Other than the camera angle, can you spot the difference?👈🏼The left side was the old way, only spring 2019. Remove competition from the vines through chemical or mechanical intervention so that all water, heat and nutrients only feed the grapes.👉🏼The right side is the current way that we manage the vines and the soil and ecosystem in which they reside. Encouraging and feeding ground cover to keep the heat from drying our soils leads to less irrigation, especially as we are in a current drought. These “weeds” also capture some of the nutrients that may otherwise leech out of the...

An update from Brett Thiessen - Manager of Viticulture On our 80 acre property that is directly on the Similkameen river bank, we are planning to remove the original posts, wires and vines that are serving no purpose to us. These were put there by previous owners, but it is now apparent to us this cold spot on a floodplain is on a very sensitive riparian zone. Currently, we have a deer fence blocking wildlife traffic in an important area and infrastructure that is just taking up space where we would rather restore habitat than grow grapes. Not only do...

Mt. Boucherie Estate Winery is excited to welcome Brett Thiessen as their Manager of Viticulture to oversee all of the winery’s vineyards in the Okanagan and Similkameen. Brett brings a wealth of experience in organic and biodynamic viticulture and will be working with the teams at both Mt. Boucherie Estate Winery and sister-winery Rust Wine Co. to implement sustainable, organic growing practices. Having been raised on a cattle ranch in Alberta, farming was not on Brett’s list of career aspirations early on, however, after years of working in the restaurant industry, wine became an irresistible passion. While managing a wine...