Tidings Magazine

There are few more daring ways to grasp the proverbial bureaucratic dragon by the tail than to make spirits in British Columbia. But diehard lover of eau-de-vie and grappa Frank Deiter has succeeded where others have failed — and where few, in fact, have even dared to go before.

The retired forester, who learned his spirit skills from a German master distiller, was always a keen amateur. A relative newcomer to the rough-and-tumble world of commercial distilling, he established Okanagan Spirits in Vernon, BC, just a couple of years ago.

“A small fortune for the man who is willing to work and use his brains,” assured J. T. Bealby in his 1909 landmark treatise Fruit Ranching in British Columbia. Such glowing early reports underscored the success of the budding industry; in recent years, however, global trading shifts have made several fruits — especially apples — less economically viable. Nowadays, fruit is all too often left to drop and rot on the ground. It was all an unthinkable waste to Deiter, who saw the potential of the fallen apples, pears and other discards.

(Deiter wasn’t the first, though, to see the possibilities of putting ground fruit to good use: back in the dark days of the Great Depression, as the apple crop lay rotting, former BC premier W. A. C. Bennet and Pasquale Cappozzi took the initiative to found a sparkling-cider estate that would eventually become Calona Vineyards, the province’s longest established winery.)

Okanagan Spirits’ well-made eaux-de-vie and grappas are now found in several higher-end restaurants throughout the BC interior, Vancouver Island and on the Lower Mainland. However, in true Canadian style, the still-young distiller is making waves far further afield than local shores. The distillery recently took home international awards from the prestigious World Spirits competition held annually in Klagenfurt, Austria: no less than ten medals for 2007 — three gold, six silver, one bronze, and across-the-board recognition.

Deiter’s growing lineup includes a classic, very clean Eau de Vie de Poire, a take on Poire Williams; a cutely named Canados Barrique Apple, a smooth and vibrant Okanagan salute to the fabled Calvados, the French apple brandy. Canados epitomizes Okanagan Spirits’ modus operandi: to emulate classics without copying them, to pay tribute to a tradition but still inject a strong sense of local character. And indeed, Canados is a very respectable BC salute to Calvados. The apple- and cinnamon-toned, surprisingly smooth and gently oaked eau-de-vie is already much sought after.

No surprise, then, that Deiter’s products are increasingly found in some of the province’s leading rooms, including C, Le Crocodile, Lumière and Fresco. Some chefs appreciate the products’ superiority in the kitchen (alcohol is used in everything from Black Forest Cake (Kirsch) to Pâté Cognac and Sauce Calvados for pork medallions), while others have made room in their bars.

Now that dessert wines have become a fixture, the likes of Okanagan Spirits’s Canados, Gewürztraminer Grappa, Eau de Vie de Poire and Old Italian Prune — all around $40 for 375 ml — are showing up on better wine lists. And restaurateurs such as über-palate Manuel Ferreira (owner of Vancouver’s long-running Le Gavroche) are having fun working Deiter’s flavours into new drink ideas — take the Raspberry Fountain: fill a tall glass with ice; pour one ounce of Okanagan Spirits’s raspberry eau-de-vie over the ice, fill with orange juice; drizzle one ounce raspberry syrup and garnish with a fresh raspberry.