A SUNDAY IN AUGUST
Words and photos by Meagan Albrechtson
I first heard about A Sunday in August winery when a co-worker was praising their wine, then I tried it at my local pub, then picked it up at the wine shop. I was instantly curious. Since 2016, Michael Shindler and his partner Sam Milbrath have been making small-batch wines with minimal intervention, using organic grapes from B.C.’s Similkameen Valley. I had the opportunity to chat with Michael about how he found himself in the wine world, how the industry is changing, and why he thinks wine should be accessible and chug-able.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START MAKING WINE?
“It’s sort of been a slow progression. I was going up to wineries and helping out, took some wine courses and started reading a lot. A Vancouver wine writer had just bought a vineyard in the Similkameen Valley that had been left feral for a few years. I went with a few buddies to pick the grapes, which were Gewürztraminer, then made about 400 litres of wine in my backyard. We left it in my bike shed for a year. The wine was pretty shit because it we picked the grapes late, so it was really high alcohol and high sugar. But that was the first instance of proper wine making and trying to do it right rather than just helping out.”
WHAT IS THE TIMELINE OF MAKING WINE?
“Mid-September to beginning of October is harvest time. I do everything in neutral barrels so they don’t have any flavour or taste oaky. I have to go up every month or six weeks to replenish the wine, then I bottle everything in late April. Some of the reds I could leave for another six months, but [this year] they were showing really well, and I want to make fresher, livelier wines anyway.”
ANY WINE MENTORS YOU LOOK UP TO?
“Jay Drysdale from Bella has taught me more than anyone. He talks through things with me so I’m not alone in doing it. He mentors a ton of young people. It’s really cool to have people who have been in the industry longer, who know their shit and push us all up.”
“Matt Sherlock from Lock & Worth is also insanely supportive. Those guys will bring our wines to trade events and be like, ‘Hey, you should try this.’ Having that level of support allows the younger generation to do stuff. I think it will make the industry way more diverse.”
HOW HAS THE B.C. WINE INDUSTRY EVOLVED IN RECENT YEARS?
“I think there was a lot of pretty bad wine 20 years ago, but I think the industry has really started to get it together and starting to make some cool wines. There are a lot of wineries being scooped up by really big companies, but lately, people are trying to figure out ways to have smaller, artisanal wineries, which is great.”
WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO CREATE WITH A SUNDAY IN AUGUST WINES?
“The idea is to not make wine a bougie commodity. I want my wines to be accessible, I want people to see the labels and say, ‘Oh I get it.’ Wine doesn’t have to have a chateau on the front and be about how fancy your house and car is.”
“I just want wine to be fun, and chug-able. Wines that you can take to the park, go camping with, that are also elegant and speak to where they’re from.”
WHERE DO SEE THE NATURAL WINE MOVEMENT HEADING IN BC?
“Compared to places like Australia, California and France, there aren’t many people making or trying to push natural wine. B.C. is so heavily regulated that it’s hard to do. But now there’s a ton of people with smaller, artisanal wineries. I think in 10 years it’s going to be so fucking cool here. It’s just starting to kick off.”
“The other cool thing that’s happened – which has always been the cornerstone of our business – is that people our age drink wine. They’re down to spend a their money on something interesting and that’s really cool because it supports people.”
ALL YOUR WINE LABELS ARE DESIGNED BY WOMEN. WAS THAT A DELIBERATE CHOICE?
“Yeah, all of the labels are designed by female artists from Canada. The first artist is our really good friend Gina Mackay, her partner and I use to play in a band together. Then there’s Darby and Claire Milbrath - my sister in laws, who are both painters. Claire lives in Montreal and has a magazine called The Editorial. My friend Maggie Boyd did one of the designs also. I want [the wines] to be a little inclusive. The wine world can be super man-heavy, and especially white-man heavy so it’s nice to try and push some inclusivity as much as possible.”
IF YOU WEREN’T MAKING WINE IN B.C., WHERE WOULD YOU BE DOING IT?
“I think about this all the time! Maybe somewhere in Southern Italy, somewhere close to the water because I love the ocean. We were recently hanging out with some winemakers in Loire (France) and learned they pay about 10,000 a hectare for really famous beautiful land. Sometimes it’s up to a million here for an acre, which is crazy. The grapes we buy are at least double the price.”
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE WINERY?
“We’d like to get some land ourselves and plant grapes. The supply side of it is very insecure constantly so it would be great to know that we have grapes coming in and we know where they’re coming from. We rent an apartment on Commercial Drive so it would be nice to own some land at some point, have kids and that sort of stuff [laughs].”
To learn more about A Sunday in August wines and where you can find them, visit asundayinaugust.com and @asundayinaugust
