Winemaker Gets Bravery Medal Posthumously

The medal will be accepted by Mr. Supernak's sister, Mrs. Theresa McBride of Nanaimo, on behalf of the Supernak family which includes his two children, Cory and Andrea.

The medal, awarded for acts of bravery under hazardous circumstances, is among the Decorations of Bravery that were established in 1972 as part of the Canadian Honours System.

On November 10, 2002, Mr. Supernak was helping analyze wines at the end of vintage for one of his clients, Silver Sage Winery of Oliver, B.C. Victor Manola, the co-proprietor of Silver Sage, accidentally slipped into a tank of fermenting wine. The fermentation process releases carbon dioxide which can cause asphyxiation in confined spaces.

"Although aware of the danger caused by poisonous carbon dioxide," the award citation states, "Mr. Supernak tried to pull his unconscious colleague from the container. When his efforts proved unsuccessful, he jumped into the vat and attempted to rescue his friend by lifting him out to safety. Within seconds, Mr. Supernak also succumbed to the deadly fumes  and lack of oxygen and could not be revived."

Mr. Supernak was one of the Okanagan's most respected winemakers. Born in Nanaimo in 1961, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from the University of British Columbia in 1983. The following year, he joined T.G. Bright & Co. at Oliver as a research oenologist. His responsibilities included assessing the winemaking qualities of a number of grapes, including Russian varieties, that Brights was testing. He described one of the varieties, a rosé grape called Sereksia Chornaya, as "the most interesting grape I have ever worked with." The commercially difficult name preventing the grape from becoming a mainstream variety in the Okanagan.

When those trials ended, Mr. Supernak became the winery's cellarmaster in 1989. Three years,  he became the head winemaker at the Oliver winery as it became Vincor International Ltd.'s Jackson-Triggs winery. In  1996, he left to take over making the wines and overhauling the vineyard at the newly-formed Hester Creek Estate Winery south of Oliver. Here, he established a deft winemaking touch with Pinot Blanc, Trebbiano, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

In July 2002, Mr. Supernak established his own consulting company, called It's About Wine, in response to requests from several new wineries, including Chalet Estate Winery on Vancouver Island, Silver Sage and his major client, Blasted Church Vineyards of Okanagan Falls. He also was a long-time member of the Vintners Quality Alliance tasting panel in the Okanagan and served on the board  of the Okanagan Wine Festival Society. As a wine educator, he gave his time generously to all who shared his passion for wine, including many home vintners.

Mr. Supernak was intensely proud of British Columbia wines. "I believe that British Columbia possesses some the most unique winemaking conditions in the world, conditions that can consistently produce some of best wines anywhere," he said when he joined Blasted Church in 2002. "My challenge as a winemaker is to ensure that there is minimal intervention in the winemaking process, to allow the full expression of fruit and terroir in the wines I produce. That means careful attention to all aspects of the winemaking process, from the vineyard to the glass. The ultimate objective is to produce wines that can compete against the world's best, regardless of varietal, origin or price."