He’s known as the "Chief Wine Evangelist" who spreads the good news that B.C. wines are world-class.
Besides being a successful entrepreneur, he’s also an innovator, a community leader, a philanthropist, and a proprietor of good times. For these reasons, Wine Growers British Columba (WGBC) recently presented Glenn Fawcett, CEO and president of Black Hills Estate Winery with their Award of Distinction.
The award recognizes a winery representative for their outstanding leadership, commitment and passion for the advancement of the BC wine industry. Fawcett became involved in wine after working in the travel industry with his Bust Loose Holidays for young adults. “I’ve always looked for things that are kind of fun to be involved with,” he admits.
In 2001, both he and his wife toured the Napa Valley and “were blown away by the beauty of the surroundings.” Never having been to a vineyard, a winery, or a tasting room, “we were constantly meeting interesting people. And it just seemed that in these wine-tasting rooms there was such a positive beat environment and wine was such a catalyst for so many cool conversations,” Fawcett adds.
I didn’t know anything about wine but we started asking how do we get in the wine business,” Fawcett says. With his background in tourism, Fawcett started doing wine tours and got the experts to talk about wine. He then did some consulting with Therapy Vineyards who put together a Limited Partnership which was unique at the time.
Later, when the owners of Black Hills Estate Winery contacted him, Fawcett leapt at the chance to acquire that winery. He reveals, “We got 360 limited partnerships together that effectively became owners of Black Hills in 2007. And then it was off to the races!” The partnership owned Black Hills for nine years with Fawcett as CEO and President until it was sold to Andrew Peller Limited.
Glenn Fawcett says “I’m thrilled beyond belief to get this award from my peers. The reason I’m getting the award is because of all the promotion I’ve done for BC as a wine region.” One promotional event was the Vinos Wine Film Festival, a 60-second commercial content where any films related to BC wine could be submitted. “During its three years, we had 160 submissions that went completely viral. Some were quite funny, some were quite touching,” he recalls.
Fawcett continues, “On top of that I started the Osoyoos Celebrity Wine Festival and that was in tandem with Jason Priestley from Hollywood 90210. Jason was on the board of directors for Black Hills Winery for 10 years and he donated his time and brought along a bunch of his celebrity friends. In cooperation with tourism authorities, we ran this three-day gala wine festival and the media just ate it up. It gave exposure for Osoyoos to wine aficionados. The Celebrity Wine Festival helped change the perception that the Osoyoos area really was for wine tourism and really got wine things rolling,” Fawcett says.
Fawcett admits there’s not a single person who inspired him but he picked up bits and pieces along the way of travelling in the California wine regions. “At Black Hills we were the first in BC to create a sit-down wine tasting room, our Wine Experience Centre.”
“We studied what Napa wineries were doing including Duckhorn where they had 100% sit-down. You had each wine poured in a special Riedel glass and you had a more immersive engaging tasting than if you went to a stand-up tasting bar. It went over great, they learned a lot more about wine, they got to relax; it wasn’t a busy stand-up tasting room, and it really worked from a business point of view,” he reveals.
Where does Glenn Fawcett find the time and energy to do all this? ‘”My wife would say he just never sleeps. I just find it’s the energy I get from seeing people have a great time or see people having a unique experience whether it’s our tasting room, one of our events, or at the Vino Film Festival; it’s the excitement, the smiles on their faces, the special experience that has been created for people, it’s just so motivating. And that fuels my fire!”
Eric Hanson is a life-long Richmond resident, retired teacher and wine educator. Eric has also taught wine appreciation courses in Richmond and throughout Metro Vancouver for many years. He continues to be a journalistic ambassador for the enchanting world of wine through his weekly column.
