Sunday School with JoieFarm

Naramata Bench winery JoieFarm has enjoyed a very productive and positive spring season so far, with some notable awards and honours from international wine competitions. It began earlier in the month when the results from the California-based Riverside International Wine Competition revealed that Joie’s 2012 Rosé had been selected as the Sweepstakes Rosé Wine – the best across all categories/varieties. The Riverside competition has been running for over thirty years, providing wineries from around the world a venue for their wines to be blind-tasted by dozens of professional judges. Not unexpectedly, nearly all of the judges, and many of the nearly two thousands entries come from the United States, yet BC wineries often perform remarkably well: this year Penticton’s La Frenz was named Small Winery of the Year, and last year Wild Goose took home the same honours!

While having your wine named as one of the top five amongst two thousand at such a prestigious competition would be great on its own for proprietors Michael Dinn and Heidi Noble, Joie also received two Best in Class Gold Medals for their 2011 Gamay and 2011 PTG red blend. Both wines are slated to be released this fall, with the varietal Gamay serving to further increase Joie’s growing portfolio of Burgundian red wines. Of course, five silver and five bronze medals are simply the icing on the cake from Riverside, but they also revealed some interesting new developments at the winery, including an upcoming Reserve Gewurztraminer.

Only days after the Riverside results were announced, Michael – who oversees sales and marketing at Joie while Heidi supervises winemaking – found himself composing an additional press release touting another impressive award! The Decanter World Wine Awards had just bestowed a rare gold medal upon Joie’s upcoming 2011 Reserve Chardonnay, one of only 229 golds amongst 14,362 wines in the 2013 competition! The ten-year-old Decanter Awards are often touted as the world’s leading wine competition, and are known to be quite stingy with their top honours; in fact, only seven gold medals were awarded to Canadian wineries this year (out of at least a couple of hundred entries)! Canadian winners included two Ontario and one Okanagan Riesling (See Ya Later Ranch 2011), a pair of Ontario icewines, and Quails’ Gate’s 2010 Reserve Chardonnay. Given the popularity and many years of accolades garnered by the much larger Quails’ Gate for their Chardonnay program, they make for great company, gold medal notwithstanding. One can imagine that upon release in September, Joie’s Chardonnay will see spirited sales indeed!

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to taste some of Joie’s current and upcoming releases as part of a series of bi-monthly tasting sessions conducted by Vancouver Urban Winery: the third of four “Sunday School” sessions featured the wines of Joie under the “Better Know a BC Winery” moniker. Gregarious Sommelier David Stansfield was present alongside Michael Dinn to welcome the multitude of “students”, and had even prepared an impressive aromatic spectacle along the bar. An array of wineglasses containing fresh fruits, herbs, and other delights for the senses provided guests with a chance to familiarize themselves with common wine aromas, ranging from fresh-cut grass to chocolate and cinnamon – it made for quite a conversation piece as well!

After an introduction by David, Michael discussed his young winery’s accomplishments and growth since he and Heidi purchased the initial five-acre Naramata Bench vineyard (and their house) in 2002. Their first vintage of 800 cases was financed by a bevy of credit cards in 2004, and produced at neighbouring wineries before their own facilities came into operation. Less than ten years later JoieFarm boasts production of 14,000 cases annually, and 17 acres of estate vineyards, not to mention myriad beneficial relationships with local growers as well. The winery has always focused on aromatic white wines, although more recently natural growth in reds such as Pinot Noir and Gamay has brought about further expansion of their portfolio.

For our Sunday School session David had arranged two flights of Joie’s newest wines, starting with four 2012 aromatic whites. I was immediately impressed with the Pinot Blanc, a new addition to the portfolio since 2011, when the winery held back some juice from being mixed into their “Noble Blend” in order to facilitate a small (180 cases) single varietal bottling. The Pinot Blanc comes from two old-vine vineyards, one in Kelowna and the other on the Naramata Bench, and fortunately those same two 25-year-old vineyards were available for the 2012 vintage. The wine was showing off a beautiful floral, vanilla-scented nose, and very fresh, clean flavours of apples, peaches, and grapefruit. The well balanced acidity did wonders to extend the vibrant freshness, and set a high standard for the remaining whites to measure up against. Best of all 288 cases were produced in 2012, so it should last a little bit longer this year.

The additional white wines in our flight of four included the varietal Riesling, one of Joie’s most championed wines given their Alsatian inspirations. More than 800 cases of 2012 Riesling were produced, once again from a blend of Kelowna and Naramata Bench fruit. It being so young, I didn’t detect any hints of “petrol” on the nose – as it should be in the opinion of some – which was instead awash in lime and grapefruit aromas. A lime-focused citrus palate followed, with lower acidity than I expected, but balanced by a relatively low 15 g/L of residual sugar (low in comparison to many other Rieslings at least).

Like all good Riesling, Joie’s should be able to age, and in order to get a better perspective I recently opened a bottle of their 2008 Riesling from my own cellar: it had easily stood the test of time, retaining plenty of fruit and evolving an appealing light petrol aroma – no overwhelming diesel fuel here. The nose retained freshness while taking on more mature tropical aromas like mango, and the palate was a study in honeyed peaches, while mouth-watering acidity and a lengthy finish helped to perpetuate the enjoyment. I wouldn’t hesitate to add the 2012 vintage to my vertical if this elegant maturity is what I have to look forward to in the years to come.

