Canada · British Columbia

Meyer Family Vineyards

Okanagan Valley Chardonnay and Pinot Noir traced to named vineyard sites in Okanagan Falls, the Naramata Bench and Kaleden.

The producer

Meyer Family Vineyards has made wine in the Okanagan Valley since 2006. From its McLean Creek Road base in Okanagan Falls, JAK Meyer, Janice Stevens-Meyer and winemaker-viticulturist Chris Carson connect Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to three vineyard addresses: McLean Creek Road, Old Main Road and Lakehill Road. The home vineyard was planted in 1994 on a steep southerly slope of gravelly sandy loam formed by alluvial and glacial deposits.

The range moves from estate wine to vineyard-designated bottlings. Old Main Road Chardonnay 2022 brings body and acidity together before a saline finish, while B Fieldblend Pinot Noir 2022 carries Pinot Noir aroma, acidity, tannin and finish in a different frame. The Old Main Road Vineyard Micro Cuvée Chardonnay 2022 offers another expression of the same named site, with its own recorded ageing and texture.

Known for

Site-named Okanagan Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

Notable facts

The story

The 2008 McLean Creek Road purchase

In 2008, JAK Meyer and Janice Stevens-Meyer bought the Okanagan Falls property that became the working base for their single-vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir project. The purchase included a 2,400-square-foot winery and 16 acres of vines, bringing cellar and vineyard together at McLean Creek Road. The slope had been planted in 1994 and faced south over gravelly sandy-loam soil formed by alluvial and glacial deposits. The site later became the winery and tasting-room address at 4287 McLean Creek Road, while the family also worked with fruit from Old Main Road on the Naramata Bench and Lakehill Road in Kaleden.

From the atlas

Meyer Family Vineyards

At A Glance

Meyer Family Vineyards makes Okanagan Valley wine from an Okanagan Falls base at 4287 McLean Creek Road. The family-owned producer has made wine since 2006, opened its tasting room in 2010, and makes about 8,000 cases a year. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir sit at the centre of a range whose labels lead back to three vineyard addresses: McLean Creek Road, Old Main Road and Lakehill Road.

The Producer

JAK Meyer and Janice Stevens-Meyer run Meyer Family Vineyards with Chris Carson as winemaker and viticulturist. Meyer came from investment, while Stevens-Meyer brought accounting and food-and-beverage experience; their wine project is therefore tied to a working winery and vineyard rather than a tasting-room label. Carson returned to Canada in 2008 after eight years of work or study in New Zealand, California and Montrachet, bringing that experience to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir made in British Columbia.

Place

The winery sits in Okanagan Falls, within the Okanagan Valley, but the range is not confined to one address. McLean Creek Road is the home vineyard, Old Main Road lies on the Naramata Bench, and Lakehill Road is in Kaleden. A vineyard name on a Meyer label identifies where the fruit was grown, so Old Main Road Chardonnay is read as a single-vineyard wine rather than simply as a regional Chardonnay.

Soil And Site

McLean Creek Road was planted in 1994 on a steep, southerly aspect. Its gravelly sandy-loam soils come from alluvial and glacial deposits, giving the home site a physical foundation distinct from the Naramata Bench and Kaleden vineyards. That matters most in a producer built around vineyard names: the estate address is not only where bottles are poured, but a planted slope behind its Chardonnay and Pinot Noir project.

Story

Meyer Family Vineyards began making wine in 2006, before the Okanagan Falls tasting room opened in 2010. The estate joined founders whose experience lay outside vineyard work with a winemaker-viticulturist whose training moved through New Zealand, California and Montrachet. The result is a small Okanagan producer that treats site as a practical part of the label: McLean Creek Road for the home vineyard, Old Main Road for a Naramata Bench Chardonnay, and Lakehill Road for another source of fruit.

Vineyards And Cellar

The producer describes its work as minimal intervention, with Chris Carson responsible for both vineyard and cellar. That combined role keeps farming and winemaking close together: harvesting decisions begin in the named vineyard, then the cellar carries that fruit into wines identified by grape and site. The bottle-specific material for the 2022 releases records élevage for both B Fieldblend Pinot Noir and Old Main Road Chardonnay, while the Micro Cuvée Chardonnay receives its own documented ageing treatment.

Wines

The range moves between estate and vineyard-designated wines rather than presenting every release as the same expression. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir provide the central grape frame, while the three vineyard addresses supply the geographical distinction. McLean Creek Road establishes the Okanagan Falls home site; Old Main Road places Chardonnay on the Naramata Bench; Lakehill Road extends the range to Kaleden.

B Fieldblend Pinot Noir 2022 is a Pinot Noir-based wine with documented composition and élevage. Old Main Road Chardonnay 2022 is a single-vineyard Chardonnay, and Old Main Road Vineyard Micro Cuvée Chardonnay 2022 takes the same named vineyard into a separate bottling with its own recorded texture, flavour and ageing assessment. These are different bottle roles, not a claimed ladder of quality.

In The Glass

The Pinot Noir and Chardonnay give the range two different structural languages. The published assessment of B Fieldblend Pinot Noir 2022 follows its aromas through acidity, tannin and finish; that is Pinot Noir described through both perfume and grip rather than fruit alone. Its documented élevage is part of the wine’s frame, alongside the grape’s acidity and tannin.

Old Main Road Chardonnay 2022 brings body and acidity together on the palate, with a saline finish in the published tasting assessment. The Micro Cuvée Chardonnay adds a separate record of texture, flavour and ageing potential. Across those two Chardonnays, the Old Main Road name supplies the shared vineyard address, while the bottlings keep their own cellar and mouthfeel profiles.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Old Main Road Chardonnay 2022. It is a single-vineyard Chardonnay from the Naramata Bench, so the label makes the producer’s site-led approach easy to follow: grape, vineyard name and bottle are all stated in one place. Its reported palate has body and acidity, ending on a saline finish. That combination makes it a useful first glass for seeing how Meyer Family Vineyards separates a named Chardonnay vineyard from its Okanagan Falls home address.

Anecdote

In 2008, JAK Meyer and Janice Stevens-Meyer bought the Okanagan Falls property that would become their physical base. The purchase included a 2,400-square-foot winery and 16 acres of vines, giving their single-vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir project a working cellar and planted ground in one move. The address was McLean Creek Road, where the vineyard had been planted in 1994 on its steep southerly slope. The property later became the winery and tasting-room site at 4287 McLean Creek Road, while the family continued to draw fruit from Old Main Road on the Naramata Bench and Lakehill Road in Kaleden.

Final Word

Meyer Family Vineyards is easiest to follow bottle by bottle: Chardonnay or Pinot Noir, then the vineyard address behind it. McLean Creek Road, Old Main Road and Lakehill Road turn an Okanagan Valley name into wines with a specific place to trace.

Sources

Open Meyer Family Vineyards in the interactive map →