A new generation of Indigenous tastemakers are energizing the Okanagan Valley

Generation next

A new cohort of Indigenous tastemakers is energizing the Okanagan Valley Dan Bilefsky The Globe and Mail Published 31 minutes ago

Eliana Bray and Joanna Schlosser at Niche Winery Kelowna, B.C. Lyndsay Manyluk/The Globe and Mail

For several years, as harvest got under way in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, Cree sommelier and chef Eliana Bray poured a bottle of the previous year’s vintage over the first bushels of freshly picked grapes destined to become wine.

Standing by the press amid glassy blue lakes and ochre-tinged hills lined with vineyards, she performed a ritual rooted in Indigenous custom, paying homage to nature’s abundance.

“Indigenous culture is helping to redefine winemaking in the Okanagan Valley,” says Bray, who wears bronze and silver wris