6206 Canyon View Rd.
Summerland, BC
This fruit winery has evolved from the business of Summerland Sweets, one of the Okanagan’s oldest food processors. The company was started in 1962 by Dr. Ted Atkinson, a legendary research scientist at the Summerland Research Centre, to produce natural candy and snacks with Okanagan fruit.
His family, which still operates the company, has expanded the range to include gourmet conserves and fruit syrups. The business operates from a country store at the edge of Summerland, attracting about 20,000 visitors a year.
To take advantage of that ready-made market, general manager Len Filek, whose wife is Atkinson’s granddaughter, added the winery, dedicating a separate tasting room with the store. Winemaker Ron Taylor has crafted a large selection of fruit wines, including a pumpkin table wine and “pumpkin pie” dessert wine. There is a long waiting list for those wines.