HERE WE GROW AGAIN... RUSTICO PAIRS UP WITH PERFECT PAIR

Every time I made sales calls over the past weeks, just following our 5-wine portfolio tastings and after the new customer paperwork was signed off, I posed the same question:

"Can you think of someone that might be able to help us develop Rustico Farm & Cellars to where we should be in the marketplace?

• Someone we'd have a blast working with who'd quickly embrace our special attitude and see us through the, here-we-grow-again stages?

• Someone who agrees that 'business gotta be fun'* and so passionate that enjoying it for 27 -hour days, 9- day weeks and 54- week years is the only way to go?

• Someone who wouldn't mind driving 5 hours to the winery with their dog panting in the back seat and their sample case in the front?

• Someone who starts earlier than the competition, crams more calls into a longer day than the other guys?

We started putting a list together. After all out there in let's-get-in-for-a-tasting-land there are many wonderful folks lugging award-winning labels back and forth but times are tough, even scarier; the little wine brokerage firms down-sizing their one-person shows, and the bigger firms, skinny last season are getting even skinnier. And here we were just starting out in the crappiest economy imaginable.

But we connected with the perfect pair to pair with: helping us along on the Lower Mainland and beyond, is Ron Bergstrom, Founder of AnaRona Wines Importers of Fine Chilean Wines.

Ron started his company knocking doors, both in Chile and in BC and is today recognized as one of the most trustworthy and reliable sources for wines Chilean. Working along with Rustico Farm & Cellars means he can now answer that age-old question..."these Chilean wines are terrific Ron and we'll be ordering some BUT do you know of a BC winery that might fit our menu needs as well?" Now Ron can say, "YUP... Rustico".

Pairing with Ron is Chris Giroux AIWS the International Wine Festival's 2008 Winner of the Puddifoot Sommelier Challenge, and International Sommelier Guild member and Wine Education & Spirit Trust (W.S.E.T.) Level Three Diploma holder.

All of us at Rustico Farm & Cellars are delighted to welcome their talents and look forward to many hours of training in the Tasting Saloon in Oliver!

Ron Bergstrom 778•885•4442

Chris Giroux 778•994•1360

*"Business gotta be fun!!!"

is a favorite saying of former boss Jim Pattison

one of Canada's most successful billionaire entrepreneurs.

RUSTICO'S RICH HERITAGE

Rustico Farm & Cellars is the location of a British Columbia, Canada heritage building. Originally a bunkhouse for 18 miners at the Sally Silver Mine above Beaverdell, British Columbia, it is believed the structure was constructed in the late 1800's as part of that mining company's infrastructure.  

John Tokias, a Hungarian immigrant to Canada, who worked as a locomotive driver near the village of Beaverdell discovered the building and gained permission to dismantle it and relocate it the Oliver, B.C. area, some 3 1/2 hours distant. Although he planned to contract the moving of the massive logs, local companies refused his request as the journey entailed moving the structure down a mountainside by truck and it was determined that the tight switchbacks on the mountain roads were too dangerous.  

As Mr. Tokias was unable to move the massive logs in this traditional manner, he designed a small trailer, extended this trailer behind an old Volkswagen truck, and personally loaded and hauled the logs 2 or 3 at a time to the valley, then along the roads to a homestead site between the towns of Osoyoos BC (on the Washington/US border) and Oliver BC, a ranching, mining, agricultural town to the north.  

With his wife and two children he reconstructed the former mining bunkhouse on a mountainside overlooking the Oliver Valley facing southeast to Osoyoos Lake and the U.S. As the cedar roof of the original structure was in such disrepair that it could not be moved, John Tokias cut sod strips from the adjacent mountainside and created a complete sod-roof covering for his building. On this roof he placed numerous wild animal bones, antlers, skulls etc. Not only was this his unique creative expression but they served to help the sod pieces to knit together to form a very practical roofing solution. The roof attracted a wide variety of birdlife, some species rare to the South Okanagan BC area. Today the sod roof also displays a number of cacti and flowering desert plants and its insulation abilities allow the log structure to remain cool in the heat of the desert summer and with a minimal amount of heat generated from recycled wood pellets, comfortable in the freezing temperatures of winter.  

Mr. Tokias, known locally as being somewhat eccentric, became a well-known wood carver, showing his works both in the community and afield. He collected all manner of mining artifacts and utilized many of his findings to establish, for his family's purposes, a small vineyard where he planted Chancellor grapes (French hybrid) .  

Over the years, while continuing to work as a locomotive driver nearby, he planted the remaining 10 acres with other grape varieties, the harvests sold to neighboring wineries that were beginning to develop in the Oliver/Osoyoos corridor. Following John Tokias' death his family continued to farm the land but eventually the property was sold.  

