Summerland Sweets succeeds beyond jam
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Updated: July 01, 2009 12:30 PM
Fruit and berries are good for more than just jam, which Summerland Sweets discovered as their Sleeping Giant Blackberry 2008 won the Meritage Fruit Wine award at the Okanagan Spring Wine Festival.
Winemaking is a natural extension of the company which makes fruit syrups, jams and candy, according to manager Len Filek.
“We see it as an extension of fruit products. We know how to handle fruit and make great fruit products, and we thought we could extend that knowledge into making wine.”
Filek said the company would like to capitalize on the Okanagan reputation for producing excellent wines.
He noted Summerland Sweets did have some of the equipment and contacts necessary to start the winemaking operation, but the key ingredient was hiring Ron Taylor, an experienced fruit winemaker from the Lower Mainland.
“The big commitment and concern was finding a winemaker that can help us make quality products.”
Filek said the Sleeping Giant winery mark currently has 13 table wines, and has just put through a pumpkin variety.
He noted that the winery took their blackberry variety to the festival to see how it stacked up against other fruit wines in the area.
“We thought we had a really good product, and wanted to see what the other winemakers and judges thought of it.”
The Sleeping Giant Fruit Winery at Summerland Sweets can be contacted at 250-494-0377.
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