OKANAGAN CENTRE, B.C. — For George and Trudy Heiss, making wine has never been about getting rich or famous. It’s been about doing what you love.
The Heiss family loves to make wine, make people happy — and make people laugh. The quality of wine at our 2008 British Columbia Winery of the Year speaks for itself.
In the 1960s, long before they caught the winemaking bug, George and Trudy were well-known hair stylists in Edmonton, Alberta. Trudy’s father, Hugo Peter, was growing grapes in the Okanagan Valley, so they decided to change the direction their lives were going and moved to British Columbia. They considered many farming alternatives before deciding on wine grapes.
They found property next to Peter in Okanagan Centre, about 10 miles north of Kelowna, and began planting their vineyard in 1972.
At first, they planted Maréchal Foch, a French hybrid that was quite popular then in British Columbia — not for its quality but for its quantity. George never cared much for the grape, so the couple turned to classic European wine grapes, including Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer and Auxerrois.
In 1982, the Heisses opened Gray Monk. They got the name from Trudy’s native Austria, which calls Pinot Gris “Grauar Mönch.” Translated, the grayish-colored grape is known as “gray monk.” The Heisses were part of a group that fought to open the province to estate or “cottage” wineries. Such wineries needed to have 20 acres of land, could sell up to 50 percent of their grape production and could make no more than 30,000 gallons of wine per year.
Today, no such rules exist. And back then, there were fewer than 10 wineries in the Okanagan Valley. Today, it’s closing in on 150.
George shakes his head when he thinks about the number of wineries.
“Honestly, we didn’t have a clue what was going to happen to this valley. It was so new that nobody really knew.”
Today, the second generation of Heisses is deeply involved.
George Jr. trained as a winemaker in Germany for four years. He returned home in 1984 and has been responsible for the Gray Monk wines since.
Bob, the Heisses’ eldest son, oversees the winery’s daily operation. And the youngest son, Steven, looks after inventory and shipping and deals with various liquor boards in different provinces.
They make 21 different wines, ranging from Merlots and Pinot Noirs to a Kerner dessert wine. By far, the most popular wine is Gray Monk’s flagship, Pinot Gris. Customers also gravitate toward the Latitude 50 series. Named for the winery’s northerly climes, the red, white and rosé wines are fresh, fruit-driven and moderately priced.
Gray Monk is one of the few wineries in B.C. to have made headway in distributing its wines south of the border, and has steady sales in Washington. About 90 percent of its wines are sold in British Columbia and Alberta, with a little bit getting as far as Manitoba and Saskachewan. But it doesn’t have enough wine left for any of the eastern provinces.
About 15 percent of its 70,000 cases are sold through the popular tasting room and adjacent restaurant, the Grapevine Restaurant and Patio.
The restaurant opened a half-dozen years ago and gazes upon Gray Monk’s vineyard, Okanagan Lake and the surrounding valley. Willi Franz and Rene Haudenschild are highly regarded chefs in Kelowna and oversee the kitchen. Willi’s wife, Marie, runs the hospitality side of the restaurant.
In the cellar with George Jr. are Brent Drought, who has been at Gray Monk for 26 years; and Roger Wong, a highly regarded winemaker who worked at Pinot Reach and focuses on red wines.
In addition to making high-quality, modestly priced wines, the owners of Gray Monk are famous for enjoying life and cracking jokes. George Sr. is always ready with a new one, often aimed at Québécois.
“They’re easy targets” he said with his trademark belly laugh. “If you can’t laugh, you might as well bury me.”
* Gray Monk Estate Winery, 1055 Camp Road, Okanagan Centre, B.C., 250-766-3168, www.graymonk.com.
Print
E-Mail
