Photo: The iconic Blue Mountain vineyard
The many fans of Blue Mountain Vineyard & Cellars may want to stock up on these wines recently released from the 2023 vintage if only because there is no 2024 vintage from this winery.
The hard freeze in 2024 killed most of the buds in the vineyard but, fortunately, not the carefully tended vines. Blue Mountain, like its peers, produced a 2025 vintage; several of the white wines are scheduled for release in June.
Winemaker Matt Mavety, unlike many of his colleagues, did not import grapes for a 2024 vintage. From the beginning in 1991, the Mavety family has made Blue Mountain’s wines exclusively from the picturesque estate vineyard near Okanagan Falls.
“We believe that great wine is made in the vineyard,” the winery says on its website. “At Blue Mountain all of our wines are made from estate grown grapes, a single contiguous site with unique microclimates that are apparent in each vineyard block. Our dry climate allows for low intervention vineyard practices, reducing the need for sprays. We focus on soil health through cover crops, composting and encouraging biodiversity in the vineyard. Our preferred vineyard vehicle has two wheels and a battery. Electric bikes help us move quietly through the rows, care for the vines, and tread lightly on the land.”
In recent vintages, Matt has released special wines from vineyard blocks that show particular individuality. While Blue Mountain’s vineyard blends are excellent quality and value, the wines from specific blocks each reflect different characteristics. These are wines worth seeking out.
Here are notes on five wines from individual blocks plus a reserve Pinot Noir, all from 2023 and all fermented with wild yeast
Blue Mountain Alluvium Reflection Block 32 Chardonnay 2023 ($44). The fruit for this wine is from a western-facing block planted in 1990. This is an elegant wine which was aged 18 months in French oak. The wine has notes of new hay and sage in the aroma. The rich palate delivers flavours of apple mingled with vanilla. 93.
Blue Mountain Blossom Slope Block 17 Chardonnay 2023 ($44). Block 17 is a warm site, with a westerly exposure and coarse and loamy sand soils. The wine, made with three clones of Chardonnay, was aged 18 months in French oak. Lightly golden in the glass, the wine has aromas of stone fruits minged with a touch of vanilla. The palate delivers luscious yet fresh fruit flavours, with a long finish. This is a wine of exceptional elegance. 96.
Blue Mountain River Flow Block 23 Pinot Noir 2023 ($48). This sandy loam block, planted in 1994, has a slight northern and eastern exposure. The clones in this wine are 113 and 114. This is a firm wine with a spine of minerality; decanting helps the wine open up to show savoury flavours of dark cherry and sage. 92.
Blue Mountain Gravel Force Block 14 Pinot Noir 2023 ($48). The winery says this wine, made from the fruit of 36-year-old vines, is “an overt, brooding and textural wine with strength.” I found the wine to be full-bodied with classic aromas and flavours of dark cherry. 93.
Blue Mountain Wild Terrain Block 9 Pinot Noir 2023 ($48). This wine is so-named because the topography is, the winery says, “the most extreme and varied” of the Pinot Noir blocks. “Significant South-Western exposure reveals a wild complexity, at once handsome and delicately pretty, savoury and boldly free,” the winery writes. I liked the aromas and flavours of cherry, raspberry and spice, along with the silken finish. 93.
Blue Mountain Reserve Cuvée Pinot Noir 2023 ($39). This is exceptional value for a wine of this quality. It is made from vines that are 26 to 36 years old. Four clones are used: 113, 114, 115 and 667. The wine, fermented entirely with wild yeast, is dark in colour reflecting the concentrated yet silky texture. It has aromas and flavours of dark cherry mingled delicately with spicy oak. 94.
