subject: James Angrove makes a move on the Naramata Bench [print this page] James Angrove makes a move on the Naramata Bench
James Angrove makes a move on the Naramata Bench.
James Angrove has been actively involved in the Naramata Bench as a vineyard developer and is now beginning a winery project.
He originally became involved in Naramata when he was asked to make an internet movie for a friend's winery in 2004. Although his skills were in filmmaking over the last 20 years, he had grown up in the orchard business and had studied agriculture at the University of Guelph. Coming to Naramata changed his life.
The vineyard and winery potential and the beauty of Naramata inspired him, so in 2005 he began his search for the perfect vineyard. In 2006 he purchased 2 orchards and over the next 3 years, converted them into top notch organic vineyards. During these years, he removed all the fruit trees, the top soil and recontoured the subsurface material to create 7 distinct vineyards, each with their own separate aspect for heat, light and drainage. This allowed for different environments for each grape variety. Next, he imported varieties from France and California that would create an interesting portfolio of red and white wines.
He used Nulton Irrigation to install a top notch 2 wire irrigation system, steel posts and an organic design assisted by Okanagan Underground. With the help of Rys Pender, master of wine(MS), Valerie Taite, viticulturalist, and the GPS system installed by Todd Latourneau of Geosurv, he created a vineyard designed for organic growing and easy crop management.
Even in the middle of the recession, he later sold one of these vineyards for $1.95 million, well above the appraised value!
This gave him the opportunity to seek other properties on the market for the right place to create an inspiring winery. He is now working on a new project where he will build his winery.
The Naramata Bench consists of over 20 wineries. It makes the area a prefect place to take a wine tour. Not only will you experience some of British Columbia's finest wines on this bench, but you will also be overlooking the Okanagan Lake while sipping on a glass is a wonder experience.
It's obvious why this is the area James has chosen to develop a winery
