(Castanet introduces its newest columnist, Yvonne Turgeon, who will write about the B.C. wine industy and it's wine makers.)

Creston sits tucked into the Kootenays in southeastern B.C., cradled by the Purcell Mountains on one side and the Selkirks on the other.

The wide Creston Valley stretches out along the Kootenay River as it winds towards Kootenay Lake, its fertile floodplain laid down by glaciers long ago. Thanks to those mountain walls, the valley enjoys a gentler climate than the rest of the region—a sweet spot where orchards and fields thrive in an oasis of sunshine and shelter.

Wine is a newer part of that story. Vineyards were planted about three decades ago, taking root in soils left by retreating glaciers and the river itself, a mix of silts, tills and sandy loams.

Like the famed alluvial fans of the Golden Mile Bench in the South Okanagan, Creston’s glacial soils balance drainage and richness, giving a whisper of that fresh,........

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