Peachland and East Kelowna

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bc wine, cider, East Kelowna, okanagan, Peachland, wine tour, wineries

Heading up to Kelowna I decided to stop in at a couple of the Peachland wineries on my way – Greata Ranch and Deep Creek/Hainle Vineyards. Although I have visited Greata Ranch’s sister winery, Cedar Creek, many times in the past I had yet to stop in and try the wines here. Greata Ranch is perched on the west side of Okanagan Lake, with beautiful views up the lake towards Kelowna, across to Rattlesnake Island and down towards Naramata. I would recommend taking the time to sit on the deck with a glass of wine and enjoy the views! The 2011 Chardonnay has a lot of pineapple on both the nose and the palate, the 2011 Gewürztraminer is full of the classic rose petal, lychee, citrus and spice and is nicely balanced with a slight sweetness and a round mouthfeel. The 2011 Rosé is 94% Merlot and 6% Syrah with a candied strawberry raspberry nose. The palate is creamy raspberry and vanilla with a cranberry finish – quite tasty! The 2010 Merlot is 88% Merlot, with the remainder a blend of Syrah and Malbec. It has flavours of blueberry, cassis, cherry and cedar with nice acidity and medium tannins.

I turned off the highway in Peachland to visit Hainle Vineyards but unfortunately my timing was not great. I had suspected that they might have sustained some damage from the recent Trepanier forest fire but had not had any real confirmation of that. While driving up the road I could see the burnt trees and patches of ground and knew it wasn’t a great sign when about a 100m radius around the winery building was nothing but the rust colour of the fire retardant dropped by the water bombers. On the bluff above the winery building, all that stood of a former building was the chimney and I could see withered vines, cooked by the heat of the fire; it was all really quite sad. I have since found some articles in the media which tells of the sad story of the 40-year old vineyard that was almost completely decimated by the fire that came through the area on September 9^th of this year. This was the vineyard that produced Canada’s first commercially available Icewine. The Ministry of Agriculture hopes to be able to take cuttings from those vines that were not so damaged in order to propagate them and not completely lose the genetic history of these old vines brought over from Germany. Walter Huber, the owner of Hainle/Deep Creek is not sure at this point what the future of the winery will be. The tasting room has apparently reopened this past week so I do hope to stop in sometime in the next couple of weeks.

On to Kelowna I went and over to East Kelowna, where the first pioneer settlement of Kelowna once stood. John Casorso was one of the first settlers in the area, alongside Father Pandosy who founded the Kelowna Mission. The Casorso family was one of the first to produce grapes commercially in the area and Sperling Vineyards (still owned by descendants of John Casorso) was originally planted in 1929, although the varieties have changed and been replanted over the generations. It is still very much a family operation that includes the adjacent Pioneer Country Market. Ann Sperling is the winemaker and her niece Jill works the tasting room. The 2011 Pinot Gris was aged sur lies in barrel for 6 months. It has crisp citrus notes and a round mouthfeel. The 2010 Gewürztraminer comes from 25-year old vines. It has a lovely lychee and pear nose with lychee and rose on the palate. It has a little bit of residual sugar and is beautifully balanced. The 2010 Old Vines Riesling comes from vines that were planted in 1978. There is limestone in the vineyard, which contributes to the wonderful minerality in the wine. There is a bit of petrol on the nose, along with lime and that minerality I mentioned before. On the palate there is lime, green apple and a nice chalkiness. The 2011 ‘The Market White’ is a blend of Pinot Blanc, Bacchus and Gewürztraminer. This is one of my favourite ‘summer sippers’ and I never hesitate to recommend it to customers looking for an easy-drinking white wine. It has lychee, pear and citrus on the nose and palate, is very clean and balanced with lovely acidity and a round mouthfeel. The 2011 Sper…itz is a fun little wine. It is a blend of Pearle of Csaba and Bacchus that is off-dry and a little bit bubbly. It is only available in 375mL bottles and is low alcohol at 7.9%. It has a clean nose and a palate full of tropical fruit and melon. The 2009 Old Vines Foch is from vines that were planted in the 1960s. This wine is made as gently as possible, using a gravity-fed process and it is unfiltered as well. It has a great smoky earthy nose that also carries over to the palate along with rich ripe dark fruit. The tannins are very smooth and velvety. The 2010 Old Vines Foch Reserve is very soon to be released, possibly during the Fall Wine Festival. The 2011 Late Harvest Gewürztraminer was harvested the night of November 19^th through to the early morning of November 20^th, at -6 degrees. It has a honey nose, is clean, rich and unctuous on the palate with flavours of lychee and pear. To finish the tasting, Jill opened a bottle of one of Sperling’s newest products, although it has been a long time in the making – the 2008 Brut. This is a sparkling wine made with 100% Pinot Blanc in the traditional method, sitting for 36 months sur lies. The Pinot Blanc comes from 25-year old vines. This Brut has tiny persistent bubbles, has a clean nose with citrus and biscuit. It has a light citrus flavour and nice minerality with a bit heavier mouthfeel. Only 1200 bottles were made. Sperling Vineyards also has a 2008 Brut Reserve, made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that won’t be released until 2016. I very much look forward to that one!

