THE SHOW
Luke Smith – co-founder and chief winemaker of Howling Bluff (Naramata Bench)
It’s been a while since I “sat down” with Luke Smith from Howling Bluff on the Naramata Bench.
Howling Bluff has been established for 20 years now. Luke and family planted Pinot Noir, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Sauvignon Blanc, and Sémillon grapes .
Howling Bluff is still a locally owned, family-owned-and-operated estate winery. They take great pride in growing vines and crafting small lots of remarkable wines.
They honor the authenticity of Old World Burgundy varietals and apply innovative, New World techniques to optimize the quality of their winemaking.
Upon moving to the Bench in 2007, I went looking for the storytellers in the vineyards and cellars. The first was Kathy Malone at Hillside and right down the road was Luke Smith at Howling Bluff.
With no prodding at all, Luke would talk about his vineyards, especially the pinot noir plantings. I quickly realized that this wasn’t a vanity project, somebody who just wanted to “get into” wine.
Luke’s was a deep understanding of winemaking. Not just someone who talked about the growing season. Luke talked for hours about the history of the specific wines he was growing , especially Pinot Noir.
It was impressive.
That’s when I came to realize that if the people making the wines were interesting, passionate and caring, imagine how interesting and passionate the wines would be.
Like everyone else in the Okanagan, Luke lost vineyards and fruit to the two years of Winter cold snaps.
That’s basically where this conversation started. There’s simply nothing more important than accessing the damage caused.
From that beginning, we began to get into what his plans were for the current vintages and plans for the future. Unlike many wineries, Luke will not be farming and harvesting grapes from outside BC. He’ll explain his thinking.
… and Yes, we do get to the wines available…
The spectacular Astrum 2019 RD Brut Rose. $35.00 May be the last we see of it.
2019 Method Trad RD Sparkling
2022 Faux Paw Frizzante– 100% Pinot Gris (also called Perspective) $27.00 at winery
2023 Sauvignon Blanc $25.00
2023 Sauvignon Blanc (85%) and Semillon (15%) $25.00. Award winning gem. Granny Smith, ripe tropical fruit.
2022 Pinot Noir Three Mile Creek. clones 667 – 777
2022 Century Block Pinot Noir (limited production)
STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON
Meyer Family
The Hatch
Township 7
Fort Berens
Hillside
Black Swift
Artema
Hester Creek
2025 Van Wine Fest
