32056 Highway 97
Oliver, BC
In 1990, at the age of 30, Adrian Capeneata, who had been a restaurant manager in his native Romania, came to Canada in search of a better life. An instinctive entrepreneur, he started by working in a Montreal restaurant and, on the side, selling cars that he bought at auction and repaired.
Coming to Vancouver, he developed a business selling equipment to fitness centres. He discovered the Okanagan’s beauty during a vacation, started looking for vineyard property and, in 2006, bought a former lavender farm with good highway frontage south of Oliver. He’s not new to vines; his family in Romania once owned 18 hectares of grapes.
In the Okanagan, he has planted cabernet franc, merlot and pinot gris, and has built a handsome 600-square-metre winery, right beside busy Highway 97.