New winery opens in Oliver

Photo: Contributed - Katharine Cunnington

From left to right: Richard Cleeve, owner Sukhwinder Dhaliwal and winemaker Scott Stefishen

Kismet Estate winery celebrated its grand opening on Saturday, becoming the newest addition to the more than 30 wineries in the Oliver area.

"It was a very good turnout," said marketing manager Katharine Cunnington. "I showed up at 9:30 to help set up for 11 a.m. but we had to start pouring. People were still trying to come at 6 p.m. when we had to actually shut the door."

Kismet, the Punjabi word for destiny and karma is the end result of nearly 20 years of grape growing for Sukhwinder Dhaliwal and his family.

The Dhaliwals own over 200 acres of vines and previously sold grapes to various wineries in the Okanagan. 

Then about five years ago, they decided to take the next step.

"They had award winning grapes, so they decided to start doing it themselves," said Cunnington. "They decided to jump in and said 'let's do this, let's open a winery."

With the vision of winemaker Scott Stefishen, who previously worked at Road 13 Vineyards and Burrowing Owl Winery, Kismet currently offers four wines.

Their Viognier earned a commendation at the International wine challenge and the Mantra, a red Bordeaux blend, won silver at the Pacific Rim Competition in San Francisco.