Camelot Vineyards Invites You
Meet Rob and Denise. They are the owners of Camelot Vineyards, a new cottage winery in Kelowna, and they have a great story of fate and family support that led them to where they are now. As flight attendants for Air Canada as well as being owners of a winery, this couple sure knows how to balance a busy schedule. Read on to see how elbow grease and dedication is making their wines take flight.
Winery owners Denise and Rob in their Air Canada flight attendant uniforms in front of Camelot wineshop entrance.
I visited Rob and Denise recently to see their 2009 crush, following their grape harvest. You can see this crush in the video below. It was a fascinating glimpse into the making of fantastic wine – a behind the scenes look at life at a winery during their busiest season.
The name Camelot has quite a story behind it! Rob’s father had created a sign with this name on it to serve as the family property name for land he owned in the Lower Mainland. When he moved to Kelowna years ago, he brought this sign along, storing it on the current winery site. Denise also has a link to this name: years before she met Rob, she met a psychic who said to her that he “sees Camelot around her” – which she didn’t understand at the time. When the couple was thinking of a name and Rob emerged with the Camelot sign as a suggestion, Denise had chills.
The winery produces 6 handcrafted wines: a Chardonnay, Gewurtztraminer, Pinot Gris, Merlot, Cabernet Franc/Merlot, and Syrah. Denise and Rob consider their winemaker, Ann Sperling, a huge talent and asset to the winery. It shows: the winery has already won 3 awards for Ann’s fantastic Chardonnay from the Intervin International Competition, All-Canadian Wine Awards, and the Okanagan Fall Wine Festival 2009.
Camelot will close its doors for the winter season as of November 1, but look for their wines at local wine stores to check them out. You can also call for an appointment at their winery and if luck and fate have it, you can visit them by appointment!You’ll find Camelot Vineyards on East Kelowna road, just down from the turn-off to Kelowna Land & Orchard and past the Montessori School.
Check out Camelot’s 2009 crush in this video below, produced by Tourism Kelowna and Kelowna.com for our weekly tourism segment, The Tour Guru. Enjoy!
