The new Summerland BottleNeck Wine Village will have some awesome neighbours.
Set to open in March 2024 in the storefronts facing Lakeshore Drive in the base of the new luxury waterfront Oasis condominium development, the wine village will also be surrounded by a Summerland Waterfront Resort, Shaugnessy's Cove lakefront restaurant, Summerland Yacht Club, iKhaya Day Spa, SWR Boat Rentals, Rotary Beach, Kinsmen Park and Summerland Trout Hatchery.
The wine village will be anchored by a circular restaurant at the end of the building that will also have a roof-top patio.
"It's a prime, waterfront, high-traffic location," said Ryan Kennedy of Penticton-based KPT Inc., the firm doing the commercial leasing for the Summerland BottleNeck Wine Village.
"The village will provide a one-stop destination for tourists looking to taste and discover the finest wines and spirits the region has to offer. With its unparalleled location and proximity to popular attractions, visitors can conveniently explore and indulge in a variety of tastings while enjoying the stunning surroundings."
The wine village will be made up of eight small street-level storefronts facing Lakeshore Drive.
The vision is to get eight different wineries, cideries, breweries and/or distilleries in the spaces to create an all-under-one-roof tasting and shopping hub for tourists and locals alike.
The storefronts will be separate from each other so each winery can have its own tasting room and control inventory in its shop.
However, the side-by-side set up will create a collective buzz, encouraging people to visit several beverage stops.
"I came up with the concept," said Kennedy.
"I have friends in the wine business and this is such a good idea for Summerland. They have a wine village (District Wine Village) in Oliver and I thought: Why not have one in Summerland, too?"
The wine village in Oliver sees 12 wineries, a brewery, a distillery (all with their own tasting rooms, shops and patios) and a restaurant forming a circle with their own individual buildings around a central courtyard with patio seating and concert stage.
Each winery also has small production areas.
The original concept was to provide space for wineries that were otherwise too small to have their own stand-alone winery, tasting room and store at vineyard sites.
However, two big wineries -- Nk'Mip from Osoyoos and Time Family of Wines (Time, Chronos, McWatters Collection and Evolve) have set up satellite operations at District Wine Village to get a piece of the action.
Kennedy sees a bit of the same scenario at Summerland BottleNeck Wine Village.
"We could see small wineries come to the village, or Summerland wineries that want a second, central location," said Kennedy.
"Or, we could attract any winery, cidery, brewery or distillery from the Thompson Okanagan that wants to have another location in Summerland to take advantage of the concept and concentration of attractions in the immediate area."
Kennedy has already leased two of the eight village units.
He isn't revealing the names of the tenants yet.
So, that means six units left to lease out.
If you recognize the name BottleNeck it's because Summerland's Bottleneck Drive is the name of the association that represents the numerous wineries, cideries, distilleries and breweries in the community.
"We decided to piggyback on their branding because it's well-known with wine lovers," said Kennedy.
"The name may change, but that's what we're working with right now."
Kennedy also noted that two of the three beaches (Rotary and Peach Orchard) that make up the liquor-allowed pilot project are in the same neighbourhood at the Summerland BottleNeck Wine Village.
So, people could taste and purchase at the village and take their newly acquired beverages to the beach to enjoy.
The Oasis development that the wine village is part of has garnered a lot of attention in Summerland and beyond.
The two, six-storey, white and glass, modern buildings are right on the shore of Okanagan Lake and tier up to maximize views and a huge balcony for each of the 24 units that all have infinity pools.
The condos are now all sold out and went for around $1.5 to $2 million each.
The developer is Sunny Holdings and the builder is Edmonton-based Coventry Homes.
