Summerland Wine Tour

Fruit of one kind or another has grown here since 1901. Their family first came to this quiet site south of Peachland, north of Summerland, in the 1940s, and memories of peaches tasted here led them to a 1994 purchase of what was then an abandoned orchard. They trucked away load after load of things like old tires and broken refrigerators, eventually planted vines, and re-established this land’s proud agricultural tradition.

“Haywire” is an old Canadianism that refers to the wire used for baling hay. This type of wire tended to tangle and be unpredictable, making it an apt description of Christine Coletta and Steve Lornie’s impromptu decision to forgo retirement and journey into the wine business.

The pair first launched Haywire in 2009 as a tiny virtual wine brand. In 2011, a permanent home for Haywire was established on Switchback Vineyard in Summerland with the opening of Okanagan Crush Pad. Haywire offers lively, texture-driven wines, most of which are vineyard-designated using grapes from their three vineyards.

Their story is one that has been etched out of tradition and flavoured with passion. It is the story of a love affair that began in 1783 when Christian Schales planted his first grapes in the small Rheinhessen Village of Dalsheim. And today, 8 generations later, the story continues in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. Armed with generations of winemaking and grape growing experience behind them and his grandfather’s winepress, Bernd and Stefanie Schales left Germany in May 2003 in search of a new adventure and a new chapter for their next generation.

Sounds like a fairytale so far? Well, that all changed when they bought our first 11-acre vineyard property 3 weeks later in Okanagan Falls. They moved into the house, grew the grapes & sold them to different wineries in the Okanagan while we learned about the hot summers, cool nights and sometimes frigid winter conditions here in Canada. But the farming concept worked for the next couple of years till (in the view of our neighbour) "these crazy kids" got a bit bored and mingled with the idea of starting a winery.

They acquired the Summerland property in 2007 (which included 7 acres of vineyard and the winery warehouse) and processed their first vintage 5 weeks later. 8th Generation is a hands-on and true Family winery.

Haywire Winery's exclusive, members-only vineyard is nestled within Garnett Valley. An absolutely stunning location to end your tour!