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Hainle Winery holds a special place in the wine history of Canada. Not only is it an award-winning organic winery but it is also the birthplace of Icewine in North America.
In 1972, the owner of the winery, Walter Hainle, had developed a reputation and secured a special place in the wine history books of Canada. By a stroke of genius he turned a disaster into a lucrative miracle. Rather than allow an early frost to obliterate an entire year of grape production. Hainle had recalled his own Germanic tradition of turning frozen grapes into delicious dessert wines.
Despite the icy cold harvesting conditions, he carefully collected the frozen grapes that yielded the sweet nectar essential to the production of Peachland's first 40 litres of Icewine. Of course Hainle had no plans to market this nectar of the gods; he was simply trying to salvage his crop and planned to utilize the Icewine for his own personal enjoyment. Who in Peachland let alone Canada was familiar with Icewine and would purchase it?
But as he sipped on the amber liquid his mind swirled with new ideas. Icewine was a perfect wine for the cold Canadian climate, and a perfect product to market in Canada. He purchased an airline ticket and sent his son Tilman back to Germany to apprentice with the masters who would teach him the art and science of perfecting the craft of making Icewine.
After Walter Hainle's passing his son Tilman kept the winery running for a short time before deciding to sell it to the Huber family. Walter Huber was more than eager to take over the reins of the little winery realizing he could bring it to its full potential as an award winning winery. In 1991 he had purchased his first Vine Yard in Peachland and by 2002 he was proud to take on the responsibility of expanding Hainle Winery to their current level of North American success. He decided to market most of his wines under the Deep Creek Wine Estate label, named after his Vine Yard, while keeping the Hainle name for the Icewine.
Website: Hainle Vineyards
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Notable Winery List