Passion. Precision. Purpose.

Corcelettes Estate Winery, located on 150 acres in the pristine Similkameen Valley, blends passion, precision and science to craft expressive, small lot premium wines. Led by Charlie and Jesce Baessler, the skilled team at Corcelettes is committed to creating exceptional wines and experiences for visitors. In history the word “Corcelettes” described a royal garden; this has not changed with the team’s continued attention to the land and precision practices in both the vineyard and cellar. 

We place greatest care in our viticulture and believe in making our wine on the vine. Cultivating our estate vineyard and working closely with our local growers, no short cuts are ever taken in finding balance between viticulture, our environment, and winemaking. Our first vintage was in 2011, consisting of 200 cases. We currently craft 8000 cases of wine per year, with plans of increasing production based on new vineyard plantings. 

With 40 planted acres, we present a growing range of premium wines that showcase the stony, windswept terroir of the Similkameen. Our portfolio includes Bordeaux varietals, Syrah, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, crafted from Similkameen grown grapes. Each bottle captures an entire season of tending our land and every step of cultivating our grapes by hand, with great respect for our unique terroir.

Within each sip is the intensity of the sun against the hot, steep valley walls, and the notoriously powerful wind that sweeps the valley, and the gnarly, mixed stone & mineral rich soils in which our vines are rooted.

The Similkameen Valley is a rugged, magical place that is the Canadian wine industry’s best kept not-so-secret anymore, and we couldn’t be more proud to have planted our roots here.

We hope to share a story with our visitors, through an experience that is authentically Similkameen, that is the essence of our passion for crafting wine in this spectacular valley. 

Corcelettes consistently ranks in the Top 10 Small Wineries each year, in the National Wine Awards of Canada, as well as Top 10 overall in Canada and Top 10 BC Wineries 2024.

Be part of our journey.

Get a taste of it!

Spirals are found in many ancient cultures and are considered symbols of energy, growth, progression and evolution.  The single spiral is one of the oldest, most sacred symbols in humanity and is a reminder of our evolving journey in life.

The spiral symbol resonates with the family and team at Corcelettes Estate Winery as we too continuously progress, grow and evolve – through our vineyards, our cellar and the wine in your glass.

Harvest 2024- Corcelettes Heads South to Washington!

Hello everyone! It’s certain now that the BC wine industry is faced with a minimal crop for 2024, and as such, temporary ministerial allowances for BC wineries to pursue wine production from non-BC grapes, have been made. This has created an exciting opportunity for us to expand our “exploratory” brand, PHOENIX, to the vast viticultural region of Washington state. 

We’ve ventured south several times since April in pursuit of romance. As winemakers, we love making wine! Washington state boasts several unique AVA’s (American Viticultural Areas), each with their own unique growing characteristics and planted varietals. Our goal was not to simply acquire grapes, but to find romance as we recover our own prized Similkameen vineyards. After touring 9 of WA 20 AVA’s, Brett and I were finally able to find love it what is called the Wahluke Slopes AVA. The name "Wahluke" is a Native American term for 'watering place'. This is one of the warmest regions in the state, the Wahluke Slope is known primarily for red grape varieties, particularly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah. Uniformities in aspect, soil type, and climate are the other major distinguishing features of the area.

To us, most importantly, Wahluke Sloped is now home to our 2024 Afterglow Rose and Chardonnay and we can't wait to present this to you in spring of 2025.

We are so thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with Washington grape growers. Truly a passionate pool of skilled growers. The scale of Washington vineyards is impressive, but their ability to accommodate our small winery needs and particular nature is so refreshing. Viewing single vineyard blocks that at times, out scale our entire Similkameen valley acreage, they allowed Brett and I to cherry pick the rows that spoke to us the most. 

(Bush vine viticulture, much like we will be doing with our new plantings)

The "YES" moment!

It's difficult to describe why we select the sites that we do, what we believe would make one site more special than another, becuase each place is special in its own way. It's more of a... "feeling".

Basically standing on the tailgate of a truck, in a vineyard, and you just get the vibe of that place. A combination of the dirt, the vistas, and the farmers behind the land. When you meet "the one", that's when the YES moment hits- we like to think of it as intentional serendipity. 

