Mark Anthony Group owner Anthony von Mandl is building a new high-end winery that will carry the Martin's Lane brand, which helped him win the best pinot noir in the world in the "under £15" category at the Decanter World Wine Awards last September.
"We start excavating tomorrow," von Mandl told a Vancouver Board of Trade luncheon April 23. "My ambitious mostly impossible goal is to have this advanced winery built in 152 days so it is ready to crush grapes this fall."
He would not disclose how much he is spending on the winery.
The gravity-fed sloped vineyard and winery site is adjacent to the CedarCreek Estate Winery that von Mandl bought in January.
The move comes as von Mandl restructures his wine assets.
Until recently Mark Anthony Group had three main divisions: Mission Hill Family Estate Winery; Artisan Wine Co., which produces a number of different wine brands; and Mark Anthony Brands, which is a drinks and distribution company.
He created VMF Estates last year as the division that would include all of his B.C. wine assets. That now includes Mission Hill Estate Winery, CedarCreek Estate Winery, CheckMate Artisanal Winery, his new Martin's Lane Winery and other brands that previously were under Artisan Wine Co.
Von Mandl told BIV that Mark Anthony Group's other division will include his wines made from foreign juice as well as beer from his Turning Point Brewery, his many spirit products that he distributes as well as products such as Mike's Hard Lemonade, which he created in 1996 as a spirit cooler and in 1999 made to be a malt beverage so it could be distributed in the U.S.
