Our Team
Family owned and operated, Bench 1775 Winery is led by General Manager Henry Bian who is passionate about creating excellent wines as well as memorable customer experiences. Through his minimalist approach, Head Winemaker Richard Kanazawa aims to create unique wines that are varietally correct. Henry and Richard are supported by our dedicated team of outstanding professionals from the vineyard to the cellar to the tasting room and office, our amazing team is at the heart of Bench 1775’s success. Meet some of our key staff members below.
Henry Bian joined Bench 1775 in March 2014. He began his winery job as a cellar hand for the first year, then he moved to vineyard and took over property management as well for two years. During these three years, he also took part in bottling, warehousing management, accounting and tasting room as needed. From 2018 to 2019, he developed his main energy to the 30 acres new vineyard development. He has been involved in all aspects of the winery over the past five years. In early 2020, he returned to winery as general manager. It was a fresh start for him, but he was confident, because he is young, innovative, responsible and full of love for wines, he has devoted himself to providing more excellent wines and wonderful experience for all customers.
Richard was born in Vancouver and raised in Langley. After travelling abroad playing rugby overseas, he was offered a summer job delivering wines for Domaine de Chaberton Winery. Instead of going back to post-secondary studies, he decided to stay on at the winery and learn everything he could from being around the vineyard and the cellar. He studied Food Technology at BCIT before heading to Australia to work multiple vintages in Mudgee, NSW and the Yarra Valley, Victoria. He continued his studies by taking courses through Charles Sturt University.
Enthusiastic Tina came all the way from China. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in international trade in China then an M.B.A. from New York State University in 2003 and finally settled down at Vancouver, Canada in 2007. With many years experience in sales, management, administration, contract negotiating, inventory controlling, logistics, communications and customer service, Tina adds incredible value to Bench 1775 and she is key to brining our wines to wine lovers globally.
Josh Kim was born in South Korea and raised in the Greater New York City area, where he was first exposed to a medley of unique flavors and cuisines. He studied hospitality in San Francisco and fell in love with the art of wine during his business trips to Napa Valley. He developed a passion for wine artistry which led him to earn the WSET 2 and move to Canada to pursue his dreams (currently working on WSET 3 and Canadian wine scholar). Josh has a genuine, good business mind and with his winning attitude, he desires to deliver the most outstanding experience in hospitality. With over ten years of knowledge in hospitality and restaurant business, Josh’s vision is to bring the best quality and practice to Bench 1775, highlighting it as the Center of Okanagan Valley With Bench 1775 being Josh’s third winery at Naramata, he is excited to share his expertise and fulfill his pre-pandemic dreams of leading a world-class bistro. Josh is a people-person and enjoys making new friends. During his free time, he likes to work out at the gym and play cook-offs with his two young children.
Lindsay holds a BSc in Food, Nutrition and Health from the University of British Columbia. Lindsay took wine science courses during her study, which sparked her interest in wine. She joined Bench 1775 Winery in 2016 as Marketing and Social Media Coordinator to manage all the sites of social media networks and marketing. Lindsay became Senior Marketing Specialist in 2020 and is responsible for website management, social media and all the company’s digital presence. Lindsay has helped grow Bench 1775 brand and presence with her efforts.
Richard was born in Vancouver and raised in Langley. After travelling abroad playing rugby overseas, he was offered a summer job delivering wines for Domaine de Chaberton Winery. Instead of going back to post-secondary studies, he decided to stay on at the winery and learn everything he could from being around the vineyard and the cellar. He studied Food Technology at BCIT before heading to Australia to work multiple vintages in Mudgee, NSW and the Yarra Valley, Victoria. He continued his studies by taking courses through Charles Sturt University.
He returned to Canada in 2004, where he accepted the head winemaking position at Red Rooster in Naramata. After three vintages at Red Rooster, he moved onto the head winemaking position at Blasted Church in OK Falls. Richard is proud of the wines that he made at both wineries, winning Lieutenant Governors Awards of Excellence at Red Rooster and Blasted Church. Before his departure, both wineries were ranked in the Top 20 wineries in Canada through the Canadian Wine Awards.
This is Richard’s second time with Bench 1775. His first vintage with Bench 1775, was in 2012. He went on to run his own brand for 8 years, before returning to Bench as the head winemaker. His 2012 Blanc de Blanc went on to win a platinum award at the National Wine Awards of Canada. Since his return to Bench 1775 in April of 2020, Richard has started a sparkling program and has implemented his minimalist winemaking style to all the wines in our portfolio. His goal is always to make every wine unique from the next. No two wines should taste the same and each wine should be varietally correct.