Black Hills releasing Nota Bene 2023

Photo: Ryan McKibbon, chief winemaker at Black Hills (photo courtesy of Black Hills)

The 2023 vintage of Nota Bene from Black Hills Estate Winery is the 25th vintage release of one of the great red wines from the Okanagan. For those who have collected verticals of Nota Bene, this is likely the last Nota Bene for a few years, due to the winter damage the vineyard suffered early in 2024.

“Vineyard redevelopment is our big focus for 2024,” Ross Wise MW, the chief winemaker and general manager at Black Hills, wrote when he released the 2022 Nota Bene. “Unfortunately, we have been heavily impacted by the cold events of the last two winters and we are replanting our Black Sage vineyards. As tough as this decision was, it is also an opportunity to build a resilient and productive vineyard for the future, more in tune with the current climate we are faced with.”

Since writing that, Ross has returned to his native New Zealand. The winery announced in April that he has been succeeded by Ryan McKibbon. "Since joining our winemaking team ahead of the 2022 vintage, Ryan has overseen the cellar under the guidance of Ross Wise MW. This move brought his career full circle, as he first worked for Ross as a harvest intern back in 2011. Since then, he's completed 16 harvests around the world, gaining experience at some of the world’s leading wineries, including Crystallum (South Africa), Hidden Bench (Niagara), and Felton Road (New Zealand), along with benchmark estates across the Okanagan Valley," the announcement read.

Nota Bene’s history was recounted in my book, Icon: Flagship Wines from British Columbia’s Best Wineries. Here is an excerpt:

Nota bene suggests that a person should “take notice”. That is exactly what happened with the very first vintage of Nota Bene in 1999. The acclaim from critics and consumers gave it a cult status that the wine has enjoyed ever since. The founders of Black Hills were two couples who had left city jobs in 1996 to plant 36,000 vines, mostly Bordeaux red varieties, in a vineyard on Black Sage Road. Senka Tennant, one of the quartet, was tasked with making the wine. She made the first three vintages of Nota Bene with advice from Rusty Figgins, a Washington state winemaker who had made numerous Bordeaux-style blends at prestigious Leonetti Cellars.

To allow one of the founding couples to retire, Black Hills was sold in late 2007 to a group of investors called Vinequest Wine Partners Limited Partnership. Many of the investors were Nota Bene collectors who now had an even more compelling reason to buy the wine. Senka Tennant’s final Nota Bene was the 2007 vintage, and she has been succeeded in the cellar by Graham Pierce. Vinequest has since expanded Black Hills with the purchase of a neighbouring vineyard in 2011 on which, in the following year, a $1 million wine shop was built. The winery at last had a tasting room commensurate with Nota Bene’s prestige.

Black Hills has the ability to produce more than 5,500 cases from its two vineyards. The volume of Nota Bene, however, is capped at 3,500 to 4,000 cases. The wine’s quality is consistent; it is always made with three estate-grown Bordeaux varieties. It was aged in oak for a year until 2014, when the winery extended barrel-aging to 16 months. The current oak regime is 80% French, 20% American; one-third of the barrels are new, one-third are a year old, and the remaining third are two years old.

Black Hills accompanied the 2023 Nota Bene with a new white, a Rhone-inspired wine called Aridus, a Latin word meaning dry. Here are notes on the two wines. Aridus was released at the winery on May 24 while Nota Bene’s release party at the winery is set for June 13.

Black Hills Nota Bene 2023 ($70 for 3,850 cases). The blend is 37% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot and 28% Cabernet Franc. The wine was fermented in French oak puncheons with wild yeast and was aged 18 months in French oak barriques and puncheons (41% new). The wine begins with aromas of dark cherry, plum, red currants, chocolate and spice. The palate echoes the aromas with an added note of sage. Long ripe tannins give the wine a long finish. 94.

Black Hills Aridus 2023 ($35 for 110 cases). This is a blend of 46% Roussanne, 40% Viognier and 14% Marsanne. The wine was fermented in French oak with selected and wild yeasts. It was aged 10 months on the fine lees. The wine’s aromas recall the scents of the dry South Okanagan vineyards, mingled with hints of pineapple and quince. The palate mingles savory flavours of sage with notes of quince wrapped around a mineral backbone. 93.