Deborah purchased the property for the Hidden Chapel Winery in 2005. Hidden Chapel Winery was established in 2009. Her business partner, Rudy Tomazic joined the operation in 2015
Nestled in the pines and spruce trees at the back of the property, in the midst of many gardens, lies a miniature “hidden” Chapel. The Winery takes its name from this chapel built by a previous owner.
An attraction in itself, people come to see the little white chapel hidden in the trees. The interior is lined with cedar, has small pews, an altar and stained glass-like windows.
A perfect spot to meditate, ponder life or just feel the natural spirit of this glorious property. The chapel is open during regular winery hours. Interesting views of the chapel change with each new season. Visitors are welcome to take photos and wander through the grounds.
The Vineyard and Supplied Grapes
The Hidden Chapel Estate vineyard has 3 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon vines. The winery also purchases Malbec, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Viognier from other South Okanagan growers.
Prices we paid for grapes, especially for red grapes, were up somewhat this year. There has been a shortage of grapes available to buy in the last couple of years. This was partly due to more wineries opening plus low yields for reds in 2017. I feel prices will stabilize with more competition and the decline of tourists over the past 2 years due to the heavy smoke from wildfires in the Okanagan. Some wineries are experiencing larger than normal inventories of wine. They will cut back on the amount of wine produced in the next few years.
We have no plans to cut back on wine produced and produced the same amount of white wine as 2017 and more red wine than 2017.
By Deborah
The Winemakers
Hidden Chapel Winery has two winemakers, Deborah Wilde and Rudy Tomazic plus consultant, Christine Leroux.
Rudy learned to make wine at a young age as he watched his father make wine at the family winery in Slovenia “Tomazic Kmetija”.
After her bachelor degree in Biology from the University of Québec in the late 80’, Christine decided to pursue her dreams of working in the wine industry. She went on to study Oenology at the University of Bordeaux in France. While studying, she was given the chance to do her practicums at some of the most renown Châteaux like Château LaFleur Petrus in
Hidden Chapel is best known for their wedding trilogy, White Wedding (a Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Riesling blend), Blushing Bride Rosé (Cabernet, Malbec) and Shotgun Wedding (an award-winning Cabernet Sauvignon).
2018 Harvest and Crush
The 2018 growing season was off to a slow start with a cool, wet spring but took off quickly once bud break happened. A hot May through July enabled the vines to catch up to normal years.
However, heavy smoke blanketed the Okanagan in August and held humidity down around the vineyards for a good 2 to 3 weeks. This caused mildew and late veraison in some vineyards. We were able to control the mildew with a good spray program. Also, we kept our crop down a bit and at the end harvested in late September. This is about average for our Cabernet Sauvignon.
We were happy with the Brix and acid levels. The tonnage is down about 10% over average yields. This was much better than the disappointing 2017 yield.
A cool end of September and beginning of October had some growers worried as the numbers weren’t there yet. A warm, sunny end of October contributed to a good harvest in the end, at least for our growers in the South Okanagan area. Although harvest was as much as 3 weeks later than recent years for some of the grapes we purchased, the Brix came through and the flavours were good.
A late frost this year, which still hasn’t happened as of November 7th in our vineyard, is enabling the vines to shut down slowly and stay in good shape for hopefully a promising 2019 growing year.
As for a challenging 2018 growing year, no matter how you look at it, it’s still called farming and always unpredictable but rewarding when we produce these wonderful Okanagan wines our region is becoming famous for. I believe 2018 will be an excellent vintage for our ever popular wines at Hidden Chapel Winery!
The Wines
Hidden Chapel St. Vincent 2018 ($20 including taxes)
The Patron Saint of Wine is a fitting name for this heavenly blend of Riesling and Viognier grapes! With perfume on the nose, citrus and tropical fruits on the palate.
Hidden Chapel Blushing Bride 2018 (Rosé) ($25 including taxes)
The vibrant rosé is made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec to add fruitiness. Very refreshing, bursting with notes of red plum, strawberries, and cream!
Hidden Chapel Shotgun Wedding 2016 ($28 including taxes)
The wine is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon with Petit Verdot. The blend is full of rich berries including black cherry on the palate with a lingering chocolate and espresso finish.
Hidden Chapel The Collection 2016 ($25 including taxes)
The Collection is a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. The 2012 vintage is complex, earthy, balanced, and is already showing some nice development. Right after pouring the nose was dominated by oak aromas of coconut and vanilla, but after a few minutes, this blended seamlessly with stewed plums and blackberries, prune, black olive, leather, potting soil, dark chocolate, menthol, and tobacco. On the palate, the fruit was more forward and fresh, the oak subtle, and additional notes of clove and bell pepper came through. It is full-bodied, with well-integrated, medium-high acids and tannins. Finishes long with blackberry, cocoa, earth, and clove.
For the complete portfolio of Hidden Chapel BC Wines please visit their website.
Future Plans
Established for 9 years, we produce 4 white wines, a Rosé, a sparkling Rosé, and 8 reds, all of which we are well known. We will continue to produce the same wines for the foreseeable future.
A strong Cellar Club, online sales, our wine in private wine stores and favourable word of mouth about our winery bringing in lots of traffic to our tasting room, all contribute to a very successful business.
Life is good at Hidden Chapel Winery
Note: Updated September, 2020 with the current wine vintages being sold.