Our Winery - Who We are
Kenn Oldfield
General Manager and Owner of Tinhorn Creek Vineyards, Kenn Oldfield, has been leading the Tinhorn team since the start in 1994. Originally from Muskoka,Ontario, he moved to Alberta after obtaining a B.A. Sc. in Chemical Engineering. After fourteen years in the oil industry, he turned his attention to a new venture – Tinhorn Creek Vineyards in Oliver, BC.
By 1994 Kenn had taken all the course work for a Masters degree in viticulture from the University of California at Davis. Over the next three years he completed the huge task of planting 150 acres of vineyard land. He also oversaw the building of the winery, the outdoor amphitheatre and the barrel cellar.
Sandra Oldfield
Winemaker and owner, Sandra Oldfield, arrived at Tinhorn Creek from Santa Rosa, California in time for the 1995 crush. Since then she has seen the production go from 1,000 cases that first year to up over 35,000 cases. Now that the vineyards have reached full production, Sandra can turn her talents to producing theOldfield’s Collection, a premium line of wines created from the very best fruit that the mature vineyards have to offer.
Sandra gained her early wine experience at Rodney Strong Vineyards in Sonoma, CA. Before leaving California, Sandra had been studying Enology at theUniversity of California at Davis. She put her studies on hold while her time and energy went to getting the winery up and running. She did resume her studies and in the spring of 2002 was awarded her Masters of Enology.
At the same time, she was doing some other studying including Canadian history. We were all proud, when, on October 17, 2002, Sandra became a Canadian Citizen.
Korol Kuklo
Assistant Winemaker, Korol Kuklo, joined the winemaking team at Tinhorn Creek Vineyards in 1998 just in time for the vintage that saw Tinhorn Creek’s 1998 Merlot win “Best Red Wine in Canada” at the Canadian Wine Awards. As with many in the wine industry, Korol’s move into the world of wine came as a result of a career change. In her case it came after a move to British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley following a career as a Food Service Techician working primarily in a hospital and institutional healthcare setting in the Lower Mainland. Korol earned a Food Service Technician diploma from Langara College in Vancouver, BC.
Prior to assuming the Assistant Winemaker role under the guidance of Tinhorn Creek’s Chief Winemaker, Sandra Oldfield, Korol headed up the lab at Tinhorn and was responsible for all of the quality control for the winery. Korol has been instrumental in Tinhorn Creek’s move to Stelvin (twist-off) closures on 100% ofit’s wines. “We couldn’t make the move soon enough,” says Korol. “The consumer loves it and the wine is better for it.”
Korol lives in Osoyoos, BC with her husband, Joe, and their two Boston Terriers, Benny and Joon.
Shaun Everest
Marketing Manager, Shaun Everest, joined Tinhorn Creek in the summer of 1997. Armed with an MBA from the University of British Columbia and several years of experience marketing major brands like Coca-Cola and Purex Bathroom tissue, Shaun went to work building the Tinhorn Creek brand. “It’s been a lot of work but also a lot of fun along the way,” says Shaun. “I can’t imagine doing anything else. The experience I gained with those big firms was just preparing me for this opportunity. We’ve got a fantastic team and, of course, the most important thing is what’s in the bottle.”
Shaun lives in Penticton, BC with his wife, Dawn, and their three children, Joshua, Matthew, and Sophie.
