Tony Ryan
Legacy Scholarship

BIOGRAPHY

Tony was born in London, England, to parents who were more knowledgeable of the wine world than most of their Canadian counterparts.



He spent his early drinking years in California, close to the burgeoning Napa/Sonoma wineries, and developed a keen interest in wine touring. This interest continued throughout his life, and took him to wine regions in France, Spain, Italy, South Africa, Argentina and Chile, often on a bicycle.

When Tony moved to British Columbia in 1974 he became an enthusiastic follower of developments in the Okanagan and then Similkameen valleys.

Unfortunately the demands of his busy corporate law practice ultimately dashed his dream of owning a winery. The closest he came was to invest in Black Hills Estate Winery as a limited partner.

He is remembered at the law firm partly for starting an annual tradition of presenting a box of carefully chosen wines to each of the firm’s lawyers.

Tony helped incorporate the California Wine Society (later the Vancouver American Wine Society) and was an active member of Les Chevaliers des Vins de France.

In 2005 Tony joined the board of the Vancouver International Wine Festival and was its chair from 2008 to 2011. He was instrumental in incorporating the Festival as a separate not-for-profit society to better ensure its continuance.

Tony died of complications resulting from Parkinson’s Disease in 2022. He donated some of his extensive wine collection to charitable auctions and some to grateful family and friends!