There were a lot of smiles at Road 13 Vineyards in Oliver the past few days after the winery was named Top Winery in B.C. at the Wine Align National Wine Awards competition. Some of the key members of the winning team of employees include (from left) sales associate Braden Stanley, sales associate Kate White, head winemaker Jeff Del Nin, order desk manager Gail Anderson, managing partner Joe Luckhurst, his wife Laura and daughter Farley, assistant winemaker Philip Glazebrook, cellar manager Simon Bleich, cellar hand Cheryl Graham, cellar hand Audrey Friendship, cellar hand Sid Vereecken and hospitality and marketing manager Lindsey White. (Keith Lacey photo)
The number 13 has long been considered unlucky, but don’t tell that to the ironically named Luckhurst family now that their Road 13 Vineyards has been named Top Winery in British Columbia.
Road 13 Vineyards, which is owned by the husband and wife team of Mick and Pam Luckhurst and their son Joe, whose official title is managing partner, made a spectacular showing at the prestigious Wine Align 2017 National Wine Awards of Canada.
The longtime winery, which is located on Road 13 between Oliver and Osoyoos, was not only named Top Winery in Canada, but finished fourth in the voting for Top Winery in Canada.
They also brought home a Platinum Award for its Road 13 Vineyards 2014 Similkameen Collective GSM brand, which was one of 14 awards it collected at the national wine awards.
This year’s National Wine Awards received 1,700 entries from 242 different wineries. Road 13 Vineyard was awarded platinum for the 2014 Similkameen Collective GSM – a red blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre.
“When you enter these big awards competitions, you always want to win and it’s obviously very exciting to be named the top winery in all of B.C.” said Joe Luckhurst, who leads a team of 35 employees at Road 13. “There are so many great wineries in this province and to be named the very best winery is something we’re all very proud of.”
Road 13 has finished in the Top 10 B.C. wineries in the annual Wine Align awards for the past nine years, but has never been named the best and it’s an honour to be recognized by your peers in the industry, he said.
“We just found out last Friday and we’ll certainly be doing something special to celebrate, but we’re right in the heart of tourist season in our tasting room, so we’ll put off the celebration until a little bit later in the summer,” he said.
His parents purchased Road 13 Vineyards and its 23 acres of vines 14 years ago from the Serwo family as they fulfilled a dream to get into the winemaking industry, even though they knew little about it after a successful career in the lumber and building supply business in B.C. and Alberta.
“They owned a summer house on Osoyoos Lake and just loved the area,” said their proud son. “They became all enchanted with the idea of farming … and owning their own winery. They put the wheels in motion and it culminated with them buying this winery and opening this business.”
After living in Seattle for a few years, Joe came back to visit his family and was brought into the wine industry by his parents five years ago and became the managing partner three years ago.
“My Dad likes to joke that he now gets to do the fun stuff like drive the tractor and run the vineyards and I’m stuck doing the stressful stuff like running the tasting room and the overall business, but it’s something I’ve grown to love so everybody is happy.”
The key to success at Road 13 is hiring good people and having great grapes to grow award-winning wine, he said.
“As they say in the wine industry, it all comes down to the dirt,” he said. “You can take the best winemaker in the world and he won’t be able to produce great wine with bad grapes.
“All the credit goes to the grapes. My parents did their homework when they bought the place and knew they would have access to great grapes … and that has certainly been the most important key to our success.
“My parents wanted to be on the Golden Mile because it’s pretty well known in the industry that the best grapes are being grown here.”
Hiring hard-working and committed staff members in all areas of the operation is also crucial and the team of three-dozen employees who work in the vineyards, tasting room and winemaking operations all share in winning this prestigious award, he said.
While the list of people to thank is too long, Lockhurst did say head winemaker Jeff Del Nin, assistant winemaker Philip Glazebrook, chief vitaculturalist Scott Stefishen and his parents must be singled out for their professionalism in making Road 13 one of the best wineries in the country.
The fact Road 13 captured 13 medals at the national competition – including three gold, three silver and six bronze on top of the one platinum medal – is almost as exciting as being named top winery in British Columbia, he said.
“We have a very large portofolio of wines … in the neighbourhood of 23 varities and we will be looking to reduce that number,” he said. “But to win 13 medals against the top wineries in Canada is very satisfying because it shows a commitment to quality across the entire portfolio.”
Many wineries from the South Okanagan have captured top awards, including Nk’Mip Cellars in Osoyoos winning the Top Winery in Canada during the same national wine awards a year ago, and it has been rewarding to see many competitors send best wishes and notes of congratulations on winning this competition, said Luckhurst.
“There’s good camaraderie amongst most of the wineries and we try and work together and collaborate very well for the most part,” he said.
Road 13 employees will remain committed to producing excellent wine and hopefully this won’t be the last time the winery wins national and provincial acclaim, he said.
Redstone Winery from Beamsville, Ont. was named Top Winery in Canada during the 2017 national awards competition, followed by Thirty Bench Wine Makers, also from Beamsville, and Tawse Winery, from Vineland near Niagara Falls.
Mission Hills Family Estate Winery in West Kelowna finished fifth and captured four gold, three silver and six bronze medals.
Quail’s Gate Estate Winery from West Kelowna finished sixth and captured four gold medals, four silver and five bronze.
Burrowing Owl Estate Winery from Oliver finished seventh and captured one platinum, two gold, one silver and one bronze medal.
La Frenz Estate Winery in Penticton finished 10th and captured one platinum medal, one gold, six silver and eight bronze.
Meyer Family Vineyards in Okanagan Falls finished 12th in Canada, capturing three gold medals, six silver and three bronze.
Bench 1775 Winery on Naramata Road in Penticton finished 13th, winning one platinum medal, one gold, three silver and three bronze.
Inniskillin Okanagan Vineyards in Oliver finished 15th, winning one platinum award, one gold, two silver and one bronze.
Lake Breeze Vineyards on Sammet Road in Naramata finished 16th, winning one platinum award, eight silver and two bronze.
Nk’Mip Cellars, finished 19th, winning two gold, three silver and six bronze medals.
Wild Goose Vineyards from Okanagan Falls finished 22nd, winning two gold, two silver and three bronze medals.
Daydreamer Wines on Smethhurst Road in Naramata finished 23rd, winning two gold, two silver and three bronze medals.
Laughing Stock Vineyards, located on Naramata Road in Penticton, finished 25th, winning two gold and two silver medals.
For all of the results, visit www.winealign.com.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
