Opened May 2003 , as Victoria Estates located in the Saanich Peninsula on Vancouver Island. Described by noted author John Schreiner as One of the five best-designed wineries in British Columbia. Know for its sparkling wine!

The winery has 25 acres with views of the valley and ocean; 11 acres are planted with Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris

The name Church & State Wines is intended to be representative of balance – the heart and the mind, traditions and technology, and the cellar and the vineyard. Balance is one of the defining characteristics of making a fine wine, and we feel our name pays homage to that.

The winery's Brentwood Bay location is well located for the many tourists who visit the area, and in one stop they get the best of two wine regions – Vancouver Island and the Okanagan Valley , where the majority of the winery's fruit is sourced. The winery sources Okanagan Valley fruit as Vancouver Island does not produce enough supply or diversity of classic vitis vinifera grapes.

Church and State has a second location in the Okanagan

 

Deep Cove Winery

11195 Chalet Road
North Saanich BC
V8L 5M1

Located in Deep Cove on the Saanich Peninsula. Specializing in hand crafted high quality wines. A family owned and operated husband and wife team of Elyse and Tasem Ramadan. Winemaking consultants: Pascal Madevon and John Kelly.

The Estate varietals include: Ortega, Pinot Gris, Schonberger and Marechal Foch. Additionally grapes are sourced from the Okanagan.

The winery features a beautiful tasting room and patio. The winery will be hosting select music/event nights through the summer

Winemaker: Tasem Ramadan
Philosophy: Our passion is utilizing traditional wine making techniques while keeping a sustainable vineyard and a commitment to no animal products.

 

Not your traditional wine company Esquimalt Wine ( operating under the  Rootside Provisions Ltd. license) does not produce grape wines. Their main product is vermouth and Quinquina wine. Explore the wonderful world of botanically infused wines, made from mead. 

First developed in France, Quinquina (pronounced 'ka-kina') is a Tonic Wine. It is a sweet wine that has had a dosage of quinine added, just like Tonic Water is sweetened water with quinine added. To add to the confusion, it is also frequently also called a 'Kina'.

Owners husband and wife team, Quinn and Michela, started a small soda company called Rootside Soda producing a line of soda syrups made with fresh and whole ingredients. After diving into the wonderful world of botanical research through Rootside, they developed a feverish love-affair with Vermouth and all things apéritif wines. 

Winners at the 2023 Vermont Awards

 

Invinity Sparkling Wine House on Vancouver Island is owned by Kaine and Sarah Sparks.  They are committed to producing a unique and expressive selection of sparkling wines that maintain the highest standard of excellence using varietals that are perfectly suited to our microclimate. They are a micro winery producing limited number of cases making only traditional method sparkling wine

The Story behind the name? We always say “I love you Infinity” and wanted something that represents our family. We changed the F to the V as we loved the word play of Vin/Vine.

They chose North Saanich as it has a very similar climate to Champagne, France and also shares the same latitude!

Sarah and Kaine Sparks are the winemakers. They grow Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Ortega, Foch, Chardonnay, Siegerrebe

From realizing our passion for winemaking, to building our vineyard, to starting a family of our own, our journey has taught us that life moves fast and it is important to take the time to enjoy the vast amount of beauty this world has to offer, accompanied by a glass of bubbles in hand! So, take the time, enjoy life and let us help you celebrate every moment with a bottle of our Sparkling Wine!

We put positive affirmation post it notes on our barrels and tanks and classical music is on 24/7 when our bottles are laying down for 12 months to 2+ years

 

Parsell Vineyard

2838 Lamont Road,
Saanichton BC V8M 1W5

May have closed

New winery opened in 2018 on the east side of Saanich Peninsula a few kms north of Victoria.

The owner Tilar J. Mazzeo is a New York Times bestselling author (with a post-graduate certificate in winemaking from the University of California at Davis) whose early career was as a nationally recognized wine writer in the US. Her husband is a fourth-generation Vancouver Island native and farmer. The Parsell family came to Saanich in the 1880s and grew fruit for the first winemaking industry to develop on the island in the 1920s, and Parsell Vineyard is our take on a new generation of that old family business.

The farm 4 acres of vineyard at their home and tasting room with another 3 acres of small vineyards in the local area. Their main varietals are Gamay Noir a Jus Blanc, Pinot Gris, and Ortega. They have a small production of Marechal Foch .They also have small plantings in Pinot Blanc, Pinot Meunier, and Pinot Auxerrois that are part of their blending program for their sparkling wine production (about 50% of our production). The sparkling wines are made in the ancestral method. They have small productions of orange wine, Sangria, and vermouth.

signature wines: ancestral method sparkling wines and Gamay Noir.

