| History |
THE BEGINNING
It all began in early 1983 when founder Adolf Kruger purchased a barren piece of land east of Okanagan Falls. Upon his return to his newly purchased property it was here that he discovered a large flock of Canada geese feeding in amongst the tumbleweeds, boulders, and rubble. As he approached, the flock of geese took flight and flew to the north. From this time on the property became known as Wild Goose Vineyards!! Wild Goose was established in June 1990 when the first production of Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Marechal Foch hit the marketplace. The consumer quickly grasped onto the concept of small wineries. Visit the valley, spend some time on the beach, play a little golf, and tour wineries. In no time at all Wild Goose began reeling in new customers, people who enjoyed wines, touring, and visiting with the Kruger family. Over the years Wild Goose would establish itself as one of the premium small producers of VQA wines in British Columbia. THE WINES
In the early years Adolf worked diligently at producing wines that were consistent every vintage. New wines were added to the portfolio including Pinot Blanc, Merlot, Pinot Noir, and a blend called Autumn Gold. Wild Goose concentrated on these wines for many years gaining province wide appeal. The Wild Goose winemaking style is the simplest known in the winemaking world, crisp, clean, and consistent wines. On paper this sounds easy, but ask any winemaker and they will tell you these are the toughest characteristics to achieve in a wine. Wild Goose has done just this; year after year the wines exhibit the best that Mother Nature has to offer. From carefully grown grapes to the delicate bottling process, Wild Goose wines are benchmarks of British Columbia winemaking at it's best! In the late nineties Adolf handed over the winemaking reigns to Hagen Kruger who has done a brilliant job in raising the bar of winemaking quality, not only at Wild Goose but throughout the entire province and Canada. Hagen's approach to winemaking has been to grow the highest quality fruit and then transfer this quality into ultra premium wines. Hagen's achievements have been many over the years including winning the Best of Show with his 1999 Gewurztraminer at the 2000 Indy International Wine Competition, also the 2000 Pinot Gris and 2000 Pinot Blanc being chosen by the Wine Access magazine as the top wines in Canada, 2002 Gewurztraminer being awarded multi gold medals, 2003 Mystic River Chardonnay winning a Gold medal at the B.C. Wine and Oyster Festival, and most recently, the 2004 Riesling, 2004 Gewurztraminer, 2004 Pinot Gris, and the 2004 Autumn Gold(Blend) being chosen at the Okanagan Wine Festival Best of Varietal Competition as the best wines in their respective varietal category in the province of B.C.!! Add to these 5 medals at the 2005 Okanagan Fall Wine Festival and another 6 at the 2006 Fall Festival and 9 medals with 9 entries at the 2007 Fall Wine Festival!! Another huge achievement was winning the top white wine in Canada for 2005 with the Mystic River Gewurztraminer!! Finally, in the Fall of 2007 Wild Goose was nominated as a finalist for Winery of The Year in Canada by the Wine Access magazine!! This was truly an amazing accomplishment for a small winery and a crowning moment for Hagen and the Kruger family and all of its employees!! FUTUREOver the years Wild Goose has been a leader in innovation in the vineyard and winery and has been constant at keeping up with advances and technology. It is always important to strive and reach for the best while still maintaining quality and consistency. We have seen this with the introduction of the Mystic River Vineyards product line and new releases of Wild Goose products. Wild Goose and the Kruger family look forward to committing the best that the B.C. wine industry has to offer to its current and future customers!! |
After the land had been purchased, Riesling and Gewurztraminer were planted and a contract was secured with Mission Hill wines. Over the next few years Mission Hill produced outstanding wines from the vineyards of Wild Goose. In the late eighties Adolf Kruger had a plan that would allow for the establishment of small wineries that would produce wines from grapes grown on site and sold through the "farm gate." Adolf, along with two other interested parties approached the government and presented them with their ideas, and after much lobbying and persistence, the farm gate winery in British Columbia was born!!
After the land had been purchased, Riesling and Gewurztraminer were planted and a contract was secured with Mission Hill wines. Over the next few years Mission Hill produced outstanding wines from the vineyards of Wild Goose. In the late eighties Adolf Kruger had a plan that would allow for the establishment of small wineries that would produce wines from grapes grown on site and sold through the "farm gate." Adolf, along with two other interested parties approached the government and presented them with their ideas, and after much lobbying and persistence, the farm gate winery in British Columbia was born!!