Inside Azhadi: The Vision, Precision, and Philosophy of Mike Azhadi

There’s a moment, just as you arrive at Azhadi Vineyards Estate - when it becomes clear that this winery wasn’t built to blend in. Set on a granite rise overlooking Lake Okanagan, the estate reveals itself slowly. The scale. The symmetry. The quiet confidence of a space that knows exactly what it is.

You don’t rush through it. You take it in.

And somewhere between the 20-metre archway, the layered terraces, and the stillness of the underground barrel cave, you begin to understand: this is not a winery built on impulse. It’s the result of a very specific kind of vision. One that belongs to Mike and Janet Azhadi.

Spend a few minutes with Mike and a pattern emerges. He doesn’t gesture vaguely when he speaks about the space. He points. Names. Explains. A rug in the gallery isn’t just decorative - it has a history. A piece of art isn’t simply placed - it belongs exactly where it is to tell a story. The griffin, which appears throughout the estate and on the winery’s flagship bottle, isn’t branding - it’s symbolism. Protection. Strength. A bridge between worlds. Mike and Janet don’t outsource meaning, they have built it in. And that same level of attention carries through everything - from the architectural choices to the flow of the guest experience. The winery itself, a 30,000-square-foot gravity-flow structure, feels less like a building and more like a sequence. Open, expansive, then suddenly intimate. Light, then shadow. Movement, then pause. t’s deliberate. You feel it without it needing to be explained.

The wines follow a similar philosophy. Working with Senior Winemaker Jim Faulkner, Azhadi isn’t interested in playing it safe. The flagship Griffin—a 2020 red blend—leans into structure and depth, shaped as much by texture as by flavour. French, American, and Hungarian oak are used not to dominate, but to support. The result is wine that doesn’t announce itself loudly—but stays with you.

What separates Azhadi most clearly from its peers is how naturally culture lives within the space.

Not as an addition. Not as a concept, but as a foundation.

The restaurant, Journey, doesn’t simply nod to Persian cuisine - it leans into it. Aromatic, layered, unapologetically expressive, while still grounded in local Okanagan ingredients. Nearby, the gallery holds Persian rugs alongside Canadian artwork and even features a piece from Mike's youth. All of the art blends together, not in contrast, but in conversation.

But it’s the quieter moments that stay with you. Mike and his wife, Janet Azhadi, moving through the space -not as distant owners, but as hosts. Greeting staff by name. Checking in. Paying attention.

And when you learn that they made a conscious effort to hire individuals from Ukraine - offering stability and opportunity during a time of unrest, it reframes the entire operation.

One of their guiding philosophies—think good, say good, do good—doesn’t appear on signage. It doesn’t need to. It’s visible in how the place runs.

Long before Azhadi opened its doors, that mindset was already in motion. Through ongoing support for the KGH Foundation, BC Cancer, Doctors Without Borders, and Ronald McDonald House Charities, the Azhadis have consistently directed their energy outward. At one point, that meant running marathons to raise funds for RMHC.

It would be easy to describe Azhadi Vineyards as a destination. It is.

It would be accurate to call it an architectural statement. It is.

But neither of those quite captures it.

Because what’s been built here, is something more specific: A place where intention is visible. Where culture isn’t diluted. Where hospitality feels personal.

Story and photography by Mide Coker