This is where my Okanagan love story truly began…

The drive in already sets the tone. You wind your way through the vines, cross a small creek, pass a few curious quails, and suddenly the winery reveals itself, tucked into lush greenery like a well-kept secret. It feels like the start of something—and it is. Come here once, and it lingers with you. Stay a little longer, especially if you discover the villa, and you may not want to leave at all.

This is one of the oldest wineries in the Okanagan, with roots going back to 1968, when Italian immigrant Joe Busnardo first planted his dream. The story goes that he brought cuttings of Vitis vinifera from Italy in his suitcase—smuggled passion, you could say—and planted them in Okanagan soil. He called it Divino Estate.

That’s how it started. Italian roots, quite literally, meeting the raw potential of the Golden Mile Bench—a site blessed with sun-drenched days, cool nights, and just enough challenge to keep things interesting. There was trial and error, plenty of both, but out of it grew something lasting: Hester Creek Estate Winery.

When it comes to Hester Creek Winery Okanagan, by 1996, Joe was ready to step back, and the winery changed hands. It was renamed after the creek that runs through the property—simple, grounded, and tied to the land.

Then, in 2004, everything shifted again. Curt Garland saw the place and fell hard for it. It reminded him of Tuscany, and he didn’t just want to own it—he wanted to recreate that feeling. Not in a forced way, but in a way that made sense here. And he pulled it off.

The tasting room opens onto a patio where time slows down—wine in hand, live music drifting through the air, vineyard views doing their quiet work. The restaurant is easily one of the coziest in the entire Okanagan, the kind of place where you settle in without noticing the hours pass. And then there’s the villa. A small collection of suites and a bungalow, all designed with that understated Tuscan touch, looking out over rows of vines that seem to go on forever.

The wines tell their own story. Pinot Blanc, Trebbiano, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah—varieties that thrive in the alluvial soils of the Golden Mile Bench. The long growing season does its part, but it’s the balance—warm days, cool nights, that gentle shift from morning sun to afternoon shade—that really shapes the wines. You taste it in the fruit, in the structure, in that fine line between ripeness and freshness.

Under the guidance of winemaker Mark Hopley, the approach stays focused and deliberate. Everything is hand-harvested, carefully sorted, and handled with restraint. No unnecessary force, no shortcuts. Just clean fruit, treated with respect. The use of mostly French oak adds texture without overpowering—subtle, controlled, exactly as it should be.

Hester Creek isn’t just a winery. It’s a place you feel. The landscape, the people, the rhythm of it all—it stays with you, long after the last glass is empty.

Award Winners

Hester Creek Winery - Tuscany Experience in the Heart of Okanagan