Following the Riesling we had the chance to enjoy the varietal Muscat, a long-standing and storied component of Joie’s portfolio that comes in part from the winery’s home vineyard on Naramata Road. The 2006 vintage was awarded a Lt. Governor’s Award, and the next year Vancouver chef Vikram Vij bought up the entire 2007 vintage for his eponymous Indian restaurant! From 2012 about 450 cases of Muscat were produced, and in our glasses it easily exuded the intense aromatics for which it is known. Once again I was struck by how clean and fresh the wine came across, with floral, herbal, and stonefruit aromas, and a balanced palate with the characteristic “grapey” flavours of Muscat that David was sure to point out. Although the Muscat contains 12 g/L of residual sugar, it has sufficient acid as well; still, the Pinot Blanc struck me as more pleasantly tart overall.

David had smartly arranged for the 2012 Noble Blend to come last, seeing as it incorporates all three of the aforementioned varieties, in addition to Gewurztraminer (35%), Pinot Auxerrois (12%), and even Schoenberger (4%). Riesling contributes the other major component of the blend, at 29%, while Pinot Blanc makes up 17% and Muscat a tiny but important 3%. The Noble Blend is Joie’s anchor wine, with more than 4,200 cases produced from the 2012 vintage, in addition to several hundred magnums and Jeroboams that make quite a statement with their giant size. The Noble Blend can be found on tap in a growing number of restaurants due to Joie’s partnership with Vancouver Urban Winery and their FreshTAP system of steel kegs. Despite nearly 11 g/L of sugar the Noble Blend possessed the lowest acidity of all four whites; I would have preferred a bit more acid but it remained relatively balanced nonetheless, with aromas of citrus, spice, and clean laundry. The theme of freshness and youth exhibited by the preceding wines was maintained, and should provide for plenty of summertime enjoyment with a variety of foods given its inherent complexity.

When it came time for our flight of red wines guests were in for quite a treat, as Michael had brought with him samples of four upcoming wines not scheduled for release until September. Included amongst those wines was the winery’s first varietal Gamay, and two versions of the new Pinot Noir. Joie has produced a Pinot-Gamay Noir blend called PTG (“Passe-Tout-Grains”) for some time, but it was only last year that they first released a single varietal red, their first Reserve Pinot Noir (from 2010). For the 2011 vintage the winery has expanded the Pinot Noir release into a “regular” $24 version and the smaller lot $40 Reserve. The very food friendly PTG, usually about two thirds Pinot Noir and one third Gamay, continues to deliver, and the winery produced about 450 cases from the 2011 vintage.

We had the chance to try both Pinot Noirs and noted the differences between them: the Reserve version, of which 270 cases were produced, was noticeably darker and earthier, with toasty, mushroom notes. The brand new varietal Pinot Noir, reasonably priced and with more than double the production quantities, should be very popular, with bright red fruit on the nose, cherry flavours, and hints of cedar and toast. The upcoming 2011 Gamay was actually even better than the Pinot Noir in my opinion, at the same $24 price point. Similar red fruits and hints of cedar were present, but the palate felt pleasantly rounder, and minus the minor bitterness I detected on the finish of the Pinot Noir. The new reds will likely enjoy much consumer success, perhaps even more than the PTG blend given New World familiarity and comfort with varietal wines. Many thanks to Michael (and Heidi) for sharing them, and the superb whites as well, and to David for putting together such a successful tasting!

BC Grape Crop Report: 2012 Insights

The BC Wine Institute recently released the annual Crop Report, a voluntary survey of BC wine grape growers conducted and compiled by accounting firm BDO Canada. The summary message of the 2012 Report was that total tonnage has “returned to normal levels” thanks to an increase of 17% over 2011. Extrapolating from the wineries/growers that responded to the survey the report concludes that a total of 27,257 tons of wine grapes were harvested in 2012, versus 22,722 tons in the challenging 2011 vintage.

A mild winter, good spring fruit set, and warm temperatures throughout harvest combined to yield the success witnessed last year. Although consumers are already enjoying the stellar 2012 white wines, the Wine Institute quotes BC Grapegrowers’ Association President Manfred Freese as noting that “the resultant full ripening of the berries all but guarantees this will be a superior vintage year for red wines.”

Seeing as the Crop Report survey is voluntary, only a limited percentage of vineyards provide data in any given year. Last year 110 of the 206 wineries in BC participated, representing a historical low of only 53%. Frustratingly, as the number of wineries has increased over the past several years, the number responding to the survey has fallen, accelerating the participation decrease from a high of 84% in 2008. Should this trend continue the Crop Report faces a dim future slide into obscurity: hopefully the Institute is aware of the potential problem and is seeking to boost the response rate in the future.

Variety	2012 Rank	2012 Tons	Variety	2011 Rank	2011 Tons
Merlot	1	5,637	Merlot	1	4,830
Chardonnay	2	2,980	Chardonnay	2	2,481
Pinot Gris	3	2,788	Pinot Gris	3	2,331
Pinot Noir	4	1,981	Cabernet Sauvignon	4	1,694
Cabernet Sauvignon	5	1,964	Sauvignon Blanc	5	1,426
Gewürztraminer	6	1,513	Pinot Noir	6	1,417
Sauvignon Blanc	7	1,435	Gewürztraminer	7	1,262
Cabernet Franc	8	1,371	Pinot Blanc	8	1,173
Syrah/Shiraz	9	1,323	Cabernet Franc	9	1,061
Riesling	10	1,309	Riesling	10	1,011

Those wineries that did respond have provided a fascinating look at the ongoing changes in the BC grape-growing industry. Perennial champions Merlot, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris remain in the top three once again, but due to a massive 564 additional tons harvested, Pinot Noir bumped Cabernet Sauvignon from fourth place – this despite an additional 300 tons of Cabernet being harvested in 2012!

