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Victoria Estate, a winery with a brief and frankly poor wine history, is changing its name and focus and has signed a big time winemaker with the credentials to actually make majority owner Kim Pullen's dreams come true.
Sources tell me Californian winemaker Bill Dyer ( Dyer Vineyards) has signed on at Church and State (that's correct Victoria Estate is dead) and the former Burrowing Owl winemaker and current consultant to Sonoma based Miramar Torres will be returning to British Columbia to make wine immediately.
Dyer will have complete control of the winemaking at the Victoria-based winery although almost all the fruit he will be processing will come out of the Okanagan Valley. Dyer's work at BOV and his invaluable knowledge of Okanagan fruit should catapult Church and State into the elite producers of British Columbia wine almost instantly.
Vineyard sources will prove to be the key to success but at least we know whatever the fruit Dyer is given to work with it won't be mucked up in the winery.
If it's good idea to keep Church and State separated, it's an even better idea to sign a top-flight consulting winemaker if you are serious about wine. My guess is you are going to hear a lot more about the wine at Church and State in the future which can only be a good thing for Victoria. Stay tuned for more news as it happens.
