A Legacy Secured: The Golden Mile’s Fairview Cellars Announces New Ownership

Hutton Family

Since 1997, boutique winery Fairview Cellars has been making some of the South Okanagan’s boldest, most delicious red wines from grapes grown on 10 acres at the northern tip of the region’s renowned Golden Mile. That was the year winemaker Bill Eggert produced the winery’s first commercial vintage — the realization of his long-held dream to own and operate his own winery. Now, a quarter of a century later, Eggert is passing that dream on to a new generation: wife and husband duo Danielle and Dermott Hutton.

“The first time I had dinner with Danielle to talk about her taking on a role as general manager at the winery, I told her I don’t want someone looking at this as a job . . . I want someone who will look at it as a lifetime,” remembers Eggert. “That’s exactly what I got.” That was in 2020, and soon after, she was working side-by-side with him in the cellar, learning the craft of winemaking. In a way, the changes forced on the industry by the pandemic allowed her to take an accelerated course in winemaking; with restrictions on visitors to the winery, she couldn’t rely on her hospitality background to occupy her time. “I couldn’t do what’s most comfortable for me; it forced me to learn new things,” says Danielle. “I’ve come a long way in just a couple of years.”

Eggert first met the Huttons as part owners of an Oliver brewery, but before moving to the valley with their three children, the couple worked at some of Vancouver’s best-known restaurants, including Toptable Group's Blue Water Cafe and West Restaurant, and a role for Dermott as Manager of Premium Clubs and Restaurants at Rogers Arena. The move to Oliver felt like a natural shift, and they settled into small-town life quickly, joining the local tourism association and downtown revitalization committee. But the best move of all was taking on leadership roles with Eggert at Fairview Cellars. Dermott also joined the winery in April, to take on management of the vineyard, and he couldn’t be happier. “I threw away my suit and started buying Carhartts,” he says.

Now, more than 30 years after Eggert bought the property he is ready to step back from being a winery owner and has sold Fairview Cellars to the Huttons, who plan to stay true to all he has taught them, and to protect the legacy of Fairview Cellar’s long history on the Golden Mile. “Bill is a farmer first, and he has instilled in us that it’s the grapes that make the wine,” says Dermott. “Taking care of the land, the growing of the grapes, that’s everything. If the fruit isn’t great it doesn’t go in.” Eggert has agreed to help them until after this year’s harvest, and will continue to live on the property for at least a year.

Where the couple does intend to make their own mark on the winery is on the visitor side — the wines are still sold from the small log-cabin tasting room Eggert opened in 2000. “Hospitality has always been what we love, so we’re excited to really focus on that and make it a truly welcoming experience for guests,” says Danielle. “We can’t wait to make it our own.”