Penticton’s TIME Winery celebrated its one-year anniversary at its Martin Street location on Friday with live music, food and, of course, wine!
“I want to take the opportunity to thank everyone in the room, starting with our phenomenal team at TIME Winery over the years. From the winemaking team, to the kitchen, front of house and administration,” said Harry McWatters, CEO of the winery during his speech on July 12. “We wouldn’t be standing here today without the major contribution and commitment from all of them to make this happen. It takes a lot of hours to make a business like this function, and we really appreciate the talent of all of our team.”
“I remember when Harry was up in Summerland at the first winery in this area in the early 70s. And he was in the kitchen, washing dishes and pots, and cleaning the bathroom – all the stuff that restaurant owners do when they can’t get enough reliable staff,” said Mayor John Vassilaki. “I congratulate you on this beautiful winery in our downtown area, and that’s what we need more of in the City of Penticton – guys like you that always strive to go ahead. So I want to congratulate you, not only on your first anniversary, but on your next 25 to 30 because you’ll probably be here that long.”
The winery moved into the building at 361 Martin St., after taking on the major renovation of transforming what was once the city’s movie theatre into a full-service restaurant and winery. The winery used their anniversary open house to officially launch their latest creation, a sparkling wine titled TIME Winery Brut.
A release from the winery states that this is the first sparkling wine that winemaker Graham Pierce has ever done, while McWatters was the first in Canada to release a premium bottle fermented sparkline wine.
“TIME brut it our first sparkling wine, but we’ll have a number of them that will follow as an entourage. Some of them are bottled now so they may be released in time for Christmas. If not, then certainly by this time next year,” said McWatters. “It’s nice to get this one-year milestone behind us. And I’m hoping that the first year is the toughest, and the road will get a little easier as we go forward. I’m not new to the wine business, but taking an old building that we’ve revonated is not without its challenges. But we had a talented group of people help us with the design and construction. So we owe a lot of people a debt of gratitude.”
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<>Jordyn Thomson | Reporter
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