More changes saw Sauvignon Blanc falling from fifth down to seventh place, despite a slightly larger harvest than 2011, and an additional 251 tons of Gewurztraminer pushed this aromatic variety up from seventh to sixth. Perhaps the biggest upset in the rankings comes via Syrah, which didn’t even crack the top ten in 2011 but emerged to help push Pinot Blanc out entirely via a huge 450 ton increase over the relatively unimpressive 2011 harvest. Even a slight increase to 1,187 tons in 2012 wasn’t enough to help Pinot Blanc retain a place in the leaderboard. Lastly, Cabernet Franc’s 310 ton increase helped this increasingly popular variety into a solid eighth place (Sandra Oldfield must be ginning somewhere), while elegant Riesling maintained position in tenth, with nearly 300 tons above 2011.

The full report also includes price details for every grape variety, revealing some of the most (and least) valuable grapes in the local market. Averaging $2,284/ton over 436 tons helped Viognier trounce varieties like Chardonnay ($1,991) and Pinot Gris ($2,063), but Roussanne had them all beat with a maximum price per ton of $6,161 (although averaging $2,994 on a mere 33 tons).

Amongst reds, Merlot exhibited a shockingly low minimum value of only $533/ton at one point, although the grape averaged a respectable $2,378. What must have been some exceptional Cabernet Franc grapes maxed out at $7,500/ton (while averaging $2,434), but 204 tons of Malbec were the most valuable red table grapes, averaging $2,791 per ton.

To view the full 2012 Crop Report (and those of other years as well) visit the BC Wine Institute webpage.

LaStella & Le Vieux Pin Ring in Spring

I recently stopped by the Vancouver headquarters of a couple of my favourite wineries to taste their newest releases: LaStella and Le Vieux Pin produce some of the finest wines in the Okanagan valley, not to mention the most in-demand, so it is always a treat to sample their highly acclaimed wares. With summer rapidly approaching the time is perfect for the two wineries to release their respective 2012 rosés, along with several fresh white wines to enjoy over the coming months. The two small southern-Okanagan wineries are operated by the same parent company, and mutual General Manager Rasoul Salehi as well as winemaker Severine Pinte were on hand to discuss their new and upcoming wines.

LaStella is located just north of the town of Osoyoos, in a beautiful vineyard property on the western shores of Osoyoos Lake. The winery’s Italian musical theme sees them producing a Pinot Grigio named “Vivace” as well as an unoaked Chardonnay with the charming moniker “Leggiero”. As 2012 was quite fortunately a highly productive vintage the wines have benefited from very clean, ripe grapes, immediately evident upon tasting the whites. The Leggiero impressed me with wonderfully ripe orchard fruit flavours and food-friendly acidity that will pair with many fresh local foods – the winery recommends seafood in particular. The Vivace continued the trend with a crisp and refreshing palate favouring citrus and apples, with tropical fruit salad complexity providing for even more versatility in the kitchen.

The other spring releases from LaStella include the “LaStellina” Rosé, and the delightful little Moscato d’Osoyoos – a sweet, low-alcohol, delicately effervescent wine that comes in a 500mL bottle perfect for brunch! The orange blossom aromas in the Moscato lead into a very clean, mouth-watering palate that would also be ideal in the aperitif role. The LaStellina is off-dry as well, and rather pale in colour this year, due to a reduction in Merlot from 100% to 80% – the remainder of the wine now comes from a unique blend of 10% Pinot Nero (aka Pinot Noir) and 10% Cabernet Franc grapes. The bright palate is dominated by strawberry flavours with earthy, mineral hints; the winery suggests a spicy food pairing to mesh with the lush aromatics and low alcohol – sounds perfect!

Sister winery Le Vieux Pin can be found further north outside the town of Oliver, where Winemaker Severine embraces the winery’s French theme that is centered on Rhone-style wines. Although striking Syrahs and a voluptuous Viognier blend are prominent, Le Vieux Pin also produces a varietal Sauvignon Blanc: the 2012 vintage continues the tradition of a mild, subdued approach that shows off herbal, floral perfume. The wine eschews strong grassy notes and overly tart citrus flavours in favour of a more subtle, complex take on the grape, certainly more to my liking.

The Viognier-Roussanne-Marsanne blend named “Ava” sees at least several months in oak before delayed release, so the 2011 vintage is only now coming onto the market. In 2010 the blend consisted of more than 90% Viognier, but now 11% each of Roussanne and Marsanne have contributed to a very round, mouth-filling texture, and a long, smooth finish. There is a toastiness on the nose brought about through the partial oak aging, but lush tropical fruits emerge over time. Since it’s my opinion the 2011 has improved on the already excellent 2010 version I’m quite pleased to see that nearly twice as much was produced this vintage – almost 500 cases are available for sale to the wine’s many fans.

Not to be outdone by LaStella, Le Vieux Pin’s take on rosé once again proved to be extremely impressive. The 2012 “Vaila” Pinot Noir Rosé is very aromatic, with an intense, tart red berry palate and dry finish that keeps you coming back for more. It will sing during summer months, but I remember opening my last bottle of 2011 Vaila during a large Christmas dinner potluck last year: it was a near-perfect pairing praised by everyone in attendance, showing the easy versatility of this consistently superb wine.

While Severine was busy pouring the whites and rosés for guests on one side of the room Rasoul had a special treat around the corner as he poured the brand new LaStella 2010 Maestoso Merlot. The Maestoso is LaStella’s flagship wine, containing grapes lovingly tended to in the winery’s home vineyard on the lakeshore. Each year only a small amount of Maestoso is produced, typically on the order of 150 cases, due in part to the low yields, often approaching 1 ton per acre. I have been carefully collecting a vertical of this wine since the first vintage in 2006, without much of an idea what to ultimately do with it however; fortunately it will last until I make up my mind! Maestoso is a big wine, full of dark fruit, mocha, and black olive flavours, but I was honestly surprised at how approachable the 2010 came across given its youth. It should age gracefully given the rich, ripe tannins, so there is no hurry to consume it any time soon, and additional complexity will no doubt emerge over the many years ahead.