Next I continue my tour of the ‘Fab Five’ wineries of East Kelowna (which now actually has 6 wineries on the route: Sperling Vineyards, The View Winery, Spierhead Winery, The Vibrant Vine, Camelot Vineyards & House of Rose Winery). The View Winery is another historic location of East Kelowna – the George Ward Fruit Packinghouse, which opened in 1926 to support the orchard fruit industry of East Kelowna. The property has been in the Turton/Ward family for five generations and in 2006 Jennifer Turton-Molgat opened up The View Winery in a part of the old packinghouse. The 2011 Riesling has a citrus and apple nose, with lime and a hint of minerality on the palate. It is clean and has great acidity. The 2011 Gewürztraminer has a light clean nose with some lychee and spice. It has nice acidity but is quite soft, with flavours of citrus, melon and lychee and a nice mouthfeel. The 2011 Distraction Rosé is made from Pinotage that spent 2-5 days on the skins. It has a strawberry nose with strawberry, cranberry and citrus on the palate; it’s nice and refreshing. The 2011 Red Shoe Red is 100% Pinotage that has been done half in stainless steel and half in oak barrels. It has a nice smokiness on the nose, is light-to-medium in body and has medium acidity, with flavours of plum, cherry and smoke. The 2009 Pinotage has been aged in a combination of French, American and Hungarian oak barrels. It has black cherry and smoke on the nose and palate, along with more plum and spice on the palate. In order to tie in a bit more with the heritage of the property and the fact that 60% of the property is still orchard, Ward’s Hard Apple Cider is also available at the winery, using Granddad Ward’s family recipe. It has 5.5% alcohol, a spicy apple nose and a baked apple flavour – quite delicious! I’m not always an apple cider fan, but this stuff was so tasty that I had to buy some.

Spierhead Winery is relatively new in the valley and I met two of its proprietors in the tasting room – Bill and Marina. Just last night, Spierhead Winery won ‘Best New Winery’ at the BC Wine Awards, as part of the Okanagan Fall Wine Festival – congratulations to them! The 2010 Chardonnay has a nutty nose and flavours of buttered popcorn. The 2011 Riesling is off-dry with 11.7g of residual sugar and has flavours of citrus. The 2010 Pinot Noir comes from only 3 year old vines, which really surprised me, given the depth of flavour it has. It has an earthy nose with cherry and spice, medium acidity and soft tannins with cherry and spice on the palate; it is a very elegant Pinot Noir. The 2010 Pursuit (referring to it pursuing their flagship red – Vanguard) is a blend of 57% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon and 16% Cabernet Franc. It spent 18 months in 44% new French oak. It has caramel, cherry and plum on the nose and palate, with medium-plus acidity and medium tannins. The 2010 Vanguard is a blend of 48% Merlot, 48% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Cabernet Franc. It spent 18 months in 55% new French oak. It has medium acidity and medium-plus tannins, with cherry, mocha and plum on both the nose and the palate.

Visiting the Vibrant Vine is quite a unique experience. Upon entering the tasting room I was handed a pair of 3D glasses because all the art on the walls, plus the artwork on the wine bottles, are all in 3D! Also, there was some great live music outside for customers to sit and enjoy with the wine. Candace led me through the Vibrant Vines wines. The 2011 Pinot Grigio is slightly off-dry, very light in flavour and has a round mouthfeel. The 2011 Gewürztraminer has lychee on the nose and palate along with flavours of citrus and spice. The 2011 blend (as yet unnamed – suggestions are being taken online and in the wine shop) is 60% Riesling, 20% Pinot Gris and 20% Gewürztraminer. It has flavours of citrus and stone fruit. The 2011 Chardonnay has been lightly oaked; it has coconut and vanilla on the nose, along with some citrus. It has medium acidity and a round mouthfeel. The 2009 Rose Eh! is made from Syrah, with 24 hours of skin contact. Its nose and palate are full of strawberry, raspberry and a bit of spice. The 2009 Merlot comes from 37 year old vines on the Black Sage Bench in Oliver and has a clean nose of plum, cherry and smoke, medium acidity, medium-plus tannins, and cherry, mocha, plum and smoke on the palate.

