Anthony Gismondi: Okanagan winemaker earns France’s highest distinction for vineyard prowess

Okanagan winemaker Séverine Pinte, viticulturist and managing partner at LaStella and Le Vieux Pin wineries, was awarded the Knight of the Order of Agricultural Merit last month in Oliver.

The Consul General of France in Vancouver, Nicolas Baudouin, presided over the ceremony that marks the highest distinction given in France to individuals, both French and foreign, who have made significant contributions in the fields of agriculture and the food and wine industry.

Considering Pinte’s contribution to B.C. wine and her journey to the south Okanagan, as with many of her colleagues her accomplishments are seldom recognized by the casual wine consumer.

A prestigious National School of Agronomy graduate in Montpellier, France, Pinte received a master’s degree in viticulture and œnology and a French National Diploma in oenology. After leaving school, she apprenticed in the AOC Gaillac in southwest France before coming for the first time to B.C. to work at Domaine de Chaberton as an assistant winemaker.