In Conversation With Andrew Windsor Little Engine Wines

In Conversation With Andrew Windsor

Andrew’s path to wine started with an Environmental Science degree at the University of Guelph and a university wine course that quietly changed everything. He spent three years making VQA wines in Niagara, then followed his curiosity to Adelaide for a Master’s in Oenology — where he met a fellow Canadian named Scott Robinson. Twenty-five years, four countries, and harvests in McLaren Vale, Marlborough, and France’s Northern Rhône later, he settled in British Columbia, led the cellar at Tinhorn Creek. Scott had been telling him to come to the Okanagan for over fifteen years. Turns out he was right. Their reunion at Little Engine feels less like a hire and more like an inevitability.

What did you do before becoming a winemaker?

I came from the generation that went directly from High School into University. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do at 18 but followed my interests and got a degree in Environmental Science. Upon graduating, there were not a lot of Environmental Science jobs out there, so I got a sales job. It was uninteresting but paid well, until I shifted to selling wine in the City. That didn’t pay well but cemented my passion for the wine industry.

Please tell us about your background in the wine industry.

I started off selling wine for an agency called Barrel Select in TO c2003. Although I got to taste some great wines, I wasn’t very good at it so I decided I wanted to get into wine production. I was fortunate enough that my mother met a group of women that called themselves the “Goddess Sisters”, and one of them was dating and eventually married a winemaker. I got invited to come down and get involved in the Icewine harvest of 2003 while still living and selling wine in TO. So around midnight in a freezing cold January night, I got a voicemail that said “we’re going”. I put on all the warm clothes I had and drove the hour drive down to St. Davids bench in Niagara. I started the evening picking Icewine grapes, and finished it loading and unloading the basket press. I loved it. From there I had a few other small jobs gaining experience in the industry, while I applied to the Masters degree in Oenology and Viticulture at University of Adelaide, Australia. After two amazing years at school meeting winemakers from around the world, I graduated and took an Assistant Winemaking job at Mollydooker Wines in McLaren Vale, South Australia. I spent 3 harvests there before packing my bag and travelling around the world looking for experience. I made it to the Okanagan for my fist time in 2010, where I took a Winemaking role at Eau Vivre winery in the Similkameen. Shortly after that I moved to Marlborough, New Zealand and then to Tain’ Hermitage in the Northern Rhone. I finished 2011 travelling through the wine regions of Friuli and Slovenia. From there I moved to Melbourne and had a brief stint working at
Yarra Yering in the Yarra Valley. After persistent visa issues, I ended up back in Ontario and was the Senior Winemaker at Andrew Peller Ltd’s main facility in Grimsby. After two years back in Ontario I realized that if I was going to live in Canada and make wine I wanted to be back in B.C. so the opportunity came to take the Winemaking position at Tinhorn Creek, in Oliver B.C. After 6 years at Tinhorn Creek an opportunity came to become a partner in purchasing a smaller winery just down the street called Maverick Estate Winery. After another 6 year stint, the partnership broke up. After a long and nuanced courtship I was finally able to join Little Engine this spring and I’ve now been the winemaker here for a full 3 weeks.

At what point did you know you wanted to be a winemaker?

I think I wanted to become a winemaker as soon as I realized I could be one. Most of
the kids I went to high school with in suburban Toronto ended up working in towers
downtown. So winemaking wasn’t really something I thought of until much later. I
slowly developed a passion for drinking wine at a relatively young age, and all the
pieces kind of fell together naturally. I had the technical background to proceed with
formal education in winemaking and took the leap to drive over an hour in the middle of the night to go pick Icewine. I then took another leap and moved across the planet without knowing anyone and got immersed in the winemaking world at Adeliade. As soon as I realized it could be an avenue to travel the world and work I was hooked.

What is your education as it relates to winemaking?

I have a BSc in Environmental Sciences (Guelph) and an MSc in Oenology and
Viticulture (Adelaide)

Have you held any other roles in the wine industry?

I have almost 25 years of wine industry experience. From tasting room associate and
wine sales person, to winery owner, operator, viticulturist and winemaker.

When did you make your first wine and which wine did you make?

