All the Pretty Horses Farm & Vineyard
- Keremeos, Similkameen Valley, BC
First and foremost we are farmers. Organic farmers. A majority of our time, energy, stress and joy is spent in the vineyard. The process of winemaking is our reward at the end of a successful growing season.
The vineyard sits on a bank overlooking the ancient Similkameen River, that cuts and winds through the steep and narrow valley. Due to the tall surrounding mountains, and the reflectivity of the rock, heat remains in the valley long after the sun sets. The valley is arid with persistent winds that can reduce the moisture in the vines and soil. The wind does minimize mildew and other pests, requiring much less passes for spraying, and making organic viticulture much easier to keep up with.
The soil consists of gravelly, silty and sandy loam on the flatter Northside. The southern side slopes down towards the valley and river, the soil here contains pockets of clay and huge ancient river stones.
Only two weeks after purchasing the vineyard, the entire valley was met with never before seen sudden cold temperatures down to -30 and below, causing permanent damage and death to the entire 14 acre vineyard. A season of attempting to bring back some life with healthy renewals and babying the vines that still showed signs of life, was once again punctuated with yet another cold snap a year later. Nothing survived. So we once again went back to the drawing board and started fresh.
we ripped out all of the dead vines
built an entirely new irrigation system from scratch
replanted with more appropriate varieties
utilized new winter mitigation efforts including hilling up around each vine and insulating them with straw and hay
Everything that we do in the vineyard is 100% organic and working towards eventual biodynamic practices. Meaning every input in the soil or on the vines will have come right from said soil, without any external inputs. What we are doing to reach that goal:
Planting varieties that are more suitable to the environment: Pinot Noir 777, Gamay 509, Gamay 222, Pinot Meunier, Marquette, Seyval Blanc, Melon de Bourgogne
using earthworm castings in our compost so organic life including healthy bacteria, fungus, worms, and other critters can flourish in the living soil
using straw, and a mixture of native cover crops to slowly stamp out invasive weeds, allowing the baby vines a bit of breathing room to grow and utilize the little moisture available in the soil
fine tuning our irrigation program so nothing is wasted
planting edible cash crops through the farm to invigorate, enrich and aerate the soil
planting small orchard blocks with peach, apple, apricot and cherry trees to create biodiversity
We have a long route, and a lot of work to go, with the end goal of creating a property that can be called home to millions of species of flora and fauna, as well as a self sustaining source of produce for the community, and delicious natural wines for everyone to enjoy!