(The "One"- these vines in particular are Syrah which we are sourcing for Afterglow....)

Following a detailed survey of all these Washington regions, we are thrilled to be working with the team at Wyckoff Farms. Wyckoff Farms is a large, vertically integrated, mixed farm operation with large holdings of land in Horse Heavens, Yakima Valley and Walhuke Slopes. Their large holdings of vineyards in these three notorious regions allows us to select from their vineyards like a child would in a candy shop! Although their business model would be considered large, even in Washington standards, their accommodating approach to our small winery needs is admirable.

Chris and his now wife Brandy, met at Wyckoff Farms over 20 years ago and now assume Wyckoff Farms vineyard operations and sales. Wyckoff’s company culture is first class, and they meet all of our needy, and particular, small winery needs, with excitement. It’s truly an exciting relationship and we couldn’t be working with better people than the whole team at Wyckoff Farms. 

Truly an impressive farm operation. Wyckoff Farms, in addition to their impressive vineyard portfolio, produce all sorts of orchard fruits, hops and row crops. We look forward to sharing to their growing skill and terroir with you.

Stay tuned for more to come from our new "Phoenix" lineup of wines- we are excited to explore wine regions outside of our own valley and feel this is a unique opportunity to do just that.

Recent Awards for Corcelettes!

We are thrilled to announce that we've won a whopping 8 medals at the 2024 National Wine Awards of Canada! 

Vineyard & Wine Industry Update...

February 27, 2024

Greetings, Wine Friends and Family!

With winter in the rearview mirror and spring just over the horizon, it is time we share some updates.

As you may have recently seen on the news, the BC wine industry has been dealt a cold, cold hand. We have received many inquiries from you about how our last two winters have impacted our vines... here goes the report:

In December of 2022 and again in January of 2024, the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys experienced weather phenomena known as Arctic Outflows. These are extremely vast and deep cold air masses resulting in complete crop loss. This happens when the fruit baring portion of our vines’ buds reach lethal temperatures of minus 27.  As a result of these cold temperatures, the vines themselves sustain significant long-term damage, compounded further by these back-to-back events. You can see in the image below, taken this week, the pruned spurs from last spring that didn't even grow shoots, let alone fruit. 

Because we are perfectionists in our craft, we have decided to undertake a large replant program of our vineyards. We continue to look for lessons in these last two winter events and our need for innovation has never been greater.  There is good news though- we have an opportunity to replant and rearrange varietals to more complimenting areas and soils across our 5 unique vineyards, use the latest technology and materials to increase our environmental sustainability, and no doubt, improve on the wine quality you’ve all come to love from Corcelettes.

Our spirits are unwavering, but this plan will take time. As a result of this replant project, our production will greatly reduce. We have pivoted hard over the last several years - fires, floods, a heat dome, hail, public health closures and travel bans on tourism - and these latest winters are no exception.  We will certainly deliver on all of this years’ wine club commitments and have many plans for 2025. We are extremely grateful for your support, now especially more than ever. 

No one ever said farming was easy, and no agricultural industry is without its risks. We’ve had a great number of impressive vintages behind us, and we are confident that there are more outstanding wines to come from Corcelettes- we just need to be patient, and wait for our new plantings to once again produce some of Canada’s greatest wines.

A small silver lining is that we still have our 2021 and 2022 red wines to be released, and they are nothing short of exceptional. Club members will of course have first priority access to all of these wines- commitment to our customers and providing direct-to-consumer service is (and always has been) our top priority at Corcelettes. 

You may notice that we may seem a little "quiet" on the promotional side of wine events and festivals, and that is part of our strategy to conserve wines and help to extend our inventory supply for our loyal customers. We are pulling back to focus attention where it is most needed- in our vineyards and at the winery, but rest assured that things around the farm will be anything but quiet. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we are up for the task! 

If you have any questions or concerns at all, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

We thank you again for your support. We are blessed to have such a wonderful clientele along with us for this journey in wine- for the good times, and the challenging ones as well!

Charlie, Jesce, and the Team at Corcelettes