David Enns and Partners Announce Naramata Wine Vault

David Enns and partners Mik Ball, Robert Gritten and Steven Jaeger have announced plans to establish the Naramata Wine Vault.

The Naramata based group has purchased the BC Tree Fruits packing house, which sits on 4.6 acres in the heart of the Village of Naramata. They plan to revitalize the structure. It has been dormant for the past ten years.

From the release:

“The Naramata Wine Vault will provide storage and support for the 35 plus wineries, distilleries and cider operations located on the Naramata Bench. … Redevelopment plans for the cold storage building include: new electrical, new climate control, energy efficient lighting, and site and building security. A facelift of the business end of the building will tastefully update the facility and bring it into the modern age. …

“As planning progresses, the balance of the lands will be developed to ensure the charm and unique nature of the Village of Naramata is maintained.”

The group hopes to have the storage business up and running in the spring of 2018. Interested parties are invited to contact David Enns at Laughing Stock Winery or Robert Gritten at Avison Young.

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A great Opportunity for Naramata

This is a timely development. Last week, when discussing the Laughing Stock sale, David Enns told me:

“We’re going to put the warehouse back in business. … It will be for winery storage, for Laughing Stock wines, or for whoever. It’s an iconic symbol in the village that’s been a white elephant for ten years. And we’re going to change that.”

My hunch is that this also presents a great opportunity for a regional tasting room, akin to what you find in Los Olivos or Walla Walla. Enns agrees. (Although, no further details other than the storage facility are currently announced.)

A regional tasting room would be a welcome addition to Naramata. Not to mention a significant lure to attract visitors to head on in to the village itself.

We’ll see if it happens. But my sense is it well might—and should.

By Tim Pawsey|2018-01-21T15:05:00-08:00December 5th, 2017|Wine|0 Comments

About the Author: Tim Pawsey

Tim has been covering the food and wine revolution for about 20 kilos. Count 15 kg alone thanks to the blossoming cuisine and wine culture of British Columbia, Canada. Tim’s hallmark is seeking out and recommending value wines from BC and around the world that offer quality at every level. He also scopes out noteworthy restaurants that live up to their promises—and often over deliver. Readers depend on the Hired Belly for his “Belly’s Best” and “Belly’s Budget Best” picks to help them find the right wine for the occasion. For several decades Tim wrote columns in the Vancouver Courier and North Shore News. He contributes to several other publications, including BCLS Taste magazine, Quench, Vitis and many others. Tim is a frequent judge for wine competitions and was a founding judge of The BC Lieutenant Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Wine. He is frequently invited to judge at The BC Wine Awards, and others. Tim has traveled to taste in many of the world’s leading wine regions, most recently in Burgundy, Argentina and Chile.