On a cool spring morning in 1929, a small crew from Okanagan Falls set off to a deserted mining camp some 16 miles away from home. Their mission: to dismantle an old wooden church and bring it back to Okanagan Falls.
See, they’d tried taking it apart but the rusty square nails damaged the building as they were removed. So Harley Hatfield came up with the plan of blowing up four dynamite sticks inside the church to “loosen the nails”. The dynamite was hung from the rafters and the congregation watched with trepidation.
There was a large blast and much to everyone’s surprise (except for maybe Mr. Hatfield’s) the plan worked!
The steeple was destroyed but the rest of the church survived. Nails were loosened, and it was able to be transported and rebuilt in Okanagan Falls.
The steeple was rebuilt, and the church is still active in the OK Falls community with service every Sunday.
They have a sign proudly displayed on the front lawn that this is the “blasted church”.
We take our name, and inspiration, from that church and community that found the only way to loosen some old nails… was with some dynamite.
Our Hatfield’s Fuse is named after Harley Hatfield and that dynamite.
To celebrate our 20th anniversary, we’re offering special limited editions wines with the original labels.
In 2010 it was time for a new look for a new millennium, one that was captured by these labels.
Created by Chris Sickels of Red Nose Studio in Greenfield Indiana, they feature real claymation models recreating the past, and future, story of Blasted Church.
These puppets captured the soul of what we are about – looking to the past for inspiration for the future. And having some fun doing it.
Our 3rd generation also marks the renaissance of the Blasted Church brand with its focus on high-quality, expressive wines. This change is helmed by Evan Saunders, winemaker, and John Bayley, viticulturist and our new labels symbolise this renewal and remaking. This renaissance is realised in the remarkable fruit we grow – from the Skaha Bench to Osoyoos – and how we farm them with intention, craft wines that reflect their terroir and have a damn good time doing it.
These are classical wines for a modern world.