Alongside the Maestoso, Rasoul was happy to show off a surprising new wine from Le Vieux Pin: the upcoming “Cuvée Violette” 2011 Syrah is an easy-drinking, more entry-level red aimed particularly at restaurant wine lists. Although it will retail for an approachable $30 an aggressive sommelier might be able to list it for $50 after the wholesale discount. Being able to include a well-made varietal Syrah from a highly respected Okanagan winery at that price should make it an easy sell, while helping to introduce consumers to the higher-tier Syrahs from the winery, including the exciting Equinoxe reserve version.

In fact, both the “regular” 2010 Syrah, and the yet-to-be-released 2010 Equinoxe Syrah were available to sample as part of an international comparative tasting Rasoul had assembled for the occasion. Along with a few bottles from France, California, and even New Zealand, local versions from Burrowing Owl, Church & State, Jackson Triggs, and Nichol Vineyard were also present. The Le Vieux Pin Syrah had no trouble standing up to the competition, with plenty of bright fruit and a fresh, tart palate leading into a smooth, slightly raisiny finish. The Equinoxe version exhibited additional complexity coming across on the spiced nose and intense dark fruit palate, framed by a sublimely rich, full texture. Fortunately, with so many options over the summer in the form of delicious whites and rosés, I should be able to keep myself busy while I await the fall Equinoxe release!

April Wine Club: New Releases and Old Favourites

Our group of wining and dining aficionados has been working on re-starting our monthly wine-pairing dinner series ever since the departure from Vancouver of one of the three founding couples. In March we enjoyed a fantastic meal with some other friends who just moved back to Vancouver, and for April a different couple joined us for yet another monthly celebration of BC wine and food. With so many new wines being released these days from the excellent 2012 vintage it was quite a challenge to settle on just a few bottles. I certainly wish we had the time for more than one shared dinner per month, but coordinating six people is surprisingly challenging – leaving barely enough time to decide on what wines to serve and tasty food to prepare!

Our new guests had elected to contribute the appetizer course, and since my wife and I had offered up hosting duties that put the second veteran couple on dessert. Since one can never be sure if the appetizer course will require on-site preparation it’s best to prepare a reception wine; and really it’s just an excuse to have another bottle of wine. Having tasted and picked up a bottle of Stoneboat Vineyards’ brand new sparkling wine at the Vancouver Wine Festival it seemed like just the time to crack it open. Since our entree course had required so many types of cheese I had plenty of leftover pieces that made for a great cheese tray to open the evening. A couple supplemental cheeses from Benton Brothers rounded things out with an amazingly creamy Délice de Bourgogne and a tart round of St. George goat cheese from Farm House.

The Martiniuk family at Stoneboat revealed their first sparkling wine earlier this spring, a blend of Pinot Blanc and Müller-Thurgau produced via the very rare Charmat method. Although relatively common elsewhere, Charmat-method sparkling wine hasn’t been seen in British Columbia for a generation, as John Schreiner detailed in early March. In short, tank fermenting and bottling the wine under continuous pressure via Charmat retains the finessed carbonation found in (bottle-fermented) traditional method sparkling, and gains the advantage of simplicity by avoiding riddling, disgorging, etc. Bottled in a classy, silk-screened bottle, the Piano Brut found quick converts amongst us, being described as clean and fruit-forward with fine bubbles. It was drier than expected given the fresh, fruity aromas, and received compliments for being “uncomplicated” – ideal for refreshing spring and summer sipping.

Our guests arrived with covered trays for the oven and a couple of bottles of a very exciting new release I had recently sampled: Clos du Soleil’s 2012 Rosé has been impressing me for at least a couple of years and the newest vintage is the best yet in my opinion. We prepared the oven to warm up some exciting stuffed acorn squash and opened the wine to admire the beautiful colour. The acorn squash had been stuffed with a mouth-watering mix of black quinoa, onions and mushrooms, chorizo (for those who desired it), and plenty of parmesan cheese. The wine paired very well given its underlying earthy flavours, brightened by plenty of strawberry, rhubarb, and hints of bubble-gum. When chilled it presented as low acid but a more appealing tartness developed as it warmed up a bit. Bringing two bottles was an excellent idea, as we had no trouble polishing them off before our entree course was served.

When you are cooking for six and don’t want to spend the whole time in the kitchen, lasagne is a chef’s best friend. In this case this versatile pasta dish made perfect sense, to ensure we would be able to enjoy the appetizer course in peace while our casserole baked in the oven. We’d elected on a creamy vegetable lasagne, with Bechamel sauce and lots of spring vegetables. Some modifications from the source recipe saw us adding roasted asparagus and plenty of sautéed brown mushrooms in addition to the sweet onion, leeks, zucchini, and peas. On top was a heavenly mix of Mozzarella, Fontina, Asiago, and Pecorino Romano cheeses; and on the side a beautiful fresh salad of frisee and Boston lettuces, watercress, and celery.

To enjoy alongside our admittedly fantastic lasagne I selected two very different bottles of 2009 Chardonnay. The JoieFarm Reserve came from Naramata Bench and Okanagan Falls fruit, fully malolactically fermented in oak, and then oak-aged for nine months with lees stirring. The Painted Rock on the other hand, from Skaha Lake Bench fruit, was only partially oak fermented, with no malolactic component, and then oak aged (sur lie) for four months. Ironically the Joie fruit book-ended Painted Rock in between Naramata and Okanagan Falls, but the two wines represent significantly different approaches to Chardonnay production.

