3628 HWY 3 East
Osoyoos, BC
A chartered accountant, Beata Tolley explains that she and her husband, Chris (a software engineer), do not like taking risks. Before these former Calgarians began making wine in the Okanagan in 2004, they both studied for a year at the Lincoln University wine school in New Zealand.
Only then did they purchase an orchard and former fruit stand in Osoyoos. They have set themselves apart by planting varieties hardly anyone else grows in the Okanagan: tannat (the red of Uruguay), carmenère, tempranillo, roussanne, marsanne, viognier and corvina (the grape of Valpolicella and amarone).
The winery released its first tempranillo from the 2007 vintage and vinified its first corvina grapes in 2008. It purchases mainstream varieties for its other wines. In 2008, the winery launched its Second Crossing label for value-priced wines.