Chateau Wolff Estate

Chateau Wolff Estate is a boutique winery and vineyard on Maxey Road in the Jingle Pot area of Nanaimo, tucked beneath the slopes of Mount Benson on central Vancouver Island. The five-acre organic vineyard holds some of the oldest vines on the island, planted in the early 1990s by founder Harry Von Wolff, a colourful pioneer of Vancouver Island viticulture. After Von Wolff's death in 2005 the property lay dormant for several years, until Matt and Natalie Riga purchased the estate in December 2014 and set about reviving his original dream of a small, family-run winery producing specialty wines. Today roughly seventy percent of the vines are Pinot Noir, supported by Chardonnay along with smaller plantings of Viognier, Bacchus and Siegerrebe, and the wines are made using traditional old-world methods, including aging in French oak barrels. The result is a tightly focused portfolio led by Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, true to the cool, maritime-influenced site.

Visiting Chateau Wolff feels like discovering a secret: a small tasting bar open on weekends or by appointment, a working organic vineyard on the edge of the city, and hosts who can tell the full story of the estate's rebirth firsthand. Nanaimo is not widely known as a wine destination, which makes this stop all the more rewarding for travellers exploring the harbour city, the Departure Bay ferries or the routes north to Parksville and beyond. The winery's old vines and hand-worked, low-intervention approach offer a genuine taste of Vancouver Island terroir, distinct from both the Cowichan Valley estates to the south and the mainland's Okanagan styles. Because hours are limited and visits are often by appointment, contacting the winery ahead of time is strongly recommended to ensure the tasting bar is open when you arrive.