Visiting the tasting room at Camelot Vineyards is a bit like stepping back into medieval times, with suits of armour all over the place, and in fact the winery does host a medieval fair every year! Crystal greeted me in the tasting room and led me through the tastings. The 2011 Pinot Gris has lemon on the nose, is dry and crisp with flavours of citrus and melon. It has a medium body and a nice mouthfeel. The 2010 Chardonnay spent 6 months in a mix of French and American oak and has a slightly smoky nose with flavours of buttered popcorn, tasty citrus and a bit of nuttiness. The 2010 Riesling has great minerality on the nose, with flavours of lime, apple, quince and a bit of wet slate. The 2011 Riesling has slightly higher residual sugar than the 2010, along with higher acidity and flavours of apple and citrus. The 2010 Gewürztraminer has lychee and grapefruit on the nose and palate, a round mouthfeel and a finish reminiscent of Moroccan spice (Ras el Hanout). The 2011 Gewürztraminer is full of lychee, Turkish delight and rose petal with clean flavours and a full mouthfeel. The 2010 Pinot Noir has a nice cherry nose with a bit of earthiness and cherry and spice on the palate.

I followed the winding country roads to House of Rose Winery and was welcomed by Patricia in the tasting room. I have previously tasted many of the wines from House of Rose at various wine events but this was my first visit to the winery itself. I started with the Riesling which is crisp and dry with nice acidity and flavours of orange rind, citrus and a bit of spice. The Cool Splash is a slightly off-dry blend of Riesling and Pinot Gris that is light and fruity. The Summer White is an off-dry blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and 1% Icewine. It is floral, fruity and has a hint of spice. The Rosé is full of strawberry, raspberry, red currant and citrus on both the nose and palate. The 2009 Marechal Foch comes from 35-year old vines and has quite a meaty nose. This is the only wine from House of Rose that has any exposure to oak: 4 days of oak chips. It has blackberry, cherry and a bit of smoke on the palate. Hot Flash is a wine that has recently been in the media due to some promotion from the actress Brooke Shields after she handed out bottles of it to her crew on the movie ‘The Hot Flashes’. It is a blend of Marechal Foch and Syrah. It is very fruit-forward with flavours of blackberry and spice, with medium acidity and soft tannins. Sweet Mystery is a blend of Pinot Noir, Lemberger and Foch, with a splash of the Okanagan Port. It is an off-dry red with blueberry and spice on the nose and flavours of plum, blackberry and blueberry. The Okanagan Vintage Port has been fortified to 16% alcohol, has medium-plus acidity and has flavours of plum, raspberry and anise.

I retraced my path back through East Kelowna’s orchards and vineyards and found my way to the East Kelowna Cider Company, the Okanagan’s first land-based cidery, on an orchard that has been in the Ross family since the early 1940s. Theressa Ross greeted me as I headed toward the tasting room. She apologized that at this time of year their stocks were mainly depleted – sold out through the spring and summer and they’re just about to start picking and fermenting this year’s crop. She did however have some products available for tasting and led me through them. East Kelowna Cider Company produces three types of cider: hard (with alcohol), soft (alcohol-free) and iced cider (made from apples frozen on the trees). The Ross Winter Burn Iced Cider comes from conditions that can never again (hopefully!) be duplicated.  It is a higher alcohol cider (17%) that was made in 2003 following the devastating Okanagan Mountain fire; this iced cider has a very distinctive smokiness to it. The Ross Winter Gold Iced Cider is made from Golden Delicious apples, is at 14% alcohol, has nice aromatics and would make a lovely sipper on a cold fall evening. There are two more Iced Ciders that weren’t available for tasting that are more of a dessert style: Iced Granny Smith & Iced Fuji. The Ross Hard Apple Cider (6%) is made from a blend of four different varieties of apples. It has a clean nose, crisp dry apple flavour and nice carbonation. A new product that should be released shortly is the Ross Logger Cider. This is the same blend of apples as the Hard Cider but has a different molecular structure. It is darker and fruitier with a rounder mouthfeel and a frothiness more akin to beer. I look forward to purchasing some of it once it has been bottled! Ross Soft Cider comes in three different flavours: Apple, Cherry and Peach. Theressa poured me some of the Cherry to try and it was quite tasty! Perfect for the children that get brought along on winery tours, or for the designated drivers! Finally, Theressa poured me another new non-alcoholic product that they will be releasing soon – a peach juice. This is made from 75% peaches and 25% Macintosh apples. It is a clear juice, unlike many of the peach nectars on the market, and is quite delicious and refreshing! Theressa and her husband Dave are also starting to create logoed apples, primarily with corporate logos at this time but I suppose anyone could have logos applied. The apples are bagged when small to allow them to grow in size but to stay green. The stickers are then applied to the apples and the bags are removed to allow the sun to turn the apples red around the stickered areas.