The new owner further developed the vineyards and then constructed a small building to house a boutique winery operation. The winery was never operational and the property was resold.  

The hand-hewn log, sod-roofed former mining bunkhouse, is called a, "rustico", an Italian word for an immigrant's rough countryside lodging, and has provided the name for Rustico Farm & Cellars.  

The current owners have revitalized the vineyards and have begun to plant Cabernet Franc to replace the nearly 50 year-old Chancellor vines. Bruce Fuller, Founder and Proprietor of Rustico Farm & Cellars a passionate collector of Canadian and American "old-west" artifacts has showcased a collection on the property. The sampling room located in the winery behind western-style false-fronts is aptly called a "Tasting Saloon" and displays much of his ongoing collection and is a welcome site for visitors looking to travel back in the area's ranching, mining and agricultural history.

RUSTICO WINES & WHERE TO FIND THEM... Secrets Revealed!

OK, OK, we've kept it a big secret... where can you can find Rustico Farm & Cellars wines you ask? So far here's a list from the Vancouver area.... 

Wine Stores

Firefly Fine Wines & Ales (Cambie & 12thj) 

Liberty Wine Merchants (West 10th, Granville Island, Park & Tilford Centre, Robson St.) 

Yaletown Brewing's Liquor Store (Yaletown)

WhatCom Wine Store (Abbotsford)  

Restaurants/Bars/Pubs 

La Regalade French Bistro (West Van)

Crave on Marine (West Van)

Red Lion Bar & Grill (West Van)

FishWorks (Lonsdale & 1st N.Van)

Casual Gourmet (Park & Tilford Centre) 

Rusty Gull Pub (1st Ave N.Van)

Jules French Bistro (Abbott St. Gastown) 

Amarcord Ristorante (Hamilton St. Yaletown) 

Bridges (Granville Isl) 

O'Doul's (Listel Hotel Robson) 

Hollyburn Country Club (W.Van)

North Shore Winter Club (N. Van)

River Rock Casino Resort (Richmond) 

Rumour Mill (Mesa Hotel Oliver) 

Firehall (Oliver)

Mother Lode Merlot... reviewed by Kathleen Rake

2007 Rustico Farm & Cellars Motherlode Merlot

Note to self: Do not start writing about wine while the steaks are on the barbeque.

I recently received a bottle ofRustico Farm & Cellars  Motherlode Merlot (~$25) as a sample and tonight I opened it to sip along side our grilled steak, baked potato, and salad.

This 2007 was much closer to garnet than ruby in colour and I could see right through it, much like I can a Pinot Noir. That surprised me. I'm used to Merlot with colour and intensity a good deal darker.

On the nose its perfume struck me right away: violets, plum, sweet spice, smoke, and black olives.

On the palate it was juicy and bright with soft tannins and flavours of ripe black cherries, red plums, and a little bit of sage and a finish that wasn't long, but certainly lingered. Thankfully, the flavours weren't overwhelmed by the whopping 14.8% ABV.

This is a wine I could easily serve to guests or take along to a friend's for dinner. But I wouldn't necessarily save it for a special occasion. It's a drink-me-now kind of wine.

And why the note to self above? Well, my distraction (in the form of writing) meant our steaks ended up over cooked and under flavoured.

Salut!

We wanna say HOWDY!!! to our Olympic guests to BC

We share the incredible excitement of welcoming thousands and thousands and thousands of international guests to our beautiful province of British Columbia when we host the 2010 Winter Olympics.

We're opening our doors and our hearts to you all and hope most sincerely that this visit to cheer on your own country's athletes will just be the first of many trips to our special place in the world.

Rustico Farm & Cellars is a small, boutique-size country winery located in the interior of B.C., approximately a 5-hour drive through some of the most spectacular mountains in the world. Once through the mountains you'll find yourself in an amazing desert climate, much drier than the coast, usually enjoying a lot more sunshine, and with richly planted valleys and hillsides of vineyards to explore. See our location MAP on the website www.rusticowinery.com for easy directions.

We're located in the beautiful South Okanagan Valley, just above Washington State (in fact our Rustico Winery is about 18 kms. from the US Border crossing)

With numerous award-winning wineries within sight of our Tasting Saloon and shaded pergola picnic area, a trip in our direction will be a wonderful addition to your BC adventure.

We're looking forward to greeting you and will be OPEN during the first two weeks of March. 

Meanwhile... Enjoy Vancouver and Whistler's hospitality, meet lots of new friends... and cheer your teams to victory!

Bruce Fuller

Proprietor

Rustico Farm & Cellars

Canada's Most Romantic Winery ©