Larch Hills Winery

Larch Hills Winery is a land-based, family run vineyard and winery, owned by Jack and Hazel Manser. All our product is proudly made from 100% British Columbia grapes, either from our main vineyard just south of Salmon Arm (also the location of the winery and our home), or from contracted vineyards farther south in the Okanagan Valley. All our wines are made and bottled on our premises at Salmon Arm. We specialize in cool climate grape growing, and have varieties that are generally not available in other parts of BC. We think this makes our wines unique.

In 1987, the land was total bush. No-one had grown European varietal wine grapes this far north before. In 1992, after experimenting to find the right types of grape for our climate, we began planting in earnest. We now grow all European varietals - ORTEGA, MADELEINE ANGEVINE, MADELEINE SYLVANER and SIEGERREBE are our whites, and AGRIA is our red. PINOT NOIR, GEWURZTRAMINER, FOCH, and MERLOT are sourced from our contract vineyards. All grapes are crushed, processed, and the wine made right on our premises. We opened our winery in April 1997 with a small release of what has become a signature wine for us -- Ortega (vintage 1995). Since then, our vineyards have developed to full production, and we have been able to add many other varieties to our list of releases.

Granite Creek Estate Wines is a family owned vineyard and winery located in one of the Canada’s most northern growing areas, Tappen, British Columbia. It is slightly north of the famed German wine region of the Rheingau.

Our mission is to produce the highest quality wines from our northern varieties. Longer season varieties have been chosen from the best locations throughout the Okanagan from our contract vineyards to complement our portfolio. All of our wines are made at our winery here in Tappen.

Heather and Gary Kennedy are long time residents of the estate. Heather with strong background in horticulture and Gary, an agricultural engineer, have farmed the property since 1959.

Mayka and Doug Kennedy began winemaking at home and their enthusiasm let them to explore the wine regions of Europe. Mayka’s degree in chemistry and chemical engineering are a strong asset in understanding the technical side of winemaking. Her skills are complemented by Doug’s management experience.

All of the owners Heather, Gary, Doug and Mayka have a love of wine.

The watchful eye of Gary Strachan has mentored the family through the establishment of their first vineyard, the acquisition of the equipment and their first fermentations. Strachan is a veteran with over 25 years of technical experience in British Columbia’s growing wine industry. He is a former agriculture Canada research scientist who returned to the private sector and has assisted the establishment of many of BC’s impressive new wineries.

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