Stag's Hollow Winery Sold to Bench 1775 Owner

Stag’s Hollow Winery Sold to Bench 1775 Owner

Stag’s Hollow News Release

(Edited)

Okanagan Falls, BC (April 22, 2019): Stag’s Hollow Winery & Vineyard has been purchased by a local, private investor. This person is well vested in the Okanagan and in the BC wine industry. They own vineyards in Summerland, the Similkameen and Bench 1775 Winery on the Naramata Bench. As a new and separate venture, business will continue as it has at Stag’s Hollow. Founders Larry Gerelus and Linda Pruegger will manage the winery moving forward. Plans this spring are to complete the planting at our Shuttleworth Creek Vineyards with a highly-prized Pinot Noir clone, will continue. This is together with the ongoing objective to focus on realizing the premium potential of wines made from our Okanagan Falls terroir.

About Stag’s Hollow Winery & Vineyard: Stag’s Hollow Winery, in Okanagan Falls, was founded in 1995 by Larry Gerelus and Linda Pruegger. It produces some of British Columbia’s highest quality, most distinctive wines. Always innovative, their spirit is to be unique and push the limits of both grape growing and winemaking in the Okanagan. The team at Stag’s Hollow has researched and sought out grapes, both new and old, suited to the area soils and microclimate. These include Tempranillo and Albariño from Spain, and Dolcetto and Teroldego from Italy. These unique varietals offer a new experience for the Okanagan wine lover. Although these varieties come from all over the world, wines produced from these grapes are identifiable, as being from nowhere else in the world but from the Okanagan Falls sub-GI, in the Okanagan Valley.

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I think this is a positive move and will be a good fit. My firm belief is that the new ownership will respect and nurture the uniqueness of Stag’s Hollow, including the varieties planted. It’s refreshing to see this kind of independent thinking, as opposed to the major winery model, which all too often is driven by assimilation and cut-backs.

Current release tasting notes will be posted shortly.

You can read more about Stag’s Hollow in an earlier post.

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.