Bruce Fuller, who loves to write, pounds away at an antique typewriter as he ponders his future. (Dan Walton photo)
The man at the helm of Rustico Farm and Cellars is getting ready to ride off into the sunset, literally.
Bruce Fuller, the cowboy-clad founder and proprietor of Rustico, is moving on after nearly a decade spent crafting the vineyard into a Wild West winery.
“There was a history here that was important to be recognized and picking up on it helped us to position ourselves in a memorable way,” he said.
That old days identity that became a part of Rustico was engineered by Fuller.
He based the business’s concept on a combination of real life and fiction – a mix of pop culture’s depiction of the cattle-lassoing, revolver-packing horsemen who conquered the American Frontier, along with the true history of the Okanagan’s early settlers.
He gained an intimate understanding of this area’s long and rich history after serving four years as a director with the Oliver & District Heritage Society.
Come high noon at Rustico – when it was time to wet the whistle, Fuller would host his guests in a saloon fit for a cowboy.
“We don’t want our guests to guzzle and go,” he said. “I’m not into that – it’s wrong. We always say in cowboy culture, ‘take it easy, enjoy.’ We want to give the guest an experience that’s a little different, so when you leave here, you’ve had fun.”
It’s difficult to find any modern technologies around the Rustico homestead – it’s a place of agriculture that’s predominantly sprinkled with furnishings of the Old South.
“It’s old-fashioned looking, it’s funky, the wines are good, you can have a big picnic outside and a roaring fire, you can have lots of fun and lots of laughs and go away with a memory.”
Since taking over in 2007, Fuller has made a home out of the Rustico headquarters, which is a cozy log cabin-style residence that was originally built in the 19th century as a bunkhouse for miners.
When it was first built, the bunkhouse sat two-and-a-half hours away from its current location at Sally Silver Mine.
Log by log, through the tricky Anarchist Mountain switchback roads, and with nothing more than a Volkswagen truck and trailer – it was finally relocated in 1963 to where it stands today on Golden Mile Drive located between Oliver and Osoyoos.
The home was then given a new roof made out of sod, which had been cut out of the neighbouring mountainside.
After being taken back in time by a visit to Rustico, visitors who take home a bottle of wine get to enjoy much more than the delectable tastes of their reds and whites.
“When they take the product home they have a memory,” said Fuller. “Take a wine home with you from your travels, wherever home is, you put a bottle on the table in front of your guests, and you have a whole experience to talk about with them.”
Fuller said almost everybody seems to enjoy Rustico’s theme and he noticed that Europeans seem to be the most fascinated, followed closely by guests from the USA and the Canadian Prairies “Cowboy culture starts when you’re a child,” he said proudly.
One of Rustico’s flavours is a Pinot Noir called Doc’s Buggy, which was inspired by an old-fashioned medical practice. Back in the day, it was common for a doctor to make house calls, whereby travelling to the patient’s home for treatment was commonplace.
“So Doc’s Buggy is a wine that pairs well with any food,” he explained. “It’s a versatile wine because it meant you could make house calls. You could go visit anybody you like for dinner and feel safe bringing a bottle of pinot noir – it goes well with pretty much whatever the host might be serving.”
In the 1800s, it was common for a Texas cowboy to start his career at the age of 14, Fuller said. By the time they reached the Canadian border, they would usually be at least 18 at that point, “So they were trail-hardened.”
And while the young cowboys weren’t restricted by any laws regarding a drinking age, wine wasn’t very accessible in North America.
“When those young cowboys showed up at a saloon in Osoyoos they’d have been drinking whiskey.”
Reflecting upon his tenure, Fuller said the team at Rustico has succeeded very well here in delivering his dream.
“Everything that we thought would happen, happened.”
But they never figured on a wildfire potentially wiping out the entire farm in the summer of 2015.
Despite high winds pushing the fire up to his fence, Fuller stayed behind and grabbed a bottle of wine appropriately titled “Last Chance” (to give him a bit of courage).
But luckily Mother Nature showed some mercy and spared the ranch that night. She also didn’t want to tangle with the likes of the Oliver Fire Department.
As far as Fuller is concerned, the winery still has potential to become even more impressive.
“I want to still be here and continue to build the brand,” he said. “I would have liked very much for the brand to have evolved a little bit more.”
The new owners are planning to rebrand the business and Fuller hopes it will not become “just another winery.”
As he explores his options for the future, Fuller ultimately hopes to continue as a player in the local wine industry.
“We’re pretty tight, our group,” he said of the wineries and vineyards around the South Okanagan.
Oh well, come on, horse, it’s time to go.
DAN WALTON
Regional Reporter
