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April 2002

The Jacquie and John Wrinch Vineyard, Old West Saanich Road

Jenny Hyndman and Judy Smith, VIGGA Roving Reporters

The Inside Story

The Wrinch Vineyard

Head on down to the south end of Old West Saanich Road, through a lovely wooden gate framed for many yards with a blaze of yellow daffodils and you will be on the ten acre property owned and tended by Jacquie and John Wrinch.

John is a medical man and took his medical training at McGill, a not so bad medical school! His professional life took him to Eastern Canada and England and now to Victoria. Versatile fellow that he is, he presently bounces back and forth between being a radiologist and being a farmer. We didn't detect any identity crisis and suspect he is as adept at the former as he is at the latter.

Jacquie, started her several careers as a nurse practicing in Europe, India, England and every province in Canada but three. Her areas were varied; emergency and acute casualty, VON, midwifery, infectious diseases and coronary care. Her next career was real estate and why stop there, how about a Political Science Degree in Constitutional Studies.

The Wrinch acreage is brimming with all manner of domesticated wildlife. The guinea fowl will race across the driveway as you approach and the turkeys with their horrible male beauty and the more subdued ladies will come to their fence to take a look.
Chickens and sheep, with their lambs, run together while a majestic, and beautiful chocolate brown Danzel the ram looks on from the corner field, his visiting privileges curtailed for the moment! The Giant Dewlap Toulouse Geese are relegated to the bottom field where all are safe from their nipping. Ben the standard Poodle is the property overseer.

The rest of the property boasts a variety of interesting buildings including an old restored wooden water tower converted to a guesthouse. We saw wonderful rose gardens, trellises and arbors, perennial gardens, spring gardens and a vegetable area. Masses of Concords are trellised onto buildings and some share space with wine grapes.

Their vineyard is in two parts. To the west, a six year old section growing Baccus, Mueller Thurgow and Concords. These concords are trellised using the Geneva Double Curtain Method. All the wine grapes on the property are pruned with one cordon per plant all running the same direction. The following year John will prune to have the cordon run the other direction.

The main vineyard is in 1-3 year old plants of Ortega, Agria, Regent and Pinot Noir totaling just over 600 plants in 20 rows. The field is wide open with an easterly slope and beautiful view of Elk Lake. The soil is light and rocky with irrigation water coming from their well to a 10,000 gal. storage tank and supplemented if necessary with city water. The watering system uses black drip lines with built in valves every three feet and rests on the ground. Because the lines stretch in the heat John will be securing the open end with elastic to the braced end posts so it maintains a straight line under the vines.

Deer fencing is a must and has been done. The manner of bird netting, another necessity is yet to be decided.

John and Jacquie are presently mulling over a name for their beautiful place and it will be incorporated into their personal wine label. No commercial winery is being considered on the property and we want to know why not. They don't have anything else to do!

Thanks you two for sharing your time and information with the group. We are all the richer for it.