Seaside Pearl is a small family winery in the Fraser Valley, working in small lots.
The Fraser Valley is one of British Columbia's cooler and less travelled growing areas, and it shows up in the glass as brightness and finesse rather than weight. It is a very different proposition from the Okanagan a few hours east.
David and Alison Zimmerman opened Seaside Pearl in the Mount Lehman hills of Abbotsford in 2017, in BC's Fraser Valley. The name came from a little shop Alison once ran on the beach at White Rock.
The winery grew partly by accident. When a nearby winery folded and left their grapes without a buyer, the Zimmermans decided to make the wine themselves.
Small-lot Fraser Valley wines
Seaside Pearl is a boutique farmgate estate, working about five acres of Petit Milo, Cabernet Foch, Gewurztraminer, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir into small-lot, French-styled wines. David Zimmerman makes them with help from a consulting winemaker.
The wine names read like a local history lesson, drawn from Abbotsford's past. The 2019 Royal Engineers Petit Verdot took gold at the 2023 National Wine Awards of Canada.
Frequently asked questions
What is Seaside Pearl known for?
Seaside Pearl is a boutique Fraser Valley winery known for small-lot estate wines and its chapel-style tasting room. Its 2019 Royal Engineers Petit Verdot won gold at the 2023 National Wine Awards of Canada.
Why is the tasting room shaped like a chapel?
The Zimmermans built a purpose-built, copper-spired tasting room styled after a chapel, which has become the winery's signature look. It stands apart from the working cellar and gives the small estate a real sense of place.
Where is Seaside Pearl?
In the Mount Lehman area of Abbotsford, in BC's Fraser Valley wine region. It is an easy trip from Vancouver, part of a small cluster of Fraser Valley farmgate wineries.
