Photo: Red Horses Vineyard's Eileen and Tim Fortin
Red Horses Vineyard is a small winery in Oliver which opened
this spring, specializing in Cabernet Sauvignon.
It likely is the only Okanagan winery making as big a bet on
Cabernet Sauvignon, a noble Bordeaux varietal once considered risky because it
ripens later than Merlot. That was the view in the 1990s. Two decades later,
the seasons are warmer and Cabernet Sauvignon is ripening reliably.
The two Red Horses vineyards have been planted since 2009 and
the sites are warm. The ripe flavours of the winery’s debut whites show that
the owners chose well.
For more background on the winery, which just opened this
spring, here is an excerpt from my recently published Okanagan Wine Tour
Guide. As small as the winery is, there is a tasting room. It is well worth
a visit.
Red Horses Vineyard is perhaps the most focused small winery
in the Okanagan. The vineyard is planted exclusively with Cabernet Sauvignon.
The winery opened with just Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, the latter made with
purchased grapes. “There is a possibility in the future we might plant
something other than Cabernet Sauvignon,” says Tim Fortin, one of the partners.
“Now, I just want to make the best Cabernet I can make.”
The winery is owned by Tim and Eileen Fortin and Tim’s
parents, Rod and Pat Fortin. It represents a circuitous journey to wine by both
couples. Rod was born in northern Saskatchewan in 1940. He was 12 when his
family moved to Oliver. “I started working in the orchards when I was 13, and I
pretty well had my fill by the time I left here in 1959,” he remembers. After
high school, he pursued several successful business careers in Vancouver,
including modular housing for resource communities in the 1960s, followed by
gravel production. After he sold that business, he and his wife retired in 2008
to the Okanagan, which he maintains has the best climate in Canada.
In 2009 they bought a 1.1-hectare (2¾-acre) orchard
with 70-year-old trees near Tuc-el-Nuit Lake, at the outskirts of Oliver. Rod
had no desire to begin growing tree fruits. “It was perfect for growing grapes,”
he says. “I have always had an interest in wine. I drink wine every day, at
least a couple of glasses.” His favourite wine is Cabernet Sauvignon. For
several years, he sold the grapes, keeping enough to make wine for personal
consumption.
Then Tim and Eileen bought an adjoining property,
also planted Cabernet Sauvignon, and proposed a winery. Born in Vancouver in
1966, Tim met Eileen at cooking school there. Their love of wine developed in
restaurants (Eileen’s Winnipeg family had operated a restaurant). After cooking
school, they started their own catering company. That business led Tim to film-industry
catering and then to a 30-year career managing logistics in that industry. When
he retired, Tim and Eileen also moved to Oliver, to a vineyard and the
management of Red Horses. The winery, which displays two life-size metal horse
sculptures, takes its name from a family interest in horses and western lore.
Consulting winemaker Philip Soo makes the wine for
Red Horses, which launches with 100 cases of 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon, 450 cases
from the 2018 vintage, and close to 1,000 cases in 2019. “And I don’t think we
will go above 1,000 cases,” Tim says. “We will try to keep the quality up and
the volume down.”
Here
are notes on four current releases.
Red Horses Cross Breed 2018 ($28.75
for 55 cases). This is a field blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Merlot.
It has aromas and flavours of black cherry, cassis and dark chocolate, with
spice and chocolate on the finish. The tannins are long, ripe and soft. 91.
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