My final winery of the day was Tantalus Vineyards, another property with a longstanding history: this was first planted as a Pioneer Vineyards in 1927! Some of the current Riesling vines were planted back in 1978 and the grapes from these vines go into the very much sought-after Tantalus Old Vines Riesling. The winery has some library-release Old Vines Riesling available for sale in the tasting room. The current winery building was built in 2009 and is BC’s first LEED-certified winery building. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is an internationally-recognized standard of excellence for Green Building and sustainability. It is quite a fabulous space, with views from the tasting room out over the vineyards and Kelowna and Okanagan Lake in the distance, as well as views down into the barrel room and the tank room beyond, through the use of glass inserts in the large overhead doors. The 2011 Riesling has some lovely minerality on the nose, along with lime and grapefruit. It has a rich round mouthfeel with flavours of citrus, green apple and pear. The 2010 Chardonnay underwent partial malolactic fermentation and was aged sur lies, without any stirring of the lies, in 30% new oak. It has beautiful citrus, vanilla and a bit of nuttiness on the nose, with citrus on the palate and a great creaminess on the mid-to-back palate; it is very well-balanced. The 2010 Pinot Noir has an amazing amount of black pepper on the nose, along with some cherry and plum that also carry over onto the palate. It is a very elegant and well-structured Pinot Noir with medium acidity and soft-to-medium tannins.

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Maple Leaf Spirits

Tags

Brandy, fruit, Grappa, Liqueur, maple syrup, okanagan, spirits, wine tour, wineries

Yesterday evening we paid a visit to the first distillery in the South Okanagan, Maple Leaf Spirits. This was not strictly on my list of places to visit for this blog; however I had tried some of their products at this year’s Okanagan Feast of Fields and was highly impressed so thought I’d check them out.  Maple Leaf Spirits is a relatively small operation in Penticton, run by Jorg Engel and his wife Anette and can be visited by appointment. In addition to distilling for their own products, they do some work with valley wineries, producing alcohol for their own purposes. Maple Leaf Spirits makes brandies, grappas and liqueurs, using locally-sourced fruits, and grape pomace from local wineries. The Pear Williams is a classic pear brandy made with Bartlett pears. It has a delicate pear aroma and flavour and is extremely smooth. The Aged Italian Prune has been aged in French oak for three months, giving it a bit of a nutty vanilla flavour. It has a beautifully tart plum nose and smooth plum flavour. The Apricot brandy was fermented with the pits and distilled without them, giving the brandy a hint of almond flavour. As Grappa is a proprietary term, such as Champagne or Port, Maple Leaf Spirits has called them “Skinnies” as they’re made from the grape pomace – the skins and seeds left after the grapes have been pressed to provide juice for wines. The Skinny Pinot Noir won ‘Spirit of the Year’ at the Destillata Spirit Competition in Austria, the most prestigious international spirit competition. It has a light fruity aroma and flavours of raisin on the back palate. The Skinny Gewürztraminer won a silver medal at Destillata, despite being bottled only one day before shipping to the competition! Despite the distillation process, it has retained that lovely lychee aroma and offers lychee and rose petal on the palate. The Aged Skinny Syrah came from Syrah grapes that had been frozen on the vine for Icewine. After the winery pressed the grapes for the Icewine, instead of doing a second pressing for a late harvest wine, they passed the grapes on to Maple Leaf Spirits, providing a moister pomace than usual which made things a bit easier for the fermentation process. The Skinny Syrah was aged in French oak for 3 months, lending it some vanilla notes and hints of smokiness. This almost has a similar flavour profile to a Scotch whiskey, but is much lighter on the palate; quite delicious! Moving on to liqueurs, we start with the Cherry. This was started with the Kirsch (cherry brandy) as a base and then tart cherry juice was added to it to reduce the alcohol to 25%. It has a lovey sweet cherry flavour but is not at all syrupy; this would be fabulous over ice cream or served in little chocolate Icewine cups! The Pear uses the Pear Williams brandy as a base and then has Bartlett pear juice added. It is like biting into a fresh juicy pear, with a bit of a boozy kick. The Maple Liqueur is something that Maple Leaf Spirits came up with specifically with the export market in mind. The base is the Kirsch, with the addition of organic maple syrup. This liqueur won a gold medal at the Destillata competition, and came in 3^rd place for the Spirit of the Year. It has a fresh clean nose and is very fresh on the palate. It is not syrupy in the least and the maple flavour appears mainly on the finish. As I am not generally a huge fan of anything syrupy sweet, this liqueur was a pleasant surprise to me. The new Apricot liqueur, being released for the Fall Wine Festival next week, and being poured on the Casabella Princess dinner cruises during the festival, has a rich full apricot flavour, with a hint of tartness to it – fabulous! I highly recommend making an appointment at Maple Leaf Spirits. Jorg is lovely to talk to and is full of great information, plus his products are wonderful!

