMAKING TECHNICAL SPOTLIGHT 46 WINES&VINES March 2017 A nail gun rat-a-tats and hammers pound as workers from Greyback Construction Ltd. complete the new home of Fitzpatrick Family Vineyards on a bench overlooking Okanagan Lake south of Kelowna, B.C. It's late October, and the premises have received their first crop from the 40 acres of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and other varieties surrounding one of B.C.'s newest sparkling wine producers. Sales of sparkling wine have been growing at approximately double the pace of still wines across North America, a phenom- enon that's been picking up steam in British Columbia. While imported Prosecco is winning on price, established local labels such as Steller's Jay and Cipes Brut maintain a hometown ad- vantage. Approximately two-dozen sparkling wine producers now operate in the Canadian province, and Fitzpatrick is the latest of the new wave. The building overlooking Okanagan Lake aims to deliver traditional-method sparkling wine in a structure built as much for wine production as for show. "We're doing it exactly the way they do it in Champagne, but with an Okanagan twist," principal Gordon Fitzpatrick says of the facility, set to open to the public April 1. Designed by architect Vassos Demetriou of Seattle, Wash., the winery promises a "very educational, interactive, inter- esting experience." The winery runs parallel to the lake, an orientation dictated by the local topography that gives visitors a sense of being ushered into a world apart as they step into the welcoming area and wine shop that formerly housed the main hospitality area for Greata Ranch Vineyards, as the property was once known. When the Fitzpatrick family moved in 2014 to convert the facil- ity into a sparkling wine house with 22,500 square feet of space indoors and out, the wine shop was compressed to make room for offices, a by-appointment tasting space and a bar area fo- cused on wine education. "This is going to be actually like a bar: In addition to featuring our sparkling wines, we're going to do tastings," Fitzpatrick says. "It's the education, the traditional method and how we do it, and we'll also feature other sparkling wines from around the world—everything from Prosecco to Champagne, just to educate people on the difference of the bubbles." Fitzpatrick Family Vineyards New British Columbia sparkling winery emulates Champagne By Peter Mitham Fitzpatrick Family Vineyards overlooks Okanagan Lake. TECHNICAL SPOTLIGHT