Photo: Kitsch winemaker Grant Biggs
In 2016, one of the most interesting new wineries was Kitsch
Wines in East Kelowna.
There is an exciting youthful vibe here, reflecting the
youth of the owners, Ria and Trent Kitsch, and their winemaker, Grant Biggs.
There are also excellent wines. The winery's debut 2015 Riesling was judged best of variety at the recent Okanagan Spring Wine Festival. The 2016 whites, just being
released, are from one of the best vintages so far for Okanagan whites. The
2015 Pinot Noir is elegant even if Grant repeats the cliché that the variety is
the heart break grape. This, after all, was his first Pinot Noir. And the
barrel sample of a superb 2016 Pinot Noir that he showed me makes it clear he
has his arms around the variety.
The owners are Kelowna natives. Trent
was born in 1979; Ria was born three years later. Trent played minor league
baseball before getting a business degree at the University of Western Ontario.
Ria studied business at UBC Okanagan and in Austria, including wine
appreciation in Krems, followed by backpacking in South America.
She met Trent when she returned
to Kelowna, where she joined him in developing and marketing the SAXX brand of
men’s underwear. When the brand had grown to the point where it was ready for
international marketing, the couple sold the business.
“We had an exit
strategy,” Ria says. “For us it was essential that if it was going to be big,
it get into the hands of people that could make it big, because that wasn’t us.
We needed to prove the concept – that men would buy it and rebuy it at the
price we valued it at. $25 a pair is expensive for underwear. So we sold [the
company] and that allowed us to pursue our Okanagan dream of planting grape
vines and starting the winery.”
Their 12.7-acre vineyard was
planted in 2013 and 2014. The largest blocks are Riesling. They also grow Chardonnay,
Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir.
The winery and the tasting room
were opened in a three-car garage attached to the large house built for Trent’s
parents (who are in the housing development business). The garage doors open up
to reveal the grand view over the vineyard.
However, the winery will relocate
this fall because the Kitsch family would prefer more privacy. Trent and Ria
are looking at options that include moving a few hundred yards west to their own
home where there is another garage that could be turned into a winery. Another
option might be a move into downtown Kelowna, becoming an urban winery. The
winery will continue to get grapes from this vineyard as well as other
vineyards in East Kelowna and Lake Country.
Winemaker Grant Biggs, who also manages
the vineyard, was born in 1983 in Port Alberni and worked as a sommelier in
Victoria restaurants.
“My grandfather, I think, is the reason by I pursued a
career in wine,” Grant says, referring to Italian-born Elio Navé. “He used to
order grapes from California – Zinfandel and Muscat – and we would make wine in
the basement together when I was growing up. I associated the fondest memories
with the foods that grandma was cooking and the wine that my grandpa was
drinking.” His grandmother is French.
Grand began his winemaking career as an assistant winemaker
at Mt. Boucherie Vineyards, moving to Tantalus Vineyards for two years in 2013.
He has also done a crush in a large New Zealand and enrolled in the distance
learning program from the University of California at Davis.
By the time he was hired for the first vintage at Kitsch in
2015, he had honed detail-oriented cellar skills that have given him a sure
hand at making wine.
“2015 was an expedited year,” Grant says. “I had ordered all
of the equipment and wrote the business plan. It was a hot growing season. We
got our license on September 2 and we were picking Chardonnay the following day.
The 2016 vintage was a little calmer.”
The winery made about
1,000 cases in 2015 and increased production to 2,300 cases in 2016.
“I am looking forward
to 2017,” Grant says. “Once we put wine in bottle, I am always looking forward
to what is next.”
He anticipates it will be a more challenging vintage.
Compared to the early start of vine growth in 2016, this year has started weeks
later. However, he has a young German viticulturist helping him in the
vineyard. The two of them are prepared to react to whatever the season brings.
“You put the work in and every year you try to get a little
better,” Grant says. “This was only my second vintage here. I hope with every
year to come, there is a bit more refinement, just finding my style. Or
hopefully, never finding my style. Let the season determine what needs to be
done with the grapes and don’t try to fight that too much.”
Here are notes on current releases.
Kitsch Dry Riesling
2016 ($24.90 for 650 cases). The wine has appealing aromas and flavours of
lime and lemon around a mineral backbone and a tangy finish. The balance gives the
wine an electrifying intensity: the wine has 11.3 grams of residual sugar and
9.3 grams of acid. That structure assures the wine will age for at least 10
years even if it is approachable now. 92.
Kitsch Riesling
2016 ($22.90 for 450 cases.) The wine has similar acidity to the dry
Riesling but twice as much residual sugar. The wine begins with aromas of
citrus and white peach, going on to deliver flavours of sweet lime and
grapefruit. The residual sugar lifts the aromas and flavours. The finish,
however, is almost dry. This is the one to drink while the dry Riesling is
aging. 91.
Kitsch Riesling 2015 ($23.90
for 393 cases). This wine begins with aromas of lemon and lime, echoed on the
palate. The flavours are surprisingly concentrated for fruit from young vines,
with a vibrant tension created by balancing nine grams of acidity with 15.4
grams of residual sugar. The wine has begun to show a note of the classic
petrol that develops as Riesling ages. 92.
Kitsch Pinot Gris
2016 ($21.90 for 255 cases). The wine presents with a slight blush, the
consequence of giving 72 hours of skin contact to three-quarters of the crushed
fruit before fermentation. Richly textured but finishing dry, the wine has
aromas and flavours of pears and apples. There is a hint of anise on the
finish. 91.
Kitsch Pinot Noir Rosé 2016
($21.90 for 163 cases). This is youthful Pinot Noir from vines planted in 2014 –
a very sensible way to use second leaf fruit. A dry rosé, the wine’s strawberry
hue may be suggestive: the aromas and flavours also suggest strawberry and
raspberry. 90.
Kitsch Chardonnay
2015 ($23.90 for 202 cases). I
tasted this last year but was shown it again to see how well it has developed
in bottle. This barrel-fermented wine begins with a lightly gold colour in the
glass and with aromas of citrus and apple. On the palate, there is a medley of
fruit ranging from melon to apple to pineapple and lemon. There is a very
subtle note of oak on the finish. This is almost sold out but the barrel sample
of 2016 Chardonnay is every bit as good. 92.
Kitsch Pinot Noir
2015 ($26.90 for 234 cases). This wine is made with clone 115 grapes from a
Lake Country vineyard. The wine was aged eight months in oak barrels. It has
aromas and flavours of black cherries and spice with the elusive note on the
finish referred to as barnyard by connoisseurs. The texture is silky. 90
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