South Okanagan: Oliver and Kaleden

Tags

bc wine, Black Sage Bench, Golden Mile, Kaleden, okanagan, Oliver, wine tour, wineries

After a week of holidays (without a single winery visit, if you can believe it), I’m feeling refreshed and so we headed out for some touring around Oliver and back up to Kaleden. We started our day at Hidden Chapel Winery, at the north end of Oliver. This lovely new addition to the Oliver wineries (opened last year) is named for the small chapel that is located to the rear of the property, secluded by the trees and the top of its roof just visible over the top of the sod-covered barrel cellar. The names of the wines are also in keeping with this name.  The 2011 ‘St Vincent’ is a blend of Riesling and Viognier, with apple, pear and apricot on the nose and palate. It is clean, fresh and slightly off-dry. The 2011 ‘Blushing Bride’ (also packaged as ‘St Nick’ for the Christmas beverage option) is a rosé made of Cabernet Sauvignon that had been soaked on the skins for 3 days and then later on blended with some Riesling. It is dry but quite fruity, with cherry and berry on the nose and cherry, cranberry and spice on the palate. The 2010 ‘Merry Monk’ is a Merlot with black cherry on the nose, plum, cherry and chocolate on the palate with nice acidity and softened tannins. The 2010 ‘Shotgun Wedding’ is a blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Petit Verdot. This has nice acidity and structure, with flavours of berries. The 2010 ‘Soul Sister’ is a blend of 80% Syrah, along with Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. This is a medium-to-full bodied wine with nice acidity and flavours of spice, leather and pepper. The 2010 ‘The Collection’ is a Meritage blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot. It has flavours of berries, smoke and a touch of espresso, with medium acidity and good structure. The 2009 ‘Trilogy’ is another Meritage blend but this one is comprised of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. It has berries and butterscotch on both the nose and palate, with a hint of anise, medium-to-full tannins and medium acidity. This is a nicely balanced wine that is drinking quite nicely right now but could certainly be laid down for a while.

Next we headed over to the Black Sage Bench to Quinta Ferreira Estate Winery. Many of the names of the wines here pay tribute to the family’s Portuguese heritage. The 2009 Mistura Branca (‘white blend’ in Portuguese) is a blend of 44% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Gewürztraminer, 20% Pinot Gris and 6% Chardonnay. It is clean and light with floral notes, citrus and tropical fruits on the nose and palate. The 2010 Unoaked Chardonnay is one of my favourites in the valley, with its peach, citrus and apple on the nose and palate, crisp, with a nice round mouthfeel. The 2009 Mistura Tinto (‘red blend’ in Portuguese) is a light-to-medium bodied blend of Gamay, Merlot, Syrah, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc. It has nice acidity and would be a great partner to pizza night! The 2008 Merlot has black cherry, vanilla, cinnamon and clove on the nose, with black cherry and cocoa on the palate and a coffee finish, with medium plus acidity and tannins. The 2009 Merlot Cabernet is a medium-to-full bodied wine, with medium acidity and flavours of cassis, chocolate and cherry. The 2009 Alagria is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Zinfandel with flavours of black cherry, raspberry and vanilla. It has high acidity and medium to full tannins. I think this one could use a bit of time. The 2009 Syrah is so tasty, with violets, blackberries and pepper on the nose and palate. This wine is well balanced with medium plus acidity and tannins and great flavours. The 2008 Obra-Prima is Quinta Ferreira’s flagship red blend, with black cherry and chocolate on the nose, cherry, mocha, cedar and spice on the palate with medium plus acidity and tannins. The 2009 Porta D’Ouro is a decadent fortified wine with flavours of dark black cherry and blackberry with nice acidity. We finished off with something a big lighter – the 2008 Vinho du Sol, a late harvest Chardonnay with luscious flavours of melon, peach and honey; so very tasty!

