Nothing Added Nothing Removed

The story of Sage Hills Vineyard begins not in a wine region but in an abandoned peach, apricot, and plum orchard on the Dickinson family fruit farm in Summerland, BC. In 2006, after an exhaustive two-year search that took them across Washington, Oregon, the Gulf Islands, and the eastern shore of Vancouver Island, Rick and Toby Thrussell found the land they had been dreaming of — an 11-acre parcel on a lake-facing hillside with sweeping views of Okanagan Lake and the kind of slope and aspect that whispered "vineyard." They purchased the property, began building their home, and set about reshaping the old orchard into what would become one of the Okanagan's most distinctive organic vineyards.

Within the next year, vines were imported from France and planted — Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Noir — varieties chosen for their suitability to the cooler, east-facing slopes of the Summerland site. From the very first day, the farming was organic. No man-made synthetic chemicals. No pesticides, fungicides, or synthetic fertilizers. If any sprays were employed, they were plant-based (sea-kelp for vine nutrition) or mineral-based (sulphur and potassium bicarbonate for mildew prevention). The goal was not merely to grow grapes but to create a harmonic balance between native plants, vine development, and the health of the living soils. Rick, who jokingly calls himself the "Head Weed Picker," and Toby, the resident green thumb whose attentive gardening makes Sage Hills feel like a home away from home, have been on site daily ever since — overseeing operations, tending the large vegetable garden that feeds the family, and championing the preservation of surrounding habitats.

The winemaking initially started in a more conventional manner, but a transformation was underway. In 2017, Keenan Thrussell — Rick and Toby's youngest son, who had grown up working these vines — took over as head winemaker and viticulturist. His goal was singular: to have the beautiful vineyards reflected purely within the wines. Inspired by thousands of years of winemaking across the world, Keenan began steering Sage Hills toward natural wine — a commitment that became absolute with the 2019 vintage. From that point forward, every wine was fermented using only naturally occurring yeast present on the skins of the grapes. No additions. No fining. No filtering. The cloudiness of the wines became a badge of honour — evidence that the wine was alive, unadulterated, and true to its terroir. This is not merely a winery; it is a family's life's work, built from an abandoned orchard and a two-year search for the perfect piece of land.

The winemaking at Sage Hills is defined by a philosophy that Keenan Thrussell has spent years refining: the vineyard determines the wine, and the winemaker's job is to let the grapes express themselves without interference. Since the 2019 vintage, all wines have been fermented using only naturally occurring yeast present on the skins of the grapes — no cultured yeasts, no enzymes, no adjustments. The wines are not fined and not filtered — the cloudiness that you see in the bottle is evidence of a wine that is alive, unadulterated, and true to its terroir. The team relies on healthy fruit and natural preservatives to stabilise the wines, rather than chemical additions or aggressive filtration. This is all in an effort to bring the most naturally terroir-driven expressions possible from the Okanagan vineyard.

The Pét-Nat sparkling wines are perhaps the most joyful expression of this philosophy — wild-fermented in the bottle, hazy, unfiltered, and alive with sediment. The organic white wines — Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer — are fermented in stainless steel to preserve their aromatic freshness and mineral clarity, with some expressions seeing French oak barrel maturation for added complexity. The skin-contact (orange) wines push the boundaries further — fermented on the skins with wild yeast, creating textured, amber-hued wines that challenge preconceptions of what Okanagan white wine can be. The organic red wines — Pinot Noir, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon — are made with the same minimal-intervention approach, allowing the varieties to express their Okanagan character without cellar manipulation. And the fortified wines round out the portfolio, offering concentrated, complex expressions for the adventurous palate.

What makes Sage Hills' approach particularly courageous is its transparency. The team believes that if anything is ever added to the wine — such as a small amount of sulphur — it must always be labelled on the bottle. As sulphur is naturally occurring in all wine, they are mindful of these additions, in an effort to reduce sensitivities experienced by some consumers and to keep the wines vibrant and alive. The wines are also 100% vegan — no animal products are used in the winemaking process. All grapes are hand-picked, ensuring that only the healthiest fruit enters the cellar. And the lighter-weight glass bottles (introduced in 2020) reduce the carbon footprint of every shipment. For Keenan, this is winemaking as stewardship — not creation, but preservation.

Sage Hills Vineyard is not merely a winery; it is a proof that an abandoned orchard can become one of Canada's most environmentally progressive wine estates, that a family can build a net-zero, solar-powered, Salmon-Safe certified winery from the ground up, and that the most radical act in modern winemaking is sometimes simply to do nothing and let the wild yeast speak. In an era when the Okanagan Valley was often defined by either industrial scale or trophy-chasing luxury, the Thrussell family demonstrated that the truest Canadian wine is made not by choosing between tradition and innovation but by holding both in balance — respecting the old orchard while embracing wild fermentation, and never forgetting that the land must be returned to future generations in better condition than it was found. The same Pinot Noir that might have been made into a conventional, filtered, sulphite-heavy red has become a benchmark for cool-climate Okanagan natural wine. The same Pinot Gris that might have been stripped of its character has become a textured, carbonic, cloudy expression of terroir. And the same 10-acre hillside that might have been developed into a commercial estate has become a model for organic, net-zero, biodiversity-rich viticulture.

The legacy of Sage Hills is the legacy of the net-zero naturalists — a family who does not reject modernity but redefines it through the lens of solar power, Salmon-Safe certification, lighter-weight glass, and biocycle water systems. Rick and Toby's belief that "we consider ourselves stewards of the land" is not a political slogan but a farmer's credo — a recognition that the Syilx Okanagan Nation's territory must be respected, that the groundwater must be preserved, and that the snakes, coyotes, and wild Saskatoon plants that share the land are not pests but partners. Keenan's commitment to "nothing added, nothing removed" is not a marketing tagline but a winemaker's oath — a promise that every bottle contains only what the vineyard and the wild yeast have provided. The family's transparency — labelling every sulphur addition, embracing the cloudiness of unfiltered wine, and inviting visitors to see the process firsthand — is a challenge to an industry that too often hides behind technology and additives.

The future of the project is tied to the future of the Canadian natural wine movement — to the growing recognition that the most interesting wines come not from technology but from terroir, patience, and the courage to do less. As the Pét-Nat continues to introduce new drinkers to wild-fermented sparkling, as the skin-contact wines push the boundaries of what Okanagan orange wine can be, as the Pinot Noir matures in bottle and the estate vineyard's carbonate lime-rich soils continue to imprint their character on every vintage, and as the solar array expands and the net-zero commitment deepens, Sage Hills remains what the Thrussell family has always intended it to be: a living farm grounded in one hillside, one lake, and one unwavering conviction — that the best wine comes from the healthiest land, that nature's forces must be allowed to develop without interference, and that the Okanagan Valley's future depends on farming that gives back more than it takes. The story of this farm is the story of a family who looked at an abandoned orchard and saw not emptiness but potential — and who proved that the best Canadian wine is sometimes the one that comes from listening to the land, trusting the wild yeast, and never forgetting that nothing added, nothing removed is not just a label — it is a way of life. This is not merely a winery; it is a legacy — and Sage Hills invites every drinker to walk the path of the net-zero naturalist, one glass at a time.