Bordertown Vineyards & Estate Winery at ARC Harvey
Estate-Grown Osoyoos Wines with Sunshine, Structure, and a Farming Family’s Heart
Before Bordertown became a winery, the Gill family had already spent decades learning what the South Okanagan could grow.
Family-owned and operated in Osoyoos, Bordertown grew from Mohan Gill’s farming heritage and a reputation for supplying excellent fruit to respected British Columbia wineries.
Today, the family makes wine from estate-grown grapes, allowing the same people who care for the vines to follow the fruit from vineyard to bottle. The style emphasizes ripe, expressive fruit, useful food pairings, and the distinctive warmth of the South Okanagan.
At ARC Liquor Harvey, our Bordertown selection includes seven wines: Cabernet Franc, Malbec 2019, Merlot 2019, Syrah 2018, Syrah 2019, Pinot Gris, and Viognier.
Together, they move easily from bright patio whites to supple dinner reds and the dark-fruited 2019 Syrah Emily chose for barbecue season.
From Osoyoos Growers to a Family-Owned Estate Winery
Mohan Gill grew up in a farming family in rural India. After the Gill family came to Canada, they continued that agricultural tradition in Osoyoos and became part of the region’s emerging premium grape-growing community.
Mohan purchased a mixed-fruit orchard in 1994 and planted the estate’s first wine grapes in 2005. Years of hands-on growing established a reputation for quality fruit and a detailed understanding of how individual varieties respond to the South Okanagan’s soils, exposure, heat, and long ripening season.
The family began producing its own wines in 2012. In May 2015, Bordertown Vineyards & Estate Winery opened in Osoyoos—the realization of a long-held dream to turn carefully farmed estate fruit into wines bearing the family’s own name and point of view.
That grower-first history still defines Bordertown: family-operated, rooted in the vineyard, and focused on showing the generous fruit and savoury character that thrive in this warm corner of British Columbia.
Our Bordertown Picks at ARC Harvey
ARC Harvey currently carries seven Bordertown wines, offering a generous introduction to the estate. Explore aromatic whites, supple dinner reds, and two Syrah vintages made for customers who enjoy dark fruit, pepper, savoury spice, and food from the grill.
Cabernet Franc
A flagship South Okanagan red with dark berries, tobacco, dark spice, mild pepper, and a gentle herbaceous edge. Supple tannins make it an easy partner for roast pork, rack of lamb, burgers, goat cheese, or tomato-based pasta.
The Savoury Estate Red
Malbec 2019
A juicy, expressive Malbec with ripe red fruit, black raspberry, mulled spice, supple texture, and integrated tannins. Reach for it with grilled beef, lamb, hearty pasta, or a relaxed dinner that needs a generous but approachable red.
The Plush Dark-Fruit Red
Merlot 2019
A supple South Okanagan Merlot shaped by black raspberry, plum, ripe red fruit, herbs, pepper, and integrated oak. Its medium body fits Italian sausage, meatballs, burgers, braised short ribs, and dependable weeknight comfort food.
The Smooth Dinner Red
Syrah 2018
Violet and black-fruit aromas lead into berry flavour, cracked pepper, and savoury notes, supported by American oak. Confident but welcoming, it suits grilled meats, roast vegetables, hearty stews, and cool evenings around the table.
The Peppery Savoury Red
Syrah 2019
Emily’s bold barbecue red selection. Dark berries, plum, cracked pepper, herbaceous spice, and savoury depth meet supple tannins and American-oak warmth. Serve it with steak, ribs, burgers, lamb, smoky sausages, grilled vegetables, or hearty stew.
Emily’s Summer Select
Pinot Gris
A crisp, stainless-steel-fermented white with bright tropical fruit, apple, citrus, melon, and a lively finish. Its freshness works well with grilled chicken, seafood in flavourful sauces, pork tenderloin, green Thai curry, or summer salads.
The Crisp Versatile White
Viognier
A lush, aromatic white with peach, pear, apricot, melon, pineapple, white flowers, and a gentle savoury-spice finish. Try it with spicy dishes, Asian flavours, creamy pasta, risotto, teriyaki salmon, or grilled chicken.
The Lush Aromatic White
Great Wine Starts in the Vineyard
Bordertown’s identity begins with farming. The Gill family spent more than two decades growing Okanagan fruit before opening the winery, building its reputation through careful vineyard work, close observation, and an insistence on quality.
The winery uses estate-grown fruit and manages the vines variety by variety. Canopy, crop, and pruning decisions are adjusted to help each block ripen in balance rather than forcing every grape into the same approach.
That direct connection between vineyard and cellar gives Bordertown control over the fruit from the beginning. It also gives the wines a clear purpose: to show the fresh fruit, texture, structure, and flavour that Osoyoos and the wider Okanagan can produce.
For ARC Harvey customers, the result is an approachable local range with a real farming story behind it—wines made to be enjoyed at the table, not admired from a distance.
Estate Fruit Shaped by the South Okanagan
Osoyoos is defined by brilliant sunshine, long warm days, dry growing conditions, and varied parcels of gravel, sand, and heavier soils. Those conditions allow Bordertown to grow a remarkably broad range of grapes while giving dark-skinned varieties time to develop colour, ripe fruit, and savoury complexity.
Bordertown’s vines are contour-planted to make the most of exposure, microclimate, and soil variation. The family’s detailed approach to crop and canopy management helps the fruit reach the cellar with the freshness and intensity needed for balanced wine.
The winery processes its estate grapes on site, using stainless-steel fermentation to protect the brightness of its whites and carefully selected oak to build texture and structure in its reds.
ARC Harvey’s seven Bordertown selections show both sides of that warm Okanagan landscape—from peachy, floral Viognier and crisp Pinot Gris to Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, and two dark, savoury Syrahs.
Not Sure Which Bordertown Wine Fits? Ask Emily.
Tell Emily what you are serving, whether you prefer red or white, how bold you want the wine to feel, and how much you would like to spend.
She can help you choose the dark berry and savoury character of Cabernet Franc, the plush fruit of Malbec, the supple familiarity of Merlot, or the peppery depth of Bordertown’s two Syrah vintages.
If the table calls for white wine, Pinot Gris brings crisp, food-friendly refreshment, while Viognier offers a softer, more aromatic path through peach, pear, apricot, and flowers.
You do not need to know the vintage, grape, or tasting language. Tell Emily what is cooking and how you want the bottle to feel, and she can guide you toward the Bordertown wine that fits.
Emily’s Bordertown Pick
Lighting the barbecue, grilling steak, serving ribs, or planning a relaxed summer dinner built around smoke, char, and generous food?
Ask Emily why Bordertown Syrah 2019 earned its place as the bold BBQ red in her Summer Selects Collection.
Discover Bordertown Through ARC Harvey
At ARC Harvey, we want customers to understand the story behind a local producer without having to leave the ARC experience to find it.
Our Bordertown collection allows shoppers to discover the winery, compare seven distinctive wines, ask Emily for guidance, and choose the bottle that best fits their food, taste, occasion, and budget.
From crisp Pinot Gris and aromatic Viognier to supple Merlot, dark-fruited Malbec, savoury Cabernet Franc, and two vintages of peppery Syrah, Bordertown offers seven estate-grown expressions of Okanagan character for the table.
Explore Emily’s Bordertown Syrah 2019 Explore All Emily Selects