They are the first winery in BC to be approved to sell our wine in reusable bottles.

Ms. Mazzeo's work as a wine writer has appeared in numerous national outlets in the United States, including Food and Wine magazine, Mental Floss, and in the wine guides of which she is the author The Back Lane Wineries of Napa and The Back Lane Wineries of Sonoma (Ten Speed Press). She is the proprietor and winemaker at Parsell Vineyard in British Columbia.

Winemaker: Tilar J. Mazzeo
Philosophy: We produce raw and natural wines, make from 100% estate fruit grown using regenerative, no-till farming practices. No herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, or synthetic fertilizers. No sulfites used in the winemaking process, no filtering, no fining. We believe that living soil and living wines are the purest expression of terroir and that Vancouver Island winemaking is developing very quickly.

2023 last season will close

Rathjen Cellars is a farm-based winery located on Saanich Peninsula opening in 2017. Mike moved to Vancouver Island in 2011 with a passion for wine, farming and food culture. Over the next five years he honed his winemaking skills in his basement (AKA the 'Wine Bunker') while building relationships in the local farming community. Together with his friend and business partner Colin Mann, Mike founded Rathjen Cellars in 2016 with a business model based off leased farmland and a focus on supporting the local food system

They also produce Scrumpy Cider. Imperative Dry Vermouth is BC's first take on the classic aperitif, a collaboration between Rathjen Cellars & Ampersand Distilling Co.

Our goal is to make accessible wines that honestly reflect where they are from and pair beautifully with our local foods.

Winemaker: Mike Rathjen

The winery owned by Dallas and Sarah Bohl is located on the family farm. Sarah's parents Bonnie Yarish and Hamish Crawford own the farm which they purchased in 1989. The winery includes a bakery and Bristol.

Roost Farm Centre opened in 2002 as a bakery, market and garden centre.  The winery was opened in 2011 and the winery bistro was opened in 2012 (complete with wood-fired oven menu). The wines are produced under the Highland House label.

signature wines. Siegerrebe and a red, called Little Red Combine,a blend of Leon Millot, Pinot Noir Precoce, and Marechal Foch.

They produce Gramma Robbies Dry Cider.

winemaker: Hamish Crawford
philosophy: We have a passion for locally grown and produced product therefore estate wines are our focus.  We want to preserve the identity of wines produced from grapes that grow well in our region, primarily cold weather varieties

 

Sea Cider Farm and Ciderhouse

2487 Mt. St. Michael Rd
Saanich

Sea Cider opened its farm gate for business in 2007 when owner Kristen Needham purchased the property with a vision of creating an organic farm and orchard and producing traditional fermented artisan ciders. Since then, they have grown to an annual cider production of over 7,000 cases. Sea Cider continues to pride themselves on crafting traditionally fermented ciders from organically grown apples, and with their award-winning cider now available throughout B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Washington State, Illinois and Oregon. 

"Kristen is a sixth generation farmer, having inherited the family orchard in 1986. At the time, she wanted nothing to do with farming. Instead, as a teenager, she went off to boarding school in Wales. "I drank my first cider but never dreamed that one day I would become a cidermaker. Rather, I focused on my studies and began a career in environmental management and international development. I worked mainly on food security projects and spent several years working in rural Ethiopia with farmers. I never thought that one day I would return to farming myself. "

Our Orchard: 
The first Sea Cider orchard was located on the pristine shores of Eagle Bay on Shuswap Lake BC.  In our family for 3 generations, we grew culinary apples.  In 2003 we replanted our Shuswap orchard with bittersweet cider varietals. The next Sea Cider orchard was established that same year on Oldfield Road on Victoria’s Saanich Peninsula, where we had a squash farm.  Then in 2004, we purchased a farm a few miles away on Mt. St. Michael Road for the site of our Ciderhouse and main orchard.

Previously a loganberry farm and sheep pasture. we planted 1,000 cider apple trees on the site that first year. We have since added several hundred more trees, comprising over 60 varietals of cider apples and heritage varietals. Construction of the Ciderhouse began in 2005, and the Tasting Room opened in 2007. The property is 10 acres and consists of the orchard, the forest, the Ciderhouse and gardens.

