Vancouver Convention Centre Friday, May 20, 2022: The International Festival Tasting Event is one of the favourite activities of the Vancouver International Wine Festival and Friday night was the night to be there. Besides Dr. Loosen, I was there to see the Frind Estate Tasting Table and to talk to whoever was there. I was fortunate enough to meet Senior Winemaker Eric von Krosigk, as well as the whole family.
The story of the Frind Estate Winery began in 1982, when Markus Frind, born in Donauworth, Germany, moved to Canada at the age of 4. He grew up on a 1200 acre Farm in Husdon’s Hope, located on the banks of the Peace River in the Rocky Mountain foothills of British Columbia, 90 km (56 mi) west of Fort St. John and 66 km (41 mi) north of Chetwynd on Hwy 29.
Before getting into the winemaking business, Markus Frind, became the founder and CEO of the Vancouver-based Plenty of Fish. This is an online dating service, with 90 million registered users and 3.6 million active daily users, available in nine languages that was “immediately profitable.” He graduated from BCIT with a diploma in Computer Symptoms Technology and founded the business in 2003. By 2004 it became a full-time moneymaking business and by July 14, 2015, Plenty of Fish was sold for $575 million to Match Group. Learn more here: https://www.pof.com/
After selling his company, Markus Frind was looking for something more tangible, so he built Frind Estate Winery on the historic Bennett family property on one of the Okanagan’s busiest wine trails in West Kelowna. The winery opened in 2019 and is still the only beachfront winery in North America. He had a vision: The first aspect was to bring high-tech knowledge to the otherwise tangible, nature-driven industry stepped in a thousand years of tradition. The second was to improve the customer experience on the lakefront property. Learn more here: https://www.frindwinery.com/
Eric von Krosigk, the Senior Winemaker has an interesting story, as well. His father founded the Okanagon Spring Brewery in Vernon (https://okspring.com/). Eric grew up on ranches and farms with horses, dogs, and other pets. In 1983, he moved to Germany to apprentice and work at wineries in the Mosel, while pursuing a degree in Beverage Engineering from the University of Geisenheim. From his training and tasting experience in Germany, he found an interest in sparkling wine. In 1991, Eric joined Stephen Cipes in founding Summerhill Pyramid Winery.
Eric has been honoured with more than 300 medals for a wide variety of styles including Meritage blends, Pinot Noir, Gewurtztraminer, traditional method sparkling wines and icewines. He now operates EVK Winery Consulting, providing services to wineries in Canada and abroad, as well as being an integral part of Frind Estate Winery.
I tried both a red wine and a white wine and they were both delicious in their own way. You can join the Frind Wine Club here: https://www.frindwinery.com/Wine-Club/Join-Club or make reservations for a wine tasting. The location is 3725 Boucherie Road, West Kelowna, BC V4T 0A8. Contact them at info@frindwinery.com or (778) 754-1118.
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