There were plenty of reasons to celebrate with a glass of wine at Township 7 Vineyards & Winery on the Naramata Bench Friday afternoon.

Not only has the winery undergone a major renovation inside its McMillan Avenue facility, but they’ve also added an outdoor patio area, captured a couple of prestigious awards and recently completed purchasing the 30-acre Blue Terrace estate vineyard where they’ve been growing most of grapes near Oliver, said assistant general manager Trevor Allen

The former tasting room has been upgraded and a new large picture window has been installed providing a nice view of the outdoor patio lounge.

Photo Credit: PentictonNowTownship 7 Winery held an official 'grand re-opening' on Friday afternoon. The Naramata Bench winery has just completed a massive expansion.

They had been purchasing grapes from that vineyard for many years and it just made sense to own the property, he said.

Township 7 held an official “grand re-opening” celebration Friday afternoon, where they cut a ribbon and cake with several dozen visitors on hand.

The expansion started three years ago and just finished up last week, said Allen.

The expansion of the facility will allow the winery concentrate “all of its efforts on improving the quality of our wines” across the entire portfolio of the more than 20 different varieties they produce and sell, said Allen.

Photo Credit: PentictonNowTownship 7 Winery has added a new outdoor patio lounge as part of numerous upgrades.

“We’re not going to be making a lot more wine, but we’ll be able to do everything that we do under one roof with a lot more space,” said Allen. “Before the expansion, we were very cramped, very tight and that’s no longer the case.”

The expansion virtually doubled the amount of production space at the facility, said Allen.

“Not only do we have much more space, but we can now concentrate on quality control with everything we do here under one roof,” he said.

Photo Credit: PentictonNowA nice crowd showed up for the 'grand re-opening' at Township 7 Winery Friday afternoon.

Having an outdoor lounge area is very important as customers now have a place to enjoy a nice glass of wine with a view of the spectacular Naramata Bench area, said Allen.

Before expansion, customers could purchase a bottle of wine and enjoy a glass on an outdoor grassy area, but having a licensed lounge was a big part of expansion plans, he said.

The good news continued for the winery when it was revealed last week that they had captured a gold award at the Pacific Northwest Wine Awards and a Best in Class award at the prestigious Los Angeles International Wine Awards, said Allen

The majority of wines produced at Township 7 will focus on “single varietal wines. We do several small lot wines with purpose and only have a couple of products that include blends.

.Photo Credit: PentictonNowTrevor Allen, the assistant general manager at Township 7 Winery, was all smiles Friday as the winery held a grand re-opening celebration.

“A lot of our wines only produce 250 to 500 cases in each variety and that’s why many of them are sold out.”

Being able to offer more than 20 different products is important as different people have different tastes in wine, he said.

“It’s our belief that every wine has a purpose,” he said. “Wine takes on a different meaning depending on the time of day, your mood, who you’re enjoying a glass of wine with and we like to think we have a different wine for all of those things.

Photo Credit: PentictonNow

“We don’t like to add things that don’t need to be added to our wines. If a particular vintage gives you sugar, then that will be reflected in the wine.”

Township 7 was thrilled to be able to hire Mary McDermott as its head winemaker four years ago, he said.

“Mary had worked in the Niagara region and had gained this outstanding reputation,” he said. “Like a top chef, we wanted to have the highest quality of winemaker on board as we moved forward with this major expansion.

Photo Credit: PentictonNow

“We didn’t really feel we would be able to get someone of her quality, but we found out differently when we reached out. She’s been on board for four years now and we’re thrilled to have her leading the way.

“It’s also wonderful to have another top female winemaker from the Okanagan working for us.”

For more about Township 7 Winery, go online and visit www.township7.com.