522 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 79 PART 4 JULY 2021
Harry McWatters (1945–2019)
Live your life, do your work, then take your hat
—Thoreau
© Lionel Trudel Photography (TrudelPhoto.com) Used with permission
Harry is known as British Columbia’s “grandfather of wine”. Everyone in the
wine industry knew him, and he was the public face of the industry for
decades. When he was in the room, you could not ignore his outgoing, joking
and cheerful presence.
His journey started in the 1960s, when he was hired by now-defunct
Casabello Wines to sell its wines (not great stuff that was from a mix of
imported grape juice and local grapes). He later moved to the Okanagan
and saw the potential for a better home-grown product, and in 1980 was a
founder of Sumac Ridge Estate Winery in Summerland. With his partner,
Lloyd Schmidt, he bought a local golf course and planted vines and built the
winery. The golf course was somewhat reduced in size but remained (and
was a favourite of my father, as it is a tricky one to play). Both are still there,
side by side.
Harry was founding director of the Okanagan Wine Festival Society, chair
of the VQA Canada appellation system and later founding director of the BC
Wine Institute. He was part of a group of wineries that pressed for liberalization
of wine laws to allow estate and smaller wineries to be licensed. He
was behind the development of See Ya Later Estate Winery and Black Sage
Wines, and after all three sold to Constellation Brands, he built Evolve Cellars
and Time Estate Winery. The last winery is unusual, as it is a reconstructed
and completely transformed movie theatre in downtown
Penticton. Most evenings, Harry could be found sitting at one of the high
tables, glass in hand, ready to engage in lively conversation.
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