Sea Cider is a certified organic farm in compliance with Canada’s National Organic Standards through the Pacific Agricultural Certification Societ (PACS). Our organic practices focus on minimal intervention and prevention of disease and insect infestations through soil health and attentive tree maintenance. In particular, we maintain the health of our trees by encouraging and nourishing soil biodiversity and preventing soil erosion.

“Terroir” is also important in Sea Cider’s approach to cidermaking and apple growing.  Our site is well suited for a cider apple orchard. The orchard is protected by forest shelter to the south, and its east-facing aspect provides good air movement off the waters of Haro Strait.  The seas also moderate our micro-climate, preventing dangerous freezes and allowing the apples’ acids and sugars to develop in abundance. The topsoil is rich with organic matter and nutrients, and just under the topsoil layer is three-foot layer of glacial till which provides good soil drainage. Below this, a deeper layer of fine clay holds moisture during our dry summers and provides an exceptional source of nutrients for the trees’ taproots to access.

Cidermaker: Kristen Needham

Philosophy: Sociability, sustainability, and community involvement have been the three pillars of Sea Cider's business philosophy and mission.

 

Symphony Vineyard

6409B Oldfield Rd
Saanichton, BC
V8M1X8

 

Symphony vineyard has been farmed by the Brooks family in Central Saanich since the mid 1950's.   Known as the “Tanner” farm, Harry Tanner was a founding member of  Growers Wine Company.   During the 1960's, the family grew over 20 acres of loganberries for Growers Winery (then located in Victoria).   Established in 1921, Growers was the first commercial winery in BC and loganberries from the Saanich Peninsula was the first fruit used in BC for wine.  

New owners 2024 Mic Silvestri and Jonny Bernard

When asked: Why did you choose the name of your Winery?  We think there are some interesting connections between wine and music. The definition of Symphony, “an elaborate instrumental composition in three or more movements, of grand proportions and varied elements”, could almost describe the long process leading to a bottle of wine – springtime in the vineyard, bursting into a long ‘summer movement' as grapes form, a quieter fall ripening phase followed by the flurry of harvest and fermentations, and a final slow aging when the sensory character of the wine develops.      

signature wines are Gewürztraminer and Pinot Gris. Their wines are made in an aromatic style.   They experiment with yeasts and fermentation methodologies creating wines with different flavour profiles from the same farm fruit, and bottled separately. They have 2.2 acres and produce 300 cases with plans to reach 600 cases.

Locally made cheeses, and meats and other local specialty food items will be available for picnic lunches in the barrel room or picnic grounds along with farm made jams and chutneys.

The vineyards were planted in 2004 with the winery opening June 2012

Winemaker:
Philosophy: Making wines true to our island harvest, and in carefully hand crafted small volumes, using different yeasts and fermentation techniques to bring out uniqueness in the wines. 

Located in the small community of Sooke on the south west side of Vancouver Island. Tugwell Creek Honey Farm and Meadery was licensed as British Columbia's first Meadery in 2003. Owned and operated by Bob Liptrot and Dana LeComte. The combination of Bob Liptrot's 43 years of beekeeping experience and over 25 years of mead making experience bring a unique and educational culinary experience to their meadery. Their award winning Meads (honey wines) reflect harmony and balance by blending varietal honeys and berries from our local region.

The winery was named after the Tugwell Family which originally settled this land. There is a nearby creek named Tugwell Creek as well. The site was selected due to its beautiful location near the Ocean. They were the first Meadery in Western Canada.

Tugwell Creek will become the third Economusee in BC this summer.  That is like becoming the Museum of Beekeeping and Mead making. Very Exciting!  Here is a link to check out what Economusee is all about.  http://www.economusee.com/en

Melomel, Metheglin, Vintage Mead, and Sack Mead are their signature wines. Sack Mead is like a late harvest wine on the sweetness scale. Also produced an Apple Quince Cyser called Original Sin , and an Acerglyn. As well as mead the farm offers a wide range of honey and bee related products

Winemaker: Robert Liptrot
Philosophy: To reintroduce the ancient beverage mead

Tugwell Creek Honey Farm and Meadery is the first business in Sooke to be certified by the Vancouver Island Green Business Certification (VIGBC). The tasting room at Tugwell Creek will be receiving Green Level Certification (the highest level) for their initiatives to reduce waste, water consumption and energy usage. Owners, Bob and Dana are passionate about improving the local environment and go above and beyond to ensure a healthy ecosystem on their property. Sustainability at Tugwell Creek Farm and Meadery is fully integrated into the operations, our product and how we do business. This certification gives our customers an understanding of what we do behind the counter to be an environmentally-friendly company. - Dana LeComte.