We split up the bottles across the table, and I ended up tasting the Painted Rock first: it came across a bit toasty, with oak aromas present, but well integrated on the palate, and no woodiness apparent. There was plenty of fruit, with citrus and lots of apple flavours, plus lively acidity. The fresh flavours paired well with the lasagne, bringing out the fresh lemon zest I had mixed into the ricotta cheese.

The Joie Chardonnay was quite an about-face, as it featured a more subtle nose with an apple focus, while the oak influence became more apparent on the palate – the opposite of the Painted Rock. The creamy texture of the Joie was a major difference of course, due to the malolactic fermentation and lees stirring. Such a full texture was appreciated on its own; however, the cleaner, crisper finish from Painted Rock paired best with our particular meal. The 2009 vintage was only the second Chardonnay from Painted Rock, but it’s apparent that the winery has long been cultivating a very food-friendly style; more recent vintages have been equally advantageous and delicious!

We all managed to restrain ourselves from enjoying a second piece of lasagne in anticipation of the exciting dessert sure to come. All we knew in advance was that it had required the purchase of a number of specialized ingredients, and had necessitated the use of “every single item in the entire kitchen,” in the words of the chefs. Once we were presented with the reveal of Flourless Salted Chocolate Lavender Cake we were supremely impressed, and couldn’t wait to taste such an ambitious creation! To pair with the delectable dessert was a bottle of the first release of Burrowing Owl Coruja, a solera-style fortified Syrah, purchased at the winery last spring (right before it sold out). If that wasn’t enough, a bottle of 2006 Pipe from Sumac Ridge was also on hand!

The “cake” was more of a giant chocolate soufflé – something none of us had any problems with – and the addition of edible lavender sprinkled on top provided for a wonderfully floral hit following the super-smooth, salty chocolate explosion. It was definitely the sort of dish that we’ll be talking about for a long time to come, and garnered many compliments for the talented chefs! Even better, dessert was made all the more enjoyable by the beautifully-bottled Coruja, which showed off rich dark cherry and milk chocolate flavours, and delightfully enhanced the salt in the cake.

The Pipe made for an excellent follow-up once we finished the Coruja, as it is consistently a natural match for chocolate, with cocoa characteristics on the nose and palate. Compared to the somewhat yeasty nose on the Coruja, the Pipe – an equal parts blend of fortified Merlot and Cabernets Franc and Sauvignon – was much more chocolaty, and finished with a rich, creamy texture in concert with second helpings of cake. There were to be no leftovers from such a marvellous culinary creation! We’d managed to once again put the icing on the proverbial cake of another spectacular meal, thanks to great friends and plenty of superb BC wine.

BCWAS Blasted Church Vertical Tasting

Last week’s tasting saw much of the team from Blasted Church join the BC Wine Appreciation Society for another sold out event. The Society was joined by winery owners Evelyn and Chris Campbell along with Winemaker Mark Wendenburg and the winery’s two dedicated sales representatives, Brent Hayman and Derrick Cousins. Together the five of them were able to answer any and all questions about the history and practices of Blasted Church, and the exciting wines available for us to sample.

Blasted Church produces a broad portfolio of wines ranging from sparkling to Port-style, including more than a dozen table wine varietals and blends. However, the Campbells decided our tasting would be the perfect opportunity to investigate the pedigree of their Chardonnay and Merlot in greater depth, via two vertical tastings covering much of the last decade.

Before sampling from a five-year Reserve Chardonnay vertical, and a seven-year Merlot vertical, we were all treated with a special preview of the winery’s upcoming 2011 “OMG” Sparkling Wine. Having previously produced only one vintage of sparkling, from 2008, it is no coincidence that the winery is ramping up their sparkling program now that new winemaker Mark has arrived. Mark spent two decades collecting accolades at Sumac Ridge Winery, well known for their “Steller’s Jay” sparkling wine.

Mark joined Blasted Church in the spring of 2011, and wasted little time preparing the second release of OMG from that fall’s vintage, to be officially released later this year after two years of fermentation and aging. The sample bottles brought to us from the winery weren’t even labelled yet, as they are still several months from release, but the traditional method blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, and Pinot Noir introduced itself just fine. With a slight pinkish tint from the Pinot Noir, the wine showed a very crisp, fine mousse and delicious peach pie flavours following clean linen aromas. Although only 77 cases of the 2008 OMG were produced, there should be more 2011, and the program will no doubt continue to grow in the years to come.

Although I’m sure the Blasted Church team could have continued speaking about their exciting upcoming wines, we conceded it was time to move on to the next dozen glasses in front of us, knowing how quickly BCWAS tastings can fly by! The first vertical consisted of the 2004 to 2008 vintages of the “Revered Series” (Reserve) Chardonnay, no longer produced. One can imagine the sparkling program requires greater amounts of Chardonnay grapes, which may have necessitated the transition. The Revered Chardonnay was always produced in very small quantities – half a dozen barrels at most, according to Brent, with whom I conveniently shared a table. Now the winery focuses on producing several hundred cases annually of an off-dry varietal Chardonnay Musqué, named “Unorthodox Chardonnay”.

Tasting five vintages of the Revered Chardonnay was a very rare treat, given its production status. Beginning with the 2004 I was quite impressed by how much fruit was retained on the palate. The wine still smelled clean and fresh, with moderate oak on the nose. Unexpectedly, the 2004 would ultimately come out on top as the crowd favourite of the flight.