Silver Sage Winery was our next stop and is now one of J’s favourites due to the off-dry whites and fruity dessert wines, not to mention The Flame! This winery is always entertaining to visit as Elena’s personality and passion for the wines just takes over the entire room! There are always plenty of suggestions of different ways to use the wines, from martinis to drizzled over ice cream or waffles. The 2011 Gewürztraminer is slightly off-dry with flavours of lychee and a hint of Orange Tang. The 2011 Pinot Blanc is slightly off-dry with the distinct flavour of apple. The 2011 Sage Grand Reserve is a Gewürztraminer that was co-fermented with wild sage plants, making it a great pairing with turkey dinner. The 2010 Merlot has flavours of red berries and blackberry. The 2010 Pinot Noir ‘The Passion’ has flavours of black cherry, black currant and spice. Then we moved on to the dessert wines, all of which taste precisely of the fruits that have been added. The 2009 Merlot Raspberry/Blackberry is pure raspberry and blackberry. The 2010 ‘The Pearle’ is a fortified wine of Black Currant and Blackberry – quite tasty, with nice acidity. The 2012 Blueberry is another fortified wine and it tastes of pure blueberry. The 2010 Pinot Blanc Peach/Apricot tastes like a Bellini – summer in a glass! How can that be wrong?! Next we got on to one of the wines that Silver Sage is really well-known for: The Flame, a late harvest Gewürztraminer with the addition of a chili pepper. There are two versions: mild or hot. I opted for the mild while J tried the hot one, with the pepper still in the bottle. It is definitely interesting and something to try. It is not my cup of tea, but J loved it and bought a couple bottles of it! To do a bit of palate cleansing (although it is quite tough to put the burn completely out) we were then offered some of the 2012 Raspberry – another fortified fruit wine. This one would be a fabulous pairing with dark chocolate!

Finishing up with the Black Sage Bench we headed across to the Golden Mile to visit with Stella and Cashew (the winery dog) at Castoro de Oro Winery. The 2009 Heartbreaker is only available at the winery shop and is a blend of Chardonnay, Vidal and Pinot Blanc. The Chardonnay has undergone malolactic fermentation, contributing to a rounder mouthfeel and a hint of creaminess. It has an apricot nose and a fruity front palate and is nicely balanced. The 2010 Pinot Noir has a strawberry cherry nose, with cherry, earthiness and spice on the palate. It spent 3 months in Hungarian oak and 7 months in French oak. We finished with the 2006 Vidal Vin de Curé. Vin de Curé undergoes the special process of drying the grapes for 7 weeks after they’ve been picked, almost turning them to raisins before undergoing the fermentation process. I like this as a dessert as it’s not overly sweet (only about a 3 on the sweetness scale) and has nice acidity.

A bit further south along Highway 97, where it widens to 4 lanes, is a fruit stand that also contains a cidery. This is Orchard Hill Estate Cidery, which features the Red Roof Apple Cider. This is a lovely crisp dry cider with tiny bubbles. Samples are served in an area slightly separated from the rest of the fruit stand, in ice cold champagne flutes. The Red Roof Cider is available in 4-bottle packs (355mL bottles) or larger 1L bottles with the always-fabulous swing top closures (typical of German beer bottles and now many craft beers).

Back up in Kaleden, I decided to stop in at one winery that I had missed out on during an earlier tour – Top Shelf Winery, the newest addition to Kaleden’s wine scene. The hockey theme behind this winery stems from the owners’ passion for hockey and they were encouraged by their youngest son who is currently finishing his professional hockey career in Switzerland. He also contributed to the label design that features a goalie mask. The Slapshot Chardonnay is unoaked, with crisp citrus flavours and a hint of floral. The Pointshot Pinot Gris has a citrus nose, with lemon, lime and grapefruit on the palate. The Over The Top Merlot has black cherry and plum on the nose, with raspberry and black pepper on the palate with medium acidity and nice approachable tannins; quite tasty.

