Canada - Stag's Hollow Winery - Keira Le Franc

Celebrating over 25 years, Stag’s Hollow is a family-owned winery in Okanagan Falls, producing some of British Columbia’s highest quality, most distinctive wines. Located in BC's South Okanagan, in the new sub-geographical indicator (sub-GI) of Okanagan Falls, Stag's Hollow Winery owns two vineyards... Stag's Hollow Estate and Shuttleworth Creek.
Always innovative, with a spirit 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 varietal wines offer a new tasting experience for the Okanagan wine lover. Although these grape varieties come from all over the world originally, wines we produce from these grapes are identifiable as being from nowhere else in the world but from the Okanagan Valley.
We use a more unique trellising system in both of our vineyards - the Geneva Double Curtain, often abbreviated to GDC. With this system, the canopy is divided into two pendent curtains and trained downwards from high canes. The foliage is trained downwards from these canes, forming the so-called double curtains. This training system was one of the first examples of a divided canopy developed in the New World and, by reducing shade, it increases both yield and grape quality.
We farm our vineyards sustainably, which refers to conservation, pest management, responsible water usage and efficient energy use. In order to maintain good biodiversity and soil health in the vineyard, we do not use chemical fungicides to control powdery mildew and rot - we use only organic products. All canopy management is performed by hand, which reduces energy consumption as well as allowing us far more precision. We grow diverse and natural vegetation buffer zones in order to provide breeding grounds for beneficial insects, to control unwanted populations of pests.