The first experience I had was picking and processing Icewine in January 2004. I’ve not made any Icewine since 2006. How did that go? It was cold. But you don’t notice the brutal weather when you’re as excited as I was. It was a small farm and we were making it in someone’s garage and it really is a theme that has stayed with me.

What did you learn from your first winemaking experience?

I didn’t know it at the time but so much of the wine in this world is made in simple
homes, or simple garages, by people that are passionate. I’ve seen it in France, Italy,
Germany, Slovenia, Hungary, Israel, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and
America. One or two people with no fancy equipment, a couple of barrels making
incredible wines. It’s a lot of hard work, but if you love it you don’t imagine doing
anything else.

How many others will join you to form the winemaking team at Little Engine?

After 25 years in the industry one thing I’ve learned is that it takes a team to make
wine. From the team of Mexicans in the vineyards, vineyard manager, sales team, and like most wineries in Canada a hospitality team. Everyone is involved. I use as many palates and opinions as possible in my winemaking philosophy so as a small business we are one team. Scott Robinson, the founding winemaker, an old friend and classmate is staying on in a Director role and will be working with me for the
foreseeable future and we’ve already been working on blending the upcoming 2023
Chardonnay bottlings.

Will your role be hands-on, supervisory or managerial?

All of the above. To learn vineyards you need to be in them. To learn an irrigation
system you need to operate it. Winemaking is the easiest part of all winery operations. A good friend of mine described it as “something fun you get to do after working your ass off in the vineyard all year!”

What do you anticipate your average work week will be like?

The best thing about working at a winery is that every week is different. This time of the year is still quiet in the cellar as the wines in barrel finish up malolactic fermentation so I’ve been either in the vineyard or working on blends. As the year progresses it’s going to be a mix of vineyard work, winery work, lab work and admin work so that when it comes to bottling or harvest everything is planned out in advance and operations go as smoothly and efficiently as possible. That way we can drill down on the details and make the absolute best wines possible.

How many vineyards and plots does Little Engine have?

Currently we are managing and farming 5 separate farms in Naramata. Each one of
those has numerous plots as we have a highly detailed Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
program that consists of multiple clones of each. Each plot is farmed separately
according to clone and rootstock selections and then each wine is coincidingly made
from each individual plot.

What varietals are grown at Little Engine?

Primary varieties are Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. We also farm Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Semillon.

Do you have any plans to change or discontinue any varietals?

At this point there are no plans on making/changing varietals. As the industry was just hammered by a number of severe winters, many vineyards are only now just recovering after a few seasons of significant replanting and rehabilitating. Any changes would likely have occurred 2 years ago.

Will Little Engine source grapes from other vineyards, and if so can you tell us a bit about where the grapes would come from?

We have recently lost a vineyard management contract that was our Sauvignon Blanc supply, so that would be one thing that we may need to consider purchasing.

Is there a blend or varietal that you find to be the most challenging in
winemaking?

Tough question; Pinot noir is notoriously difficult to grow and deservedly is nicknamed “the heart break grape”, but from a technical challenge, Traditional methode sparkling wine is an immense amount of work and poses many more winemaking difficulties than Pinot Noir (in red wine production).

Where do you see yourself and Little Engine in 5 years, 10 years, or even further into the future?

As I’ve only been on board at LE for 3 weeks now I’m still in the honeymoon phase. I’ve really enjoyed working with the owner who is very hands on and he’s put a great team in place. I’d like to see a little more focus on the number of wines offered. This is a tell-tale sign that I’m getting old as young winemakers want to try a million different techniques and make a multitude of different wines. Once you’ve tried most things out you like to hone in and focus on doing a few things exceptionally well and that is where I am at in my career and where this portfolio of wines suits me well. Focus on making the core range of wines the best I can and show the world what we can do.

What are your personal goals?

You forgo personal goals when you get into the wine industry.

Have there been any surprises, unexpected circumstances, or challenges for you in the wine industry?

I’ve recently just left my own winery due to challenges that the industry as a whole has encountered financially.

Tell us something about yourself, maybe something no one, or very few, know about you, that would surprise people?

When I retire I’ll become a florist