A Sunday in August is a small-batch organic and natural winery based on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, dedicated to producing wines that reflect the land and spirit of the region. Founded in 2017 by winemaker Mike Shindler and his wife Sam Milbrath, they craft adventurous, vibrant wines that capture the essence of summer. Their philosophy is simple: let the grapes speak for themselves. By supporting local organic grape growers, they create unique, naturally fermented wines with care and integrity. From farm to cellar, every bottle is a celebration of responsible winemaking, grounded in community and a love for honest, creative wines.
 
gravitypope and Blundstone got the chance to visit their vineyards and winery on Salt Spring Island, where Shindler and Milbrath are making some of the most inventive and fun wines BC has to offer.
 
View the full feature and read the full interview below.

Could you give us a brief introduction, where you are from, where you are currently and what you do?

We’re Mike Shindler and Sam Milbrath, husband and wife team of a Sunday in August. Mike is from Vancouver and Sam is from Victoria—we live and work on Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada. Mike is the owner and operator of our wine business and does everything from winemaking, vineyard management and farming to sales and logistics. Sam runs the marketing side of things and helps out wherever she can. (And our puppy Nellie loves “helping out” too!)

What initially inspired you to start winemaking?

Mike has always loved good food and wine—and he’s a creative maker. When he started a Sunday in August in 2017, he set out to make natural wine with organic and biodynamically farmed grapes from BC, all of which were rare at the time. There were only a few people in BC making natural wine so we had to learn through trial and error and by reaching out to mentors pioneering the craft. It has been important to us since day one to make wine without additives or intervention— we care about our environment, our futures, and our bodies and what we put in them. It didn’t make sense for us to eat farm-fresh produce but drink conventional wine with it. And because there weren’t a lot of local natural wine options for us as consumers, we decided to make our own.

What makes a Sunday in August special?

We make wine that we want to drink. Some of our wines are fun, fresh, fruit-forward and perfect for summer and others are more serious and sophisticated for cellaring, depending on what the grape demands. We always let the grapes make the wine. So if they’re ripe and rich that year, we’ll play to the grape's strengths using our natural winemaking tools in the cellar (like whether we destem the grapes or leave them whole cluster and how long we macerate or leave the grape skins & pomace in the juice for). Because of this, every vintage of wine is unique and one-of-a-kind. It’s cool to try our Riesling, for instance, from 2018 versus 2022. Natural wines are alive and ever-changing with naturally occurring yeasts and a microbiome that isn’t killed or removed in the winemaking process.

What are your winemaking philosophies and aspirations?

As natural winemakers, we follow a set of principles that many natural winemakers follow. They are: always follow and support organic or biodynamic farming practices in the vineyard and in the cellar, no fining or filtering, and no additives beyond trace amounts of sulphur. Aspiration-wise, we started out as negociants, which means we buy grapes from farmers, but every year, we were transitioning more and more to farming our own vineyards, both leased and owned, with the goal of one day (soon!) making wine from our Salt Spring Island vineyard!

Can you tell us a bit about your winery/home/farm? How did it come to be and what are some of your favourite things about it?

We’ve always loved Salt Spring Island. We both grew up exploring the Gulf Islands and even got married on Salt Spring. In 2021, we bought a 20-acre property on Salt Spring Island and, since then, planted over 3 acres of organic grapevines and orchards to put our farming beliefs into practice on our own soil. We also built a winery facility where we made our 2023 and now 2024 vintage, bringing organic grapes into our cellar from our vineyards across BC and even Oregon this year! We love making wine where we live and in our own cellar… in the early years, Mike rented space at other wineries in the Okanagan and travelled from home to make wine every harvest. Now that we have a growing family, it’s nice to have us all together.

What drew you to Salt Spring Island and what do you love about living there?

We’ve always loved the Gulf Islands and wanted to make a home and business here. We’re ocean people and needed to be near it. It’s logistically challenging to ship grapes, bottles, and equipment here from the primary wine-growing region in the interior of BC, but it’s worth it for our lifestyle and work-life balance—and we’re noticing a shift toward more island fruit and wineries. As the climate changes, the coast’s milder climates are becoming more favourable for growing.

Any Salt Spring Island shout-outs? Must see, must eat, or local tips?

Yes! There’s so much great local stuff happening here—it’s hard to name just a few. Our friends run Francis Bread in a plaza full of other must-try local shops. There’s also Cassette Dive Bar (they often have our wine), Dos Amores Tortillería, True Love pizza, and Salt Spring Wild Cider House. In the summer, the Saturday and Tuesday farmers markets have great vendors.

How did you come up with the name ‘a Sunday in August’.

Mike wanted to bottle a feeling—and we love August weekends, especially those spent on the Gulf Islands or coast. But honestly, Mike had the name picked out long before he even knew he wanted to make wine.

Do you have any exciting upcoming plans for ‘a Sunday in August’ or where do you see the brand in the future?

Mike's favourite part of the business is making special, small-batch, and experimental wines with great grapes. Once we have Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Gamay from our own homegrown vineyards, we plan to make some fun & special cuvées from them!

Your labels have such unique and playful designs, what is your process behind the branding and what does this style of artwork mean to you?

Thanks! We love the artwork too! Sam’s sisters Claire and Darby Milbrath are both talented painters and agreed from the beginning to let us lease their beautiful artwork on our labels every year. We started there, with the help of our graphic designer girlfriend Gina MacKay who hand-wrote our logo, and we’ve expanded to work with women artists and designers—mostly Canadian—whose artwork embodies the “a Sunday in August” feeling and vibe of the individual wine. It’s a really fun process handpicking label art and working with other creatives every year.