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KELOWNA
– Agriculture and Lands Minister Pat
Bell presented Mission Hill Family Estate Winery with a Minister’s Award of
Excellence today.
“Mission
Hill Family Estate winery exemplifies the quality, innovation and excellence
that the B.C. wine industry is becoming known for worldwide,” said Bell. “Their
commitment to providing local B.C. products has helped educate consumers about
the abundance of agri-food products available right in the Okanagan Valley.”
Mission
Hill is a major private vineyard owner in the region, with 20 distinct estates.
The winery was named by Architectural Record magazine as one of the world’s
four new outstanding wineries. The winery was also recently awarded Canadian
Winery of the Year for the second time from Wine Access, the highly acclaimed
Canadian food and wine magazine.
“Mission
Hill Family Estate is honoured to be a recipient of the Minister’s Award of
Excellence,” said Dan Zepponi, president, Mission Hill Family Estate. “My
directive as president is to preserve the integrity that Mission Hill has
created as a Canadian business in the very competitive international wine
arena. We take our leadership role seriously and remain committed to being a
sustainable business that respects its surroundings and builds supportive
community relationships.”
There are 143 wineries in
British Columbia, spread over five regions – the Okanagan, Similkameen, Fraser
Valley, Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands. In 2006, more than 12 million litres
of wine were produced in B.C., an increase of over 3.5 million litres from
2005. B.C. ice wines have also seen increasing popularity, with 500 tonnes
harvested in 2006.
“This
holiday season, British Columbians have the opportunity to sample some of our
finest farm fresh products, including wines, turkeys and Christmas trees,” said
Bell. “Buying local not only tastes
good, but it also supports the Province’s efforts to cut greenhouse gases by
reducing the distance food travels from the farm to your fork.”
Visit
the ministry’s new Farm Fresh B.C. Products page at www.al.gov.bc.ca/farmdirect/index.html
to find farms located near you.
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contact: |
Communications Director Ministry of Agriculture and Lands 250 356-2862 250 213-3072 (cell) |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
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