The castle at Road 13 is no more.

Farewell to the castle

In what might be bittersweet news to some, what was likely the Okanagan Valley’s kitschiest tasting room is no more. That’s right: The castle at Road 13 Vineyards has been demolished.

Road 13 originally opened as Golden Mile Cellars, back in 1998, in a building designed to resemble a 17th century Bavarian castle. Mick and Pam Luckhurst purchased it in 2003 and, while they added vineyards, increased production, changed the name (in 2008) and hired a series of some of the valley’s most talented winemakers, the castle continued to stand. By the time Anthony Von Mandl bought the winery in 2018, it was looking more than a little worse for wear. A sleek new tasting room was built and, finally, over the last year or so, the castle came down. No word yet on what will go in its place.

Meanwhile, Road 13 has hired a new winemaker, Dominic McCosker, who was already the red winemaker at Mission Hill Family Estate and has an impressive resumé—among other things, while he was senior winemaker at La Frenz Winery, it was three times named Canada’s best performing small winery at the National Wine Awards.

TWO TO TRY:

Road 13 Select Harvest GSM (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre)
(Okanagan Valley, $45) Bold, peppery, plush red and black fruit, supple and pretty.

Road 13 John Oliver Syrah 2020
(Okanagan Valley BC, $80) Inky, lush, intense black and blue berries, spice, structure.

Spearhead’s success

Winemaker Grant Stanley came to Canada in 2003 from his native New Zealand (with a stop in Oregon along the way) in pursuit of Pinot Noir perfection. Now it seems he’s pretty much reached his goal. After stints at Quails’ Gate and 50th Parallel, he is now the winemaker and general manager at Spearhead Winery, which in late July was named the Winery of the Year at the 2024 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada.

In fact, the winery, which produces fewer than 10,000 cases a year, took home 12 medals (three platinum, one gold, five silver and three bronze) as well as recognition as the country’s Best Performing Small Winery and Winery of the Year. It was one of the biggest medal hauls in the awards’ history. Among Spearhead’s winning wines were eight Pinot Noirs, including the three platinum winners: 2022 Pommard Clone, 2022 Saddle Block and 2022 Club Consensus. All their wines are made in ultra-limited quantities, proving the dictum that sometimes less is indeed more.

Facebook.com/KismetWines photo

New bistro at Kismet

Its fans were bereft at the end of 2023 when the much-loved Masala Bistro at Kismet Estate Winery closed. But now there’s reason to rejoice: The Dhaliwal family that owns the winery has opened a new restaurant, Manzil, in its place. They have completely transformed the space and offer a shared-plates menu that travels the Indian subcontinent with detours into local flavours and ingredients. It’s all very wine country, with lots of snacks and savoury bites, as well as intriguing dishes like sablefish curry, Indian mushroom risotto and spice-marinated Dover sole, plus, of course, Kismet’s delicious wines.

New chef at Liquidity

The Restaurant at Liquidity Wines has one of the most beautiful dining rooms and perhaps the best view in the entire Okanagan Valley. But over the last few years it’s been closed more often than it has been open, and even then only offered a limited experience. Now it seems to have re-opened—properly—under the leadership of chef de cuisine Josh Mueller. He was previously sous chef at Mission Hill and worked at Vancouver’s Bauhaus Restaurant and Wedgwood Hotel, among others, and brings meticulous craftsmanship to local, seasonal ingredients. We couldn’t be more thrilled.

As summer was winding down, Liquidity was offering wine-paired, set-menu lunches and dinners; check the website to see what they’re doing for fall.

Vitis Magazine

Vitis is is an indispensable seasonal guide for vintners, sommeliers and weekend imbibers alike that is dedicated to British Columbia’s rapidly evolving wine culture.