Wine Maker

Peachland-born Jason Parkes is an Okanagan success story - a risen star among the new breed of young Canadian winemakers.

Known for his outstanding work ethic and commitment to varietal expression, Jason excels not just in the wine medium: he's penned songs for Disney and television, and in 2003 won the CBC's Galaxie Rising Star award for Canada's independent song of the year.

Jason has spent the past decade honing his wine chops in three noted Okanagan cellars, mentored by senior winemakers, and celebrated for producing an expansive range of varietals and blends including award-winning organics.

Jason's wines have raked in medals at West, Northwest, South and Southwest U.S. competitions - they recently scooped gold, silver and four bronze medals at the 2008 Los Angeles International Wine & Spirit Competition, where nearly 100 experts collectively judged 4,000 wines. For the past several years, Jason has concurrently served as winemaker/consultant to at least six BC wineries.

Jason's motto - "Respect the wine" - is reflected in his labour-intensive, non-mechanical, 'Old World' techniques: minimal and gentle pressing; use of specialized yeasts; frequent and manual punching of the must; and 100% gravity flow wherever and whenever possible. In short: minimal additions and minimal intervention.

Jason is thrilled to be a key card in the ACES hand:

• "I've made personal sacrifices to be part of the ACES project and honestly, I couldn't be happier. We all share a passion for crafting exceptional wine - ACES spares no expense to help me create top quality vintages. To start, I get phenomenal grapes - the best fruit in the Okanagan Valley!"
• "One thing that keeps proving true of Holger is that the wine comes first in all of ACES' decisions. Now how could I not work with this guy?!"