The Eau Vivre Winery is located in Cawston, in the Heart of the Similkameen Valley and started producing French-style small-batch wines in 2008.
The owners provided the following background information.
We purchased the Eau Vivre Winery in 2017, it’s our third harvest we are still fairly new at this and learning the ropes as we go. This was our dream and Sukh’s passion for more than a decade, lots of hard work and believe it or not Sukh is doing it all by himself! He wants to learn every aspect of winemaking and vineyard management.
When we first visited the Okanagan in 2005, we fell in love with winemaking and then it took 10 years for Sukh to buy the winery….. lol.
We fell in love with Eau Vivre when we first tasted their wine and couldn’t resist that it was for sale. Excellent wines almost all of them award winning especially the 2009 Pinot Noir that won Lieutenant Governor’s award in 2012.
Sukh and Neetu Bajwa- Owners of Eau Vivre Winery
District Wine Village Tasting Room
Eau Vivre Winery opened a second tasting room at the District Wine Village in Oliver in August 2021.
The Winemaker
Sukh Bajwa was a civil engineer and then entrepreneur who owned several hospitality businesses before trying his hand at winemaking. Anthony Buchanan is the consulting winemaker that is guiding Sukh’s winemaking experience.
The Vineyard
The vineyard is only 3 acres of clay-based soil with two acres of Riesling and Gewürztraminer. The vines are about 15 years old. The winery also purchases grapes for its wines from both the Similkameen and Okanagan Valleys.
2021 Harvest
“This year’s growing season was interesting, to say the least. The bud break was a couple of weeks early and it was shaping into a very good season. Then in late June the heatwave started and continued for a couple of weeks. The vines had just shut down and there wasn’t any growth during that period. This created smaller grape sizes and lighter clusters, but on the other hand, the grape skin was thicker, and the grapes had concentrated flavours.
In the vineyard, irrigation played an important role to counter the effects of the intense dry heat. Due to all the fires in the province, the Similkameen valley had a lot of smoke which lingered for a few weeks. Luckily, it cleared just before veraison occurred, which is the most susceptible time for the vines to absorb any smoke.
The harvest was a week or so early for us and the fruit came in with naturally high acidity and very concentrated flavours. The yield was down about 15%-30% depending upon the location of the vineyard. Overall, the vintage looks very promising, and we are very excited to work with the fruit in the cellar.”
Sukh Bajwa
Introducing our ON THE EDGE wines
Introducing On the edge wines. On the edge will carry low intervention, unfiltered and micro-lot wines. The first wines to be introduced are:
Viognier 2020
Intense gold colour. Intentionally hazy (unfiltered, and produced in a skin-contact style. The nose will display lychee fruit, ripe pear, and golden raisin. The palate will taste very natural with notes of honey, pineapple, pear, peach cobbler, hay, almond and grapefruit pith on the finish.
Aged in French oak barrels for 8 months
Cabernet Franc 2020
Black cherry notes on the nose, along with blackberry, boysenberry, cedar spice and green peppercorn. The palate is dry but very fruit-forward with black cherry, wild blueberries, black pepper, cassis, tobacco leaves and fresh bell pepper.
Aged in neutral barrels and steel tanks for 13 months, making this the perfect beach wine.
You can find these wines in the Eau Vivre tasting room all spring and summer! tasting notes were provided by the Eau Vivre winery.
More Eau Vivre Wines
The following wines were tasted in December 2019.
Eau Vivre Riesling 2019 ($21.49)
This Trocken-style Riesling is a lovely straw colour in the glass. Bright fresh aromas of citrus and ripe red apple aromas. The palate is lean and precise with flavours of pink grapefruit, Meyer lemon zest, honeycomb and a touch of white flowers leading to vibrant acidity and a balanced finish. 89 Points.
This wine is made for food and pairs well with Brats and Lithuanian Sauerkraut.
Eau Vivre Pinot Gris 2019 ($21.49)
Eau Vivre Pinot Gris 207 Vintage
A classic Pinot Gris displaying aromatics of apple, pear, honeysuckle and lemon while the palate offers musk, honeydew melon, and some spice. Crisp acidity with a mineral backbone complete the long finish. 89 Points
Excellent with light seafood or vegetable-based risottos such as risotto primavera (with spring vegetables such as peas and asparagus) or with fennel.
Eau Vivre Cinq Blanc 2019 ($20.79)
This is a marvellous white blend of 5 varietals – Pinot Gris 35.5% Riesling 24% Viognier 16% Gewürztrainer 15.5% Chardonnay 9%. Tropical aromas and lime zest spring from the glass. Flavours of pineapple, passionfruit, melon and mango. Bright acidity and nice mineral backbone. 88 Points
Cinq Blanc is great when paired with a berry salad or standalone as a summer sipper.
Eau Vivre Merlot 2018 ($26)
Black fruit aromas capture your senses right out of the glass. Blackberries and black cherries dance on your palate accompanied by dark chocolate, vanilla and leather. Grippy tannins mean this is a food-friendly Merlot that works really well with a prime rib of beef. A long lingering finish in every glass. 91 Points
Eau Vivre Pinot Noir 2018 ($26)
The grapes are 100% Similkameen Valley. The Pinot Noir was aged in neutral barrels and oak staves were added to the barrels resulting in 35% new oak for 6.5 months. 3 weeks before bottling it was stored in a steel tank to bring out the fruit and was bottled on May 5, 2019. 12.6% Alcohol.
Spiced black cherry, liquorice and violets along with mushroom exhale from the glass. There is more cherry, red plum, fig, cocoa, and just a hint of oak on the palate. The medium-bodied wine is silky smooth with ripe tannins and a long finish. 92 Points
Gold Medal Winner at 2020 All Canadian Wine Championships.
Pair with roast lamb and beef bourguignon.
Eau Vivre Buddhaful 2018 ($30.35)
Buddhaful 26% New French Oak, Vegan Friendly
“Big juicy Plums mixed with Blackberry, Ripe Cherry, Chocolate, Mocha and Coffee compliment the nose. The palate is full and silky with flavours of Vanilla, Sweet Tobacco and Forest Floor. Textural and mouth-filling on the mid-palate, beautiful and captivating.”
Sukh Bajwa
Silver Medal Winner at 2021 All Canadian Wine Championships.
For the complete portfolio of Eau Vivre Wines see the winery website.
Future Plans
We will continue to produce small batches of high-quality. We plan to buy moore vineyard land in the Similkameen Valley if possible. Transferring from sustainable growing to certified organic in five years. New wines are single varietal Chardonnay, Viognier, Malbec and our famous blend Buddhafull. Our business objective is to gradually increase to an annual production of 2000 cases.
Sukh and Neetu Bajwa
Note: The article was updated to include the “on the edge” wine releases and 2021 Harvest notes.