Photo by Voth Photography
Heritage and innovation:
An interview with Harry McWatters
Interview by Sylvia Jansen, Sommelier( ISG, CMS), CSW
To call Harry McWatters a leader in the British Columbia wine industry is an understatement. He has been involved in the B. C. wine scene for more than 40 years. Harry was the driving force in the now hugely successful Okanagan Wine Festival; he helped to pioneer the Canadian VQA certification system; he was founder of B. C.’ s first estate winery, Sumac Ridge Estate Winery in 1980; and he founded See Ya Later Ranch Estate Winery in 1995. Since his“ retirement” from Sumac Ridge Estate and Vincor Canada, he has established Vintage Consulting Group Inc. and the Okanagan Wine Academy. He is currently involved in the McWatters Collection wine project, producing a small production Meritage from the Sundial Vineyard on the Black Sage Bench in the southern Okanagan. Sylvia Jansen spoke with him as he was returning home from a wine tour in New Zealand.
Sylvia Jansen( SJ) Harry, today your name is synonymous with everything great about Canadian and B. C. wine. What was the moment you first realized you were a wine lover?
Harry McWatters( HM) My mother pointed out that at three years old, I would sip wine from other people’ s cups! I lived in an Italian neighbourhood when I grew up, and as a good neighbour, my mother would bake for others. We received wine in return, so it was normal for us to have jugs of Italian wine in our root cellar! I just grew up with wine. When I was 16 years old, I began making my own wine. It was not the beverage most 16 year olds were drinking, and it was not great at first, but it got better!
SJ One of your current projects is an Okanagan Meritage. The concept of Meritage is an interesting one— could you explain?
HM A Meritage wine can be red or white, but must be made from Bordeaux grape varieties( blends of mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc for reds, with white wines, using blends of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Muscadelle). No single variety can occupy more than 90 % of the blend. A Meritage should be the best that you can do, and in fact I have never tasted anything labelled“ Meritage” that disappointed me.
In 2013, the Meritage Association will be celebrating its 25th anniversary. It was originally developed in the United States to pay tribute to“ New World” wines that were made from noble Bordeaux varieties. [ Ed note:“ Meritage”
It is the responsibility of the retailer and restaurateur to help their customers understand the difference between VQA wines and non-appellation wines.
is an invented term; it is the blend of the words merit and age and rhymes with heritage.] Twenty years ago, I was the first to use“ Meritage” outside the United States. At that time, the term Meritage could only be applied to American wine. When I talked to the Meritage Association about being allowed to use it in Canada, they rejected our application because it was not“ American.” So I called them and asked if they had a map on hand. They did. I said,“ What’ s that pink part above the United States?” He said,“ Yes, I see it, it’ s Canada.” So I said that Canada is part of North America. I also argued that the benefit of bringing the term to Canada was that we would bring Meritage into our VQA standards. That way, any wine being proposed as a Meritage wine would have to go through the VQA tasting panel, and have an assured quality designation. My argument was also that we in Canada would not be inventing another competing term, but rather we would be reinforcing their concept. Our application was eventually successful and now in Canada you cannot market a wine labelled“ Meritage” unless it is VQA.“ Meritage” is recognized as a quality wine blend and in fact it can now be used by any winery in the New World.
In the Okanagan, particularly out of the south, Meritage can be great. We see hotter temperatures there, with a lot of ripeness in the flavours. In a good year, we can ripen both Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, which are later crops.
SJ What’ s the difference between the south Okanagan and the north?
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