More touring around Oliver

Tags

bc wine, Black Sage Bench, Golden Mile, okanagan, Oliver, wine tour, wineries

J and I headed down to Oliver last weekend to primarily stick to the Black Sage Bench, with the one exception of Covert Farms Family Estate (I also needed to pick some tomatoes and zucchini for some canning!) We started at Burrowing Owl at the south end of Black Sage. They really do have a great setup there and if you do have time to book in on a tour of the winery it is well worth it – the cellar system is huge compared with what you actually see above ground! The $2 tasting fee in their tasting room gets split between the Burrowing Owl Conservation Society and SORCO (South Okanagan Rehabilitation Centre for Owls). To date, over $400,000 has gone to these organizations from tasting fees! I started with the 2011 Pinot Gris, with flavours of pear, grapefruit and a bit of spice. The 2010 Pinot Noir has cherry, strawberry and orange zest on the nose, all of which carry over to the palate, along with some vanilla. The tannins are light and it has nice acidity. The 2009 Syrah has blueberry, plum and a bit of spice on the nose, with flavours of raspberry, coffee, chocolate and spice. The 2009 Cabernet Franc has fairly high acidity, medium tannins and flavours of raspberry, spice and a hint of violets. The 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon has nice structure, with flavours of cassis and prune plums.

On we go to Desert Hills, just a couple minutes up the road. I am loving the new look to their labels this year – beautiful graphics and these labels really pop from the shelves. The 2011 Chardonnay is unoaked, with flavours of apple and pear, a round mouthfeel and nice acidity. The 2011 Cactus White is a blend of Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer and Viognier. It has apricot and lychee on the nose, is crisp and clean, with flavours of lychee, citrus and orange blossom. The 2011 Viognier has a lovely apricot nose and flavours of apricot and citrus. The 2011 Gewürztraminer has rose petal and lychee on the nose with lychee and citrus on the palate with a round mouthfeel. The 2011 Gamay is a bit lighter than previous vintages but is tasty as usual, with cherry and vanilla on the nose, light body with spice, strawberry and sour cherry on the palate. The 2008 Cabernet Merlot has medium acidity and medium tannins, with black currant on the nose and palate along with some cherry flavour. The 2008 Syrah has a meaty nose along with some dark berries. It has medium-to-high acidity with full tannins and flavours of dark berries, vanilla and spice with a bit of chocolate on the back palate. The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon has nice structure and lots of cassis on the nose and palate. The 2008 Malbec has flavours of dark berries with coffee on the back palate, along with medium-to-high acidity and medium-to-full tannins.

Platinum Bench Winery is a new one this year along the Black Sage Road, opened by Murray Jones and Fiona Duncan. The 2011 vintage was split in production between their Black Sage location and Okanagan Crush Pad in Summerland. Their reds were produced on Black Sage and their whites were produced at OCP, with Michael Bartier acting as consultant winemaker. I’ve been impressed with this first vintage from Platinum Bench. The 2011 Pinot Gris has apple and pear on the nose with apple and citrus on the palate. It is a well-balanced wine. The 2011 Chardonnay was split into three batches (stainless steel, new French oak and neutral barrels) which were all then blended back together again. The subtle oak flavour is well-integrated. There is citrus, melon and butterscotch on the palate, with a round mouthfeel. The 2010 Benchmark Red really blew me out of the water when I first tasted it a couple of months back. It is a blend of 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 8% Gamay. It spent 18 months in French oak. It has medium-to-high acidity and medium-to-full tannins. There is a lot of black cherry and red currant on the palate along with some spice and a hint of eucalyptus.

Stoneboat Vineyards is one winery that I always love to visit as I’m never disappointed by the wines; the Martiniuk family always seems to get it right! The 2011 Pinot Gris has grapefruit and stone fruit on the nose and palate, with crisp acidity and a lovely minerality. The 2011 Chorus is an Old Vines blend of aromatic Germanic varietals, with tropical fruit flavours, nice acidity and a hint of sweetness. The 2011 Faux Pas Rosé is one of my favourite rosés this season. It is a blend of Pinot Noir and Pinotage and has a lovely nose of cranberry and citrus, with lush strawberry and citrus on the palate, with a hint of spice. The 2010 Pinot Noir has great earthiness on the nose, along with cherry. This wine is very well-balanced, elegant with a complexity of flavours. The 2009 Duet is a 50/50 blend of Pinot Noir and Pinotage, with flavours of plum, cherry and fig, along with some baking spice and vanilla. It has medium-to-high acidity and medium tannins, although they have softened nicely. The 2010 Pinotage has black currants and spice on the nose, with quite heavy tannins and medium-to-high acidity. The 2010 Solo is the Reserve Pinotage, which was made up of 4 barrels that were deemed to be of a high enough quality that then had some further aging. It has great tannins, with flavours of dark fruits and spice. The 2010 Verglas is an Oraniensteiner Icewine, of which 70% was Botrytis-affected, and picked at 48 Brix. The result is a decadent dessert wine with a honey nose, lovely aromatics and beautiful acidity.

