The Nest
The Place
Our tasting room is open on a first-come first-served basis, with no booking required.
Our patio and picnic areas are dog friendly, so please bring your furry friends along! Our picnic area is licensed so you can purchase a bottle from our wine shop to enjoy in the sun, or under the shade of an umbrella.
Screaming Frenzy
A screaming frenzy is something that only happens in British Columbia and occurs when the ever-mysterious Black Swift congregates in our skies. This rare occurrence only happens once a year, and like the wine itself, it is a marvel to encounter.
Black Swift Vineyards and Screaming Frenzy came about when we were spit-balling winery concepts at our production facility in Peachland in 2014. We wanted something that celebrated our vineyards and amazing growers, but also wanted something that in an industry full of snobbery, didn’t take itself too seriously.
We jokingly started to throw around bird names, as the hatch is located right beside Quails Gate, we had a long list of Native Okanagan birds in front of us, looking for something to jump off the page. Black Swift made the shortlist, and after a little research, it became clear to us this was the name! There were two aspects in particular that we loved. There was the fact that the Black Swift lays only one egg at a time which was a perfect analog to our single-vineyard focused releases, and also that a group of Black Swift birds is known as a “Screaming Frenzy” what a fantastic name for anything!
we had a long list of Native Okanagan birds in front of us, looking for something to jump off the page.
Originally the location for Black Swift was going to be where the winery now known as the hatch resides, but as we were hashing out the creative details, the concept of what the hatch is today started to form, this was partially driven by Paul Morstad's art. We had a plan, commission Paul to make the Screaming Frenzy labels, and utilize some of his existing artwork on the labels for the hatch.
It was always in the cards for us to eventually separate from the hatch and have a place of our own. We even hid a message on our Screaming Frenzy Chardonnay label as a hint that we would be leaving the nest one day. The image of an egg being carried away by a Screaming Frenzy of Black Swift birds, the egg with cracks covering the shell, signified that something inside was about to hatch. Going forward there will be a “hatched” version of this label, and we will finally get see what’s inside.
We even hid a message on our Screaming Frenzy Chardonnay label as a hint that we would be leaving the nest one day.
Regardless of where we are, or how we got here, and despite our initials, we will always do our best to keep the B.S. out of our wines. Black Swift will continue to be single vineyard focused, holding a spotlight to the unique aspects of the diverse locations in and around the valley. Screaming Frenzy will continue to look for the next thing to joke about, playfully, and never, ever, take itself too seriously.
we will always do our best to keep the B.S. out of our wines.
If you like what you hear, and would like to be a member of our wild and unique frenzy, we would love for you to join our wine club. Much like our little family of wines, we have two offerings focused either on the single-vineyard endeavor of Black Swift or crushable joy filled bottles that are the Screaming Frenzies.
Join the frenzy here.