Township 7 Scores B.C.'s First Olympic Victory

An early dividend came to several wineries whose products were chosen for the gala dinner that concluded the recent visit by the International Olympic Committee's evaluation committee. The visitors got to taste Blue Mountain Brut, Township 7's 2001 Chardonnay and CedarCreek Estate Winery's 2000 Platinum Reserve Pinot Noir and a selection of icewines.

No one was more thrilled to be in that selection than Gwen and Corey Coleman, the owners of Township 7, a small winery that only opened in 2001 but clearly is a rising star. Blue Mountain and CedarCreek (Canada's winery of the year last year) already have solidly established reputations.

The Colemans met at the University of Saskatchewan where they received commerce degrees and then pursued standard corporate careers until bitten by the wine bug. "We got our first appreciation of wine and the wine industry on a trip to the Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley of California in 1989," Corey recalls. "If you don't come from a long tradition, you need some kind of outside source to influence you. I don't think it was a conscious revelation at that time. It was just something we really enjoyed. As we went on holidays subsequently, we always ended up visiting the wine growing regions wherever we could."

They spent a few years in Montreal (Gwen worked for a drug company) but decided in 1995 to return to the west - not to native Saskatchewan but to wine country in the Okanagan Valley. "We decided it was an opportunity for us to try something different, something new," Corey says. "I sent out résumés to 23 wineries and stopped in at each one and introduced myself. I said I have a business background but I am very interested in wine and would like to learn the business."  Both quickly found jobs. As they prepared for their own winery over several years, Corey did all manner of cellar work at Hawthorne Mountain Vineyards while Gwen became a marketing executive for both that winery and Sumac Ridge.

And they began looking for property, making the somewhat unconventional decision to buy acreage not in the Okanagan but south of Langley, not far from the international border. "The real key was to be closer to our customers, the lower mainland being the main market for B.C. wines," Corey explains. "We felt it was easier to move the grapes here than it was to try to get the people out to the Okanagan."

A small vineyard, about three acres, has been planted at Langley. However, most of the fruit for Township 7 is from vineyards under contract in the south Okanagan, where the growing conditions are better for the flagship varieties: Merlot, Chardonnay, Syrah, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc.  Township 7's initial vintages also have been made at various Okanagan wineries, under the talented hand of consulting Michael Bartier.

The Coleman strategy is working. Township 7 wines have been critically acclaimed from the first release. This has enabled to persuasive Colemans to get them onto the lists at many top Vancouver restaurants, including Seasons in the Park, where the Olympic committee sampled them.

"We'd be very pleased if the Olympics are awarded to Vancouver/Whistler," Gwen Coleman says. "It's already been a boost to our business."

John Schreiner's latest book, British Columbia Wine Country, has just been published by Whitecap Books of North Vancouver.