Winemaker's CUT: a moment in time

Photo: Michal Mosny

The Winemaker’s CUT label wines, formerly released along with the wines of Lunessence Winery & Vineyard in Summerland, now stand on their own.

The label is owned by Michal and Martina Mosny. He is also the winemaker for Lunessence.

The two wines under the Winemaker’s CUT label are small-lot, single vineyard wines. “Like a director’s cut, an edited version of a film that represents the director’s unique point of view, Winemaker’s CUT is the winemaker’s unique styling/blending of an Okanagan wine,” Michal explains in the brochure accompanying the current releases.

The wines – a Sauvignon Blanc and a Syrah – are from the Deadman Lake Vineyard, midway between Oliver and Osoyoos. “The terrain is rich in minerals, sulphur and natural elements, in heavy concentration, that is exclusive to the Okanagan valley and evident in our wines,” Michal adds.

Michal, who was born in Slovakia in 1982, lives and breathes classical music. “In Slovakia, I had a small garage winery next to a village where Beethoven used to go,” Michal says. “He wrote Für Elise there.”

In 2011, Michal and his wife, Martina, emigrated to the Okanagan. He set up a vineyard management company; that led to him being recruited in 2014 to manage Lunessence and its six-and-a-half-acre vineyard. Here, speakers among the vines play classical music. It also plays in the cellar. Michal would have you believe it benefits the wines. It certainly does them no harm.

“There are a lot of studies about how music impacts the plants,” Michal says. “I did a lot of research about it. I think there is something. I can see something in the wines, that they have a different integrity. I think they are happier. With classical music, every single instrument produces some emotions.”

He continues: “When we ferment white wines, usually it is opera we are listening to, to bring some stories into the wines. White wines are usually fermented to Giuseppe Verdi. When the reds come into the cellar, we switch to Puccini. It is fun when you are listening to Puccini and there is some tragedy and you are doing punch downs …”

The Winemaker’s CUT wines are described as “a moment in time captured, cut from the vineyard vine.”

Here are notes on the releases.

Winemaker’s CUT Sauvignon Blanc 2017 ($25 for 180 cases). This wine is fermented both in barrel and in stainless steel, with 20% aged in barrel. It begins with aromas of herbs and grapefruit. On the palate, there are luscious tropical flavours of grapefruit and grapefruit rind with a twist of lime and a backbone of minerals. 91.

Winemaker’s CUT Syrah 2016 ($32 for 260 cases). This wine has acquired a smoky/toasted oak note after aging for 10 months in a variety of barrels. It also has aromas of plum, fig and pepper that are also reflected in the flavours. Long, ripe tannins give the wine a fullness on the palate while appropriate acidity adds freshness to the fruit. 92.