In early 2018, new ownership took possession of a 5-acre parcel of land at 1085 Fleet Road, not far from the geographic centre of the Naramata Bench wine region.
Pretty as the proverbial postcard, with rolling hills, fruit trees, and head-turning views over the surrounding wineries and on to Okanagan Lake, it was a prime catch.
Now, just a little over two years later, the public gets to experience the culmination of their efforts.
It's called La Petite Abeille, and it's a South Okanagan rarity. Rather than wine, it's all about cider. High-end cider that sparkles and pops like champagne and is created, mostly, from the property's fruit trees.
And it's open right now. Indeed, it officially opened a couple of weeks ago.
"The name means 'little bee,'" said La Petite Abeille's Caitlyn Spooner when we dropped by late last week.
"The entire area here is called Blue Bee Orchard, and on it is the cidery and acres of fruit trees. We also lease an acre to an organic farm called Plot Twist Farms, and we keep dozens of chickens that naturally take care of pests and help us fertilize, and hundreds of blue bees that pollinate the trees."
"Blue orchard bees are the top pollinators of fruit trees in all of North America, so the name is our homage to the blue bee."
The cidery tasting room, said Spooner, is just part of the overall experience. And it is an experience. There's a lot of stuff going on at 1085 Fleet Road.
Beyond the tasting room, guests can grab a bottle and hit the expansive patio where fountains and tables and those panoramic views await. They can even bring snacks or meals along with them, and sip and munch at their leisure.
There are wildflowers and gardens and courtyards, and, occasionally, bocce ball on one of the lawns. Off in the distance are the beehives and chicken coops (housed in elevated "picker's cabins" from back in the day), and fruit trees, new and old.
It's clear from just a few minutes on site that the enterprise is in tune with nature. And that's likely been a big part of its early appeal.
"There's a pandemic and it slowed down our opening plans," said La Petite Abeille's Kimberley Wish. "But the silver lining is that we were able to open our doors just as the traveling restrictions were eased a bit."
One of the guests during our visit was a fellow named Marc Olivier Fortin. Fortin dropped by while on vacation, on the recommendation of a buddy from Penticton.
He also happens to run a cidery himself. And he liked what he saw. And tasted.
"We make cider in cans," said Fortin. "We're more of an industrial cidery. So it's really been interesting to see what they're doing here. They're more artisan, and they serve their cider in 750 milliliter bottles, like wine."
"This is closer to champagne than ours. And they grow their own fruit, so you'll see pears that we don't have in ours. I like that it's dry. It's not like cider we drank in the 80s."
We sampled three of the four varieties currently available and came away impressed. All were gloriously refreshing and all tickled our palate on the way down, though the "Pear Charmat," the most involved of the bunch, was particularly brilliant.
"Our cider is inspired by the French method," said Spooner. "It's more fruit forward. Less yeasty. A French style with an Okanagan twist."
Spooner described the process behind the Pear Charmat, focusing on how it's produced in a unique tank designed to mimic the bubbly results of the individual bottles used in champagne production (called the "Méthode Champenoise") and incorporates a champagne yeast imported from France.
"And at the beginning of every week for about three months, our cider maker goes in and gives it a big stir so we get that maximum amount of sparkle," she added.
A second all-pear concoction, called "Sparkling Pear," an apple and pear recipe called "Sparkling Apple & Pear," and "Sparkling Rosé," an 8-percent blackberry, 92-percent apple blend make up the rest of the opening lineup. It's a lineup that will be appended as time goes on.
"This property has always been a fruit orchard," explained Wish. "But we had to remove an acre or so of old, dead apple trees and replant."
Consequently, La Petite Abeille currently gets its apples from a grower in Summerland. But that will change as the new trees begin yielding quality, mature apples. Soon, every drop of cider will come from Blue Bee Orchard land.
"We're different from a commercially produced cider. We want to focus on quality of production this year rather than quantity. We're only doing 2500 cases this year and potentially only that many next year."
"The main takeaway is that we feel we're not what you're expecting. We wanted to be something a little different and create a little niche, and the feedback has been really positive. People love that it's gluten free and vegan."
According to Wish's brother Derek, interested parties will soon find the cidery's product at local restaurants and liquor stores too.
"We'll hit the local market and branch out from there. We'll try to get to Vancouver in the future."
"You look where the beer market was ten or 15 years ago. You had the major players, and then these craft breweries started coming out. And the more it evolved, the better the product got. We didn't really see anyone producing the sparkling, refined product like we're making."
And one other thing. Come next year, visitors may well have a food option beyond bringing their own. "That's a project I'll be working on in the winter," said Wish. "We'll be talking about all the possibilities."
For more information on La Petite Abeille and Blue Bee Orchard, hit up the website here. Or call 250-770-0150.
