Harry McWatters finds a new place in BC’s wine business

Harry McWatters is promoting a new line-up of wines

For many years Harry McWatters played a role as one of the burgeoning B.C. wine industries most influential founders. Not only had he started Summerland’s Sumac Ridge winery, he remained the company’s CEO until retiring from his post in 2008 and forming the Vintage Consulting Group. During those Sumac days running a growing wine business wasn’t enough though for McWatters. He was a driving force behind the VQA (Vintner’s Quality Alliance) certification, which helped the local industry build a reputation for playing in the big leagues.

McWatters also helped to broker the entry of the Vincorp company into the Okanagan, selling Sumac Ridge to the company in 2000, and subsequently cutting deals to either partner or buy wineries up and down the Valley. He also knew how to play big league politics, becoming a close ally of B.C.’s Premier, as well as becoming a founding Chair of the province’s biggest wine industry association, the BC Wine Institute. His bio lists even more accomplishments here.

Harry McWatters has played a huge part in making wine an important commodity and cornerstone of British Columbia’s tourism and agriculture industries. Now he is stepping back into the public limelight with his own wine label, aptly named “McWatters Collection” (Twitter: @McWattersWine).

BCWineLover was invited to partake of a delightful lunchtime wine tasting last month at the lovely West Restaurant on Vancouver’s South Granville strip. Harry joined us and provided some background on how he negotiated the Meritage blend designation for Canadian wineries (he made the simple argument that Canada was part of North America, and Meritage needed NOT only be a US-only wine designation).

McWatters’ initial offering – Meritage 2007 – is a lush, classic south Okanagan red. Coming up behind (soon, we hope) are more reds in Harry’s line-up. At our West visit we sipped a newer Meritage, a straight varietal Merlot & Cabernet Sauvignon, none of which are presently available for release.

Just a week or so after the McWatters launch in Vancouver, Stacey and I had the pleasure to dine in Summerland, BC’s Local Lounge & Bistro (Twitter: @LocalLounge). The connection is a strong one to McWatters, as Harry’s daughter Christa-Lee McWatters Bond is one of the restaurant’s founding proprietors. It’s a welcome upgrade to dining in the central Okanagan, with a spectacular menu, an outstanding BC wine selection, and a waterfront location on Lake Okanagan – see photo of the restaurant exterior.

It was a treat for us to meet Christa-Lee at her establishment. We ordered a bottle of – what else? – McWatters Meritage 2007 to pair with our meals. It was an evening where we could raise a glass to the impressive legacy of Harry McWatters.

Here is a short interview we did with Harry in early 2010.

For some photos from our lunch at West see our Flickr page.

– post by Mike Klassen (@MikeKlassen). Mike is currently a Vancouver city council candidate for the November 19th municipal election.