Ryan McKibbon leads the winemaking team at Black Hills Estate Winery in South Okanagan, British Columbia. He brings over 14 years of experience across Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. A hands-on winemaker with a deep appreciation for site-driven wines, Ryan has worked with renowned Pinot Noir producers Felton Road (NZ) and Crystallum (SA) before returning to Canada to focus on the South Okanagan. Since joining Black Hills in 2022, he has played a key role in crafting expressive, precise wines that reflect the region’s unique growing environment.
Media Inquiries: Sierra Simpson sierra@townhallbrands.com | https://www.blackhillswinery.com/
What’s the ONE THING most unique, authentic, & memorable about your brand?
What makes Black Hills Estate Winery truly distinctive is how inseparable it feels from its place on the Black Sage Bench in the South Okanagan. It was founded on a simple but bold conviction: that this sun-baked, desert-like landscape could produce world-class Bordeaux-style wines. That belief came to life in Nota Bene, a wine that didn’t just define the winery but helped define what Canadian red wine could be. More than a flagship, it became a voice for the land itself. What stays with you is that sense of authenticity. The heat, the sagebrush, the cool desert nights, all meaningfully translated into structure, depth, and elegance in the glass. Nothing feels imposed. It feels discovered.
Describe how and what you’d do with your winemaking career or winery business if you were not constrained.
If there were no constraints, I would try to help shift the industry toward a more collective way of thinking about place and sustainability.
One idea I’d pursue is a regional bottle standard- a shared, beautifully designed bottle used by all wineries in the region, created to be washed, reused, and continually recirculated. It would meaningfully reduce waste and carbon impact, but just as importantly, it would symbolize something bigger: that while wineries express individuality through their wines, they are all telling different chapters of the same story of place. It’s a simple idea, but a powerful one; a shared vessel that reflects both stewardship of the land and a deeper sense of collaboration across the industry.
What is the One Wine most emblematic of your brand and/or winemaking style? Tell us its story.
Nota Bene is the wine that best embodies our winemaking philosophy and identity. Released every year, it is not simply a barrel selection of the “best lots”, but a thoughtful expression of the vintage as it truly unfolded. Each bottling is intended to reflect the character of that growing season; its generosity, its tension, its personality and, in doing so, become a love letter to our terroir.
Over time, it has become more than a flagship. It is a living record of place and time. It’s a continuous thread that connects each vintage to the next, telling the evolving story of who we are and where we farm. Stay tuned, this wine review is coming soon!
Bonus Question: Why Winemaking?
I got into winemaking because it sits at a rare intersection of agriculture, science, and art. It’s a craft that demands both technical precision and creative intuition; where every decision, from the vineyard to the cellar, shapes the final expression in the glass.