Moving through the remainder of the vertical I found the 2005 a bit thicker in texture (although the malolactic component of the 2004 had been evident), with a more restrained nose than its predecessor. The 2006 initially expressed a bit of acetone on the nose and a hint of oxidation that reminded me of Sherry, but over time honey aromas expressed themselves and a strong melon flavour emerged. My personal favourite was the 2007, with a toasty nose and fruity undertones, plus an acidic bite that kept it vibrant on the palate. Lastly, as one would expect, the 2008 showed the most fresh, floral nose, along with mixed tree fruit flavours. It really was quite an exploration overall!

Although everyone was still debating their favourite Chardonnay we couldn’t ignore the seven remaining glasses of Merlot ahead of us. Starting with the winery’s first release from 2002 I was immediately impressed by how aromatic it presented after nearly a decade in bottle. A dark rusty colour yielded to mature, Porty aromas, while on the palate brisk acidity was found to be keeping it lively.

After the winery’s first winemaker Frank Supernak tragically passed away during the 2002 crush Blasted Church brought in South African winemaker Willems Grobbelaar for 2003, the year of the infamous Okanagan wildfires. The 2003 Merlot certainly seemed affected by the smoky conditions that year, showing what I found to be a leathery nose with elements of eraser rubber and paint; not ideal but an unavoidable reality that year. By 2004 another new winemaker was needed when Willems was unable to extend his work visa, and Australian Marcus Ansems joined the team (only to leave the next year!) to produce a dry, dark-cherry-flavoured Merlot, which was showing moderate tannins.

The 2005 and 2006 vintages were produced by Kelly Moss after she left Calona Vineyards (where she was trained under Howard Soon). Upon tasting the wines I found that both showed more fruit on the nose, with smooth tannins and cranberry/cherry flavours; the fresh and fruity 2006 was probably my favourite of the vertical in fact. The remaining two glasses came from the hands of Richard Kanazawa, winemaker for the 2007-2010 vintages, who took over when Kelly moved back to Ontario. Both 2007 and 2008 wines were quite young, with plenty of tannin present, showing that Blasted Church’s Merlot needs quite a bit of time to come into its own. That being said, Sales Representative Brent confided to me that 2009 was the best Merlot yet in his opinion, but regretfully it was not available for our tasting.

Consumers will have the chance to try Mark’s take on Blasted Church Merlot once the 2011 vintage is released later this year. It’s doubtful a six-winemaker vertical (2002-2011) will ever be tasted in public, but it was challenging enough diligently working our way through seven years! Much gratitude goes to Evelyn and Chris for so generously opening their library of wines to us, and to Mark for introducing us to his sparkling wine and the promises his talents bring to Blasted Church’s many fans in the years to come.

Okanagan Falls in Vancouver

Sandwiched between the well known Naramata Bench to the north and the heavy hitters of Oliver-Osoyoos to the south, one might worry the wineries of Okanagan Falls could escape notice. In order to ensure that doesn’t happen the wineries from “The Heart of Wine Country” organized themselves into a winery association that was “years in the making” and covers wineries from Penticton to Vaseux Lake, representing 11% of the domestic wine bottled in BC. This week the young Okanagan Falls Winery Association held the Vancouver launch of their new press kit with a comprehensive tasting at Brix Restaurant in Yaletown. The results made it obvious that anyone who fails to pay attention to the dozen members of the Association is doing themselves a serious disservice, and missing out on some of BC’s tastiest wines!

At Brix the wineries were organized at a dozen tables within the outer courtyard and restaurant interior, with most of the winery proprietors in attendance pouring a wide variety of wines. I was pleased to get another chance to enjoy Noble Ridge’s delicious “The One” traditional method sparkling wine, immediately followed by Blue Mountain’s NV Brut, a BC standard. Both sparkling wines were showing particularly well, and ideal for awakening my palate. Noble Ridge Proprietors Leslie and Jim D’Andrea were also sharing their creamy 2010 Chardonnay and big, bold 2009 Pinot Noir. Blue Mountain Sales & Marketing Manager Christie Mavety was showing off her family’s newly released 2011 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, plus the 2011 Sauvignon Blanc, with great citrus-dominant fresh fruit flavours.

The Wild Goose table next door, out in the courtyard, was swamped for the most of the tasting, so I didn’t manage to taste any of the wines being poured by General Manager Roland Kruger. Judging by the crowds and the winery’s reputation I’m sure the new releases were going over very well, considering they included the 2011 Stoney Slope Riesling and 2012 Mystic River Gewurztraminer, plus 2010 Reserve Merlot. I’ll just have to visit the winery myself this summer, in the hopes that at least some of those particularly popular aromatic whites are still available!

Inside the restaurant Blasted Church Proprietors Evelyn and Chris Campbell and Winemaker Mark Wendenburg were making enthusiastic use of a portable tap dispensing their 2011 Hatfield’s Fuse white blend, and 2011 Big Bang Theory red blend. Both wines are very popular throughout BC via the “FreshTap” kegs that enable by-the-glass servings in restaurants and bars. Both 2011 wines were initially released earlier last year, so 2012 versions will be forthcoming soon, but in the meantime the Hatfield’s Fuse is showing soft fresh stone fruit flavours, and the Big Bang Theory has lots of easy-drinking berry flavours and floral hints.

