The Van Westen family has been farming on the Naramata Bench since 1954, producing apples and cherries for decades. “We’re just farmers who converted about 30 percent of the orchards over to vineyards,” winemaker Rob Van Westen humbly told the Georgia Straight by phone.

The results, however, have been nothing short of impressive since he produced his first wine in 2003. With a bucketful of awards listed on its website, including five golds at the Canadian Wine Access Awards and All Canadian Wine Championship, Van Westen Vineyards has clearly made an impression on the judges of these competitions.

Van Westen wines begin with the letter V and include some colourful names: Vixen, Vivacious, Vicicle, Vrankenstein, and Voluptuous. The company grows all of the fruit used in its products.

The family initially intended to sell its grapes to other wineries and not make any wine on-site. But then, Van Westen caught the winemaking bug.

“We don’t manipulate it,” he said. “It’s my grapes going into the bottle, at the end of the day.”

This summer, the winery will be open to the public. However, he said he doesn’t plan to put on any special celebrations because he’ll be too busy tending cherries.

So what’s his Coles Notes version of making great wine? “The key is getting that quality fruit in the shed and not fucking it up after that,” Van Westen said with a laugh.

Signature wine: Van Westen Voluptuous. “I’ve been making it since ’03,” Van Westen said. “It’s our Merlot–Cabernet blend.”

Fun fact: Van Westen Vineyards was voted the eighth best winery in Canada by judges at the 2012 Canadian Wine Access Awards. “When they told me I had the Number 8 winery in Canada, I was quite floored,” Van Westen said.

Address: Van Westen Vineyards, 2800 Aikins Loop, Naramata, B.C., 250-496-0067.