Next we showed up to our reserved booking at the Wine Experience Centre, the new tasting room and wine shop for Black Hills Winery, located a bit further south along Black Sage Road from their winery. We were escorted out onto the covered patio overlooking the lovely turquoise waters of the swimming pool to run through the wine tasting. A series of Riedel glasses were placed in front of each of us, a particular glass for each of the five wines that we would be tasting. The 2010 Alibi is a blend of 75% Sauvignon Blanc, fermented in stainless steel and 25% Semillon which was treated to older French oak. It is clean, with a round mouthfeel, citrus flavours and lovely complexity. The 2010 Viognier was just released last week and has a clean nose of apricot and honey, with a bit of white floral (although I was struggling to name the blossom – frustrating as it was right on the tip of my tongue!) The apricot and citrus carry on to the palate. This Viognier has beautiful flavours and complexity. The 2010 Carmenère has spice on the nose along with a bit of tobacco leaf. It has a medium body and fairly high acidity with lovely red fruit flavours. Black Hills has grafted Carmenère onto existing Chardonnay vines, taking it from ¾ acre previously to 3 ½ acres, since it has been performing so well. The 2010 Syrah is one wine I had very much been looking forward to tasting, ever since I had tried a barrel sample of it last summer and it did not disappoint! It was released just last week, alongside the Viognier, and had been bottled in May. It has a rich nose of blackberry and black pepper, with blackberry, black currant and black pepper on the palate – delicious! The 2010 Nota Bene is a blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot and 11% Cabernet Franc. This is the highest percentage of Cab Sauv used to date in Nota Bene, in part due to some loss in the Merlot crop. It has a very clean nose, with lots of cherry and cassis, with a bit of olive and tobacco. This carries over to the palate, with cassis being the dominant flavour. It has full tannins and well-balanced acidity.

Before heading home we stopped in at Rustico Farm and Cellars to say hi to Bruce, pick up a few bottles of wine and to have a bit of a picnic lunch – Rustico now has a well-stocked fridge and shelves with meats, cheeses, crackers, chips and even some treats from Tickleberry’s! I always enjoy the atmosphere in the “corral” picnic area at Rustico as well as the gorgeous valley views.

Our final stop of the day was up at Covert Farms Family Estate Winery (formerly known as Dunham & Froese). The 2010 Nighthawk White is 100% Pinot Blanc, with 60% of it having spent 3 months in French oak. It has flavours of green apple and vanilla, with a round mouthfeel and nice acidity. The 2011 Pinot Blanc has had no exposure to oak and has a fresh clean nose with flavours of citrus, floral and nectarine. The 2011 Rosé is a blend of 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Viognier, 3% Semillon, 3% Roussanne and 4% Malbec. It is a dry wine but is quite fruity still. It has a nose of cherry and berries, with a round mouthfeel and flavours of cherry, strawberry and citrus.

view of Covert Farm from McIntyre Bluff

The 2010 ‘The Bluff’ is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Cabernet Franc and 10% Petit Verdot. It has medium-to-high acidity and the tannins were still fairly full, despite having been decanted for an hour and a half. It has lovely flavours of blueberry and cassis and should develop beautifully over the next few years. The 2010 MDC is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Syrah and 25% Zinfandel. It had also been decanted for an hour and a half and still had fairly heavy tannins and medium-to-high acidity. It is a lovely balanced wine with chocolate, blueberry, violets and liquorice on the nose and flavours of sour cherry, blueberry, blackberry and baking spice. The 2009 Amicitia had not been decanted. It is a full Bordeaux blend with the addition of Syrah. It is 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, 12% Syrah, 9% Petit Verdot, 7% Malbec and 4% Merlot. It has a nose of dried or stewed fruits, with flavours of raisin and cherry. It has medium acidity and medium-to-full tannins.