The always enthusiastic John Skinner was on hand pouring his remaining Painted Rock wines – the 2011 Chardonnay is sold out leaving him with no white at present. The 2012 Chard should be available soon, but you’d hardly have noticed any disappointment in John as he was busy showing off renderings of his long-awaited tasting room, finally under construction. John has spent the last few years putting all his energy and profits into the vineyards and winery, resisting the urge to splurge on a showpiece tasting room. Now that his winery and brand are firmly established he can proceed with a replacement for the small shed that has served customers since the winery opened. By mid-summer the gleaming new tasting room should be open and ready to serve guests and host events such as weddings, which will likely be clamouring for the Skaha Lake views.

At the Stag’s Hollow table owners Larry Gerelus and Linda Pruegger were pouring their very tasty 2012 Syrah Rose: a touch of Viognier amps up the aromatic nose and the strawberry flavours (and dry finish) put it on my shopping list immediately. The winery’s new 2010 vintage of their Cabernet-Merlot red blend “Heritage Block” was showing toasty smoke over a solid fruit core, and the 2010 Renaissance Merlot impressed with a full, but smooth, approachable texture. Of particular interest was the sample of the winery’s upcoming third wine in their ultra-small-lot “Cachet” series: Cachet #3 is a rich Merlot-Tempranillo blend with a touch of Cabernet Sauvignon, from the 2010 vintage, and should be released later this year. Once again, each bottle is hand-numbered, and they will probably be very hard to find outside the winery!

I spent a substantial amount of time at the table manned by Jak Meyer (the current Association President): his Meyer Family Vineyards Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is consistently superb, and they just keep getting better! Jak was not only pouring all of his single vineyard wines, but also his “Okanagan Valley” Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the more economical multi-vineyard blends. That certainly isn’t to say that the Tribute or McLean Creek Chardonnays ($35), or Reimer or McLean Creek Pinot Noirs ($40) aren’t worth the price: the Chardonnays show very well-integrated oak, with bright acidity and excellent balance, and the Pinot Noirs are earthy and full-bodied. Meyer has a handy wine club that offers access to all of the wines in three annual shipments: it’s probably the best way to acquire many of these small-lot wines if you can’t make it to the winery in Okanagan Falls.

With “only” a dozen wineries present one would think there was enough time to visit them all, but I regretfully had to quickly skim through the portfolios of a few, and missed one of them entirely! Fortunately I’ll get a chance to visit Liquidity Wines this summer, hopefully just in time to enjoy their brand new tasting room, and finally try some of their wines. Knowing the estate vineyards have been selling grapes for over twenty years before the new owners started a winery in time for the 2012 vintage certainly piques my curiosity.

I was at least able to taste some of the wines from the remaining wineries, and was impressed by Kraze Legz’ clean and crisp Pinot Blanc and refreshing Merlot Rose, as well as the strawberry-flavoured “Cake Walk” Merlot. From the See Ya Later Ranch portfolio I enjoyed the value found in the very easy-drinking 2011 “Jimmy My Pal” white blend ($16), and the soft, dark fruit of the 2010 “Ping” Cabernet-Merlot. Family-run winery Synchromesh (named by auto-enthusiasts) had a slew of Rieslings open across three vintages from 2010 to 2012. The 55 grams of residual sugar found in the 2011 Black Label Riesling was certainly eye-opening, but still in decent balance with the acidity. Thematic nomenclature continued with Topshelf Winery, clearly the domain of hockey enthusiasts: each bottle being poured by owners (and hockey parents) Leonard & Myra Kwiatkowski features prominent goalie mask artwork! The Kwiatkowski’s were pouring their 2011 Pinot Gris, a bright 2011 Chardonnay called “Slapshot”, and an earthy, soft 2011 Merlot named “Over the Top”.

It’s great to see the diverse Okanagan Falls wineries finally organize themselves into a trade association. Working together will undoubtedly help to raise the profiles of all the member wineries; they certainly made an impression on the assembled guests at Brix. Having visited a few of these wineries previously, including during last year’s BCWAS Bus Tour, I’m looking forward to returning this summer to share the region’s beautiful vistas and wide variety of wines with my family. Thanks to the Okanagan Falls Winery Association for refreshing my memory!

Wines of BC Vintage 2012 Preview

Yesterday afternoon the fine folks at the BC Wine Institute brought together several Okanagan winemakers and viticulturists to discuss the 2012 vintage and preview some of the their upcoming wines. The panel discussion and tasting took place in Hawksworth Restaurant’s beautiful upstairs York Room, and included representatives from regions including the Golden Mile and Black Sage benches, Naramata, Summerland, and Kelowna. Unfortunately there wasn’t any contribution available from outside the Okanagan Valley, such as the vibrant Similkameen Valley, but the expertise and experience on offer was much appreciated by the many attendees.

Tinhorn Creek’s President and Winemaker Sandra Oldfield was first to speak (as she had to leave early), alongside her Vineyard Manager Andrew Moon. In response to facilitator Anthony Gismondi’s query as to what she’ll remember the most about the 2012 vintage Sandra was quick to mention the two weeks of rain that soaked the valley at the end of harvest. That much sustained rain was a unique occurrence, but fortunately only set Tinhorn Creek back a slight amount as they don’t dry farm their vines any longer. Dry-farmed vines would have immediately absorbed all that water and drastically diluted the grapes and resulting wine. Sandra’s distaste for dry-framing was brought about in part due to the high tannin levels it historically yielded in her wines; now Tinhorn Creek carefully but deliberately water their 150 acres of vineyards by drip-irrigation (and steadily declining amounts of overhead irrigation).

