The Fraser Valley’s sparkling future

Cannon Estate is among the wineries defining the region

Cannon Estate Winery brings an elegant note to Fraser Valley farm country. Photo courtesy of Cannon Estate Winery

While the Okanagan is typically the destination of choice for B.C. wine enthusiasts, a handful of boutique wineries in the Fraser Valley are offering a quality experience that’s closer to home for most. Here, visitors can find everything from the casual atmosphere at Backyard Vineyards in Aldergrove to the eclectic ambience in a chapel setting at Seaside Pearl Farmgate Winery in Abbotsford, and the rustic equestrian vibe at nearby Singletree Winery.

However, one vineyard stands out for its elegant experience: Cannon Estate Winery.

“ ‘Rustic elegance’ is the phrase we have used before to describe it,” says Jacob Medeiros, winemaker and vineyard manager at Cannon.

The winery is owned by Justin and Andi Manuel, who purchased the 20-acre lot on a whim a decade ago. Having spent their summers in the Okanagan, they decided to bring that wine culture to the Fraser Valley, about an hour’s drive from Vancouver.

Jacob Medeiros is both winemaker and vineyard manager at Cannon Estate Winery. Photo courtesy of Cannon Estate Winery

Cool climate wines

Set against the picturesque backdrop of rows upon rows of vines, with their family home visible in the distance and the Coastal Mountains lining the horizon, the winery has a contemporary yet inviting atmosphere.

The Manuels first opened their cellar and tasting room in 2022. Two years later, they opened Calibre by Cannon, a stylish restaurant adorned with huge arched windows, lounge seating, checkered floors and a menu that could rival that of most city restaurants.

To develop their wine program, they brought in French viticulturalist Patrick Blandin to assess the land’s terroir and develop the growing and winemaking program from scratch.

The Fraser Valley is renowned for its agriculture, especially berry production, though it is less well-known for wine-growing. It is considered a cool-climate growing region, characterized by a mild maritime climate, heavy rainfall, and a long growing season. These conditions, combined with the area’s silty soil, make it ideal for cultivating hybrid grape varieties such as Bacchus, Reichensteiner and Siegerrebe, as well as vinifera varieties like Pinot Noir and Gewürztraminer.

Blandin planted 16 varieties across 12.4 acres, including many of the aforementioned types as well as more obscure varieties such as Petit Milo and L’Acadie Blanc. He also helped establish the two different wine brands: The Wick and Cannon. The Wick is more experimental in its approach, comprising cheerful blends of unusual and rare grapes, while Cannon is more traditional and refined, based on French techniques and styles. (Both brands also use some grapes from the Okanagan Valley in their blends.)

In 2024, Blandin moved on, handing the reins over to Medeiros.

“The biggest thing that he taught me was that the focus of winemaking should not be in the cellar. The focus of winemaking should be in the vineyard because it’s impossible to make good wine from bad grapes,” says Medeiros. “His philosophy was a little antithetical to the modern North American winemaking style, where you have a viticulturalist or a vineyard manager and a winemaker as separate roles.”

Taking on the responsibility, Medeiros, who was still relatively new to the winemaking world, felt some feelings of imposter syndrome, but he embraced the challenge. Unfortunately, the 2024 vintage—his first—was limited due to the cold snap that wiped much of the Okanagan’s grape yield. Rather than bottling the wine for themselves, Cannon decided to sell much of the vintage to Okanagan winemakers in need. The move, says Medeiros, yielded them a lot of goodwill within the industry.

Calibre, the winery’s restaurant, serves a Mediteranean-inspired menu of wine-country favourites. Photo courtesy of Cannon Estate Winery

Sparkling potential

Before joining Cannon, Medeiros studied chemical biology at UBC, where he was introduced to the science of winemaking by Dr. David MacArthur. He began working at Chaberton Estate Winery in Langley and later pursued his master’s degree in viticulture at Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute.

While studying, he worked at Two Sisters Vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake, where he was introduced to Italian wine styles, particularly sparkling and red wines. He also collaborated with Dr. Belinda Kemp at Brock University, who specializes in sparkling wine.

After completing his master’s degree, Medeiros decided to move back to B.C. and continued to work at Chaberton until Blandin invited him to join Cannon.

His experience in Ontario rubbed off on Medeiros, who believes that sparkling wine has a big future in the Fraser Valley. He points to Township 7’s Sirius sparkling wine brand, which has received international acclaim, as a prime example of the region’s potential.

Cannon’s wine list already features several sparkling wines, including a Lambrusco-style sparkling red made with estate-grown Gamay Noir, Marquette and Marechal Foch (2023 The Wick Sparkling Red) and a white blend that incorporates Siegerrebe, Osceola Muscat, L’Acadie Blanc and Petit Milo (2023 The Wick Sparkling White). The Cannon lineup also includes more traditional sparkling styles.

“My personal goal is to make sparkling wine something synonymous with the Fraser Valley,” says Medeiros. “The soil, the vigour that we have in the vines, the vine varieties that are planted in the region already, and the ones that will be planted in the future. A lot of that works very well for sparkling wine.”