Harry McWatters is credited with building B.C.’s wine industry into the award-winning, internationally recognized industry it is today. In 1979, McWatters and a partner formed B.C.’s first estate winery in Summerland.

His contributions to B.C. were immeasurable: jobs, VQA wine, tourists and a shift in agricultural dynamics in the Okanagan Valley. He won numerous awards as a winemaker and marketer, including Wine of the Wine in the All Canada Wine Competition and Top Winery of the Year from the Globe and Mail, plus the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal and an honorary doctor of laws from Okanagan University College.