Two new white wines from the 2012 vintage were offered as samples from Tinhorn Creek: the varietal Gewurztraminer will be officially released May first, and the “2Bench White” blend will follow in June. The Gewurztraminer comes from estate Golden Mile vineyards, and shows a lychee-heavy focus on fruit rather than floral notes (my preference); it was stainless steel fermented to yield less than 13% alcohol and a moderate 7 grams per liter of residual sugar. The 2Bench White is a popular and food-friendly blend of Chardonnay, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, and Muscat Ottonel from both sides of the valley. It’s quite dry (only 2 g/L of sugar), fresh and clean, with a long finish of tree fruit flavours. No matter the year, there’s often a bottle of this versatile and dependable wine chilling in my fridge!

To cover vintage conditions in greater detail from the Black Sage Bench perspective were Sandhill’s Senior Winemaker Howard Soon and Viticulturist Nathan Goltz, who manages the Sandhill Estate Vineyard along with his father Robert. Following an illuminating historical overview of local growing-degree days Howard was sure to mention his philosophy of avoiding micromanagement in the vineyard, and his trust in experts like Nathan to take care of the vines properly until harvest. Nathan demonstrated his detailed approach with a lengthy discussion about leaf removal practices, and the unexpected complexities involved in balancing the choices involved.

Another new 2012 white wine was provided by Sandhill in the form of their varietal Sauvignon Blanc, already awarded a silver medal at the New World International Wine Competition in California. The winery reports the grapes were hand-harvested from the Black Sage Bench and whole cluster pressed to yield 1,200 cases coming out on May first. It has an obvious citrus and gooseberry nose, and a mellow tropical palate with few grassy influences. An appealing clean, relatively dry finish keeps the wine refreshing. Howard pointed out his preference for creating wines that pair well with local cuisine, such as the many BC seafood dishes that will mesh nicely with the Sauvignon Blanc.

Representing the Naramata Bench on the east side of Okanagan Lake was Renaissance man Robert Van Westen, who serves as both viticulturist and winemaker at his namesake winery Van Westen Vineyards (not to mention as an often-frustrated cherry farmer as well). Rob walked the audience through his many vineyard locations throughout Naramata: multiple small vineyard parcels keep him busy travelling back and forth along Naramata Road between at least five sites. He’ll have to work even harder this year given his assessment that spring is two weeks ahead of normal; combining that with a two-week delay recuperating from recent surgery puts him a month behind in his opinion.

Van Westen’s whites tend to be released later in the year than most: the Gold-medal-winning 2011 Viognier just came out in December. Rob managed to bring a tank sample of the 2012 Viognier however, and it’s already a very good wine, lush, supremely balanced, and awash in delicate tropical fruit and a hint of ginger – it’s going to be a long wait until this December! As if that wasn’t enough Rob also brought along his 2009 “V” red blend, so named as it is his first wine to contain all five Bordeaux varieties. Three hundred cases were released last fall, and despite the wine having nothing to do with the 2012 vintage it was quite welcome in my glass: fine tannins and chocolate flavours make it approachable already, despite the intense, long-lived reds Van Westen is known for.

Moving across the lake to Summerland we heard from Michael Bartier of Okanagan Crush Pad, along with Viticulturist Theo Siemens. They had brought tank samples of Haywire 2012 Switchback Vineyard Pinot Gris and 2011 Canyonview Vineyard Pinot Noir. Michael and Theo were proud to discuss the many environmentally-sustainable practices employed by OK Crush Pad, including the presence of vineyard chickens, and soon sheep! The vineyards have cut insecticide use completely in favour of encouraging beneficial insects via diverse flowering plants. In addition, the winery’s compost pile yields liquid “tea” that serves as an excellent fungicide, further reducing artificial chemical application. These practices have certainly succeeded in producing delicious wines: the Pinot Gris – fermented and aged as five unique lots before blending – is showing off a very nice nose of delicate tropical fruit and floral notes. The 2011 Pinot Noir is already very smooth, with flavours of red currants and cherries, but bright acidity on the palate will keep it fresh for some time, it having not even been formally bottled yet. Okanagan Crush Pad employs several concrete “egg” tanks, which is where the Pinot Noir is currently aging.

Our final panel member came from Kelowna’s Tantalus Vineyards: Viticulturist Warwick Davis joked that since all wine is made in the vineyard, there was no point in sending (Winemaker) David Paterson as well. In fact, David is currently working the Australian 2013 harvest, a practice not uncommon for worldly winemakers with experience timing their travel schedules. Warwick showed a map of Tantalus’ 50-acre estate vineyard surrounding their beautiful winery and tasting room, including some newly acquired neighbouring property being planted to Chardonnay. He was sure to mention the risks involved riding the sharp edge of deficit irrigation – maintaining the fine line between not enough and too much water is a constant balancing act. Although the vineyards may not be pretty, the old vines at Tantalus are still “trucking along” even though some are missing here and there – Riesling planted in 1978 makes up the vineyard backbone.

The 2012 and 2010 (Old Vines) Riesling from Tantalus were the final wines available to sample, and will likely be released within the next month. The “regular” 2012 Riesling is demonstrating an excellent balance between the 16 grams of sugar and 10 grams of acidity. Because 2012 was a warmer year tropical notes are more apparent than in previous vintages, but tart apples and citrus flavours form the fruit core. The Old Vines version from 2010 is soon to be released after extensive bottle aging, and showed somewhat lower sugar and higher acidity than the 2012 vintage in the neighbouring glass. Stronger petrol notes are apparent on the nose, and citrus flavours are dominant (as Warwick suggested, due to the cooler season that year). In this case, a vibrant, mouth-watering, honeyed finish provided for a delightful conclusion to the flight of wines.

My gratitude goes out to the BC Wine Institute for organizing such an informative panel discussion, and to the talented winemakers and viticulturists who attended for being so generous with their time. I look forward to enjoying more of the high-quality 2012 vintage over the coming months and years!