Changes to Okanagan Wine Campus program
Jill Spoor chosen for 2016
Okanagan Crush Pad winery announces a change to its popular Okanagan Wine Campus program. The program was launched in 2011 to provide an opportunity to Vancouver’s Sommelier of the Year to learn the fine art of winemaking with the goal of creating 100 cases of wine that would then be sold to support charitable giving. After six highly successful projects, the OCP team has decided to change the format.
Effective 2016, the winery staff will select one person annually from the wine trade who work in the capacity as a sommelier, wine buyer or retailer to join the Okanagan Wine Campus program.
Jill Spoor, Fairmont Pacific Rim Wine Director and Okanagan Crush Pad 2016 Wine Campus harvest intern.
We are pleased to announce that Jill Spoor, Wine Director, Fairmont Pacific Rim will be our 2016 harvest intern. Jill is contemplating her wine choice, but is leaning towards a lively white blend.
Okanagan Wine Campus, created in 2011, is a mentorship program that provides an industry professional a chance to make a small lot wine using the grape variety and style of their choice. They are involved in the process from start to finish, to the extent of designing the label and creating a marketing plan to support sales. The proceeds from the sale of the wine are given to the BC Hospitality Foundation to fund a wine scholarship to support students pursuing their higher level wine education certification. To date, $25,000 has been awarded to more than 20 individuals with more scholarships in the works.
Quotes:
“Our team is really thrilled to be working with Jill for the 2016 harvest. She is a dedicated wine professional and will bring a high level of passion and creativity to the process. Proceeds from the sale of our Wine Campus project are donated to the BC Hospitality Foundation and support the wine education of many newcomers to the field of wine and hospitality.” – Christine Coletta, owner, Okanagan Crush Pad.
“I have chosen to do a white varietal blend, with hopes that it will bring attention to and represent BC white wine production, as I believe aromatic varietals are still largely under appreciated and blends often overlooked. I hope to capture beautiful aromatics while being complex and elegant in profile and body. Additionally, this wine will be an ode to females, which will embody the true essence and the spirit of a woman. Believing in yourself will make your dreams come true.” – Jill Spoor, Wine Director, Fairmont Pacific Rim.
About Okanagan Crush Pad:
Okanagan Crush Pad, producer of Haywire and Narrative, has quickly built a reputation as a premium winery and has received unprecedented awards and accolades with chief winemaker Matt Dumayne at the helm. Christine Coletta and Steve Lornie built Okanagan Crush Pad in scenic Summerland, BC, on Switchback Organic Vineyard, a site that is home to roaming sheep, chickens and ducks. Dumayne crafts natural wines using state-of-the-art concrete tanks, native yeast and minimal additives. The wines reflect the region’s unique high mountain/northern desert setting noted for its intensely hot, short growing season with hallmark cool evenings. In their constant pursuit of innovation, the team added a line of wine-based spirits under the Narrative label in 2015. Visitors discover a guest center, built into the heart of the winery, offering a rare glance into the art of winemaking and a place where they can sample and purchase a wide range of wines and spirits.
About Jill Spoor:
Having grown up in the town of Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, a young Jill Spoor moved to Bergamo, Italy where she remained for over a decade. It was there in the heart of the DOC region of Lombardia that her passion for Italian food and wine was born. Years spent refining her palate and learning the language in fluency would lead her to pursuit a career in wine.
Upon her return to Canada, she sparked her vocation in the tourism industry; gaining experience through her work in a variety of restaurants and onboard the luxury train experience, Rocky Mountaineer. But the dolce vita of Italy with its plentitude of art and culture continued to pull at Jill’s heartstrings, ultimately leading to her enrolment in the WSET wine program at the Art Institute of Vancouver in 2006.
After the successful completion of her Advanced Level 3, she has since become a certified Sommelier specializing in Italian wine. Jill then decided to make her way back to the West Coast and took on the role of Wine Director and Sommelier at Don Francesco’s Restaurant, managing a cellar of nearly 300 predominately Italian wines.
Spoor joined Fairmont Pacific Rim in 2011 to open giovane winebar, implementing an all-Italian wine program featuring 60 wines, with 37 of those offered by the glass. Spoor’s enthusiasm and dedication to the wine program at the hotel led her to her recent promotion as Wine Director.
With a clear vision of building a luxury wine portfolio, Jill redeveloped the wine program of The Lobby Lounge, ORU and the banquet facilities; incorporating a diverse selection of old and new world wines, with a strong focus on British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest.
Jill now also takes command of the primary wine list for the Fairmont properties in the Pacific Northwest region – providing each property with a list that is consistent, with the utmost quality, and supports the community in which each property resides.
Congratulations to Jill Spoor and the team at Okanagan Crush Pad. I am looking forward to sampling the new wine.