Quails' Gate champions Foch

Photo: Ferdinand Foch Both the late Harry McWatters and Gray Monk Winery founder George Heiss disparaged the Maréchal Foch grape variety by saying it has not been exported from France: it has been deported. That does an injustice to the variety, judging by the quality of Foch wines made every year at Quails’ Gate Estate Winery. The Stewart family claims to have been the first to plant Foch in the Okanagan. Some history is in order. Eugene Kuhlmann, a plant breeder in Alsace, created Maréchal Foch in the 1911 at the Colmar research station. This was at a time when the French plant breeders were crossing vinifera with North American species in a search for varieties that could withstand the phylloxera and the oidium mould threatening Europe’s vineyards. When the variety was commercialized in 1921, it was name to honour Maréchal Ferdinand Foch who had been a leading general in the French army during World War 1, ending the war as Commander in Chief of the Allied Forces. Many of these hybrids were imported by Ontario and New York vineyards either before or just after World War II because they were more disease resistant than vinifera and made better wine than the old labrusca varieties. Most of the hybrids were pulled out after the 1988 vintage. They were judged of insufficient quality to make wines of international standard compared with vinifera grapes. As well, growers had learned how to nurture vinifera successfully. The late Richard Stewart, whose family now operate Quails’ Gate, planted Foch in 1969 on the vineyard near Westbank. For some reason, it was not pulled out in 1988 – a good thing, as it turns out. Stewart also planted Pinot Noir in 1975. It was one of the first Pinot Noir plantings in Canada. It eventually set Quails’ Gate on the road to becoming one of the country’s leading Pinot Noir producers, with at least eight clones in the vineyard. As a wine, Pinot Noir is the polar opposite to Maréchal Foch. To get back to Foch, Quails’ Gate in 1994 hired a new winemaker, Jeff Stewart, from Australia (now the owner of La Frenz Winery on Naramata Road). He brought a Shiraz-maker’s mentality to the Foch and, in the 1994 vintage, made a dense and concentrated red that the winery released as Old Vines Foch. It became a cult wine and has never lost that following. The dramatically improved quality of the wine compared with virtually every Foch that preceded it had much to do with how the grapes were grown. Left to its own devices, the Foch vine (and other red hybrids) will produce easily ten tons of grapes an acre. That was why most Okanagan red table wines in the 1980s were thin and light. However, when the yield is reduced to something sensible, perhaps four tons an acre, the resulting wines have weight and flavour. The Quails’ Gate advantage with Foch is a combination of good viticulture and mature vines, which limit yields naturally. The winery’s Old Vines Foch Reserve is made with grapes from those 1969 plantings. Its Old Vines Foch is made with grapes from 30 plus-year-old vines in an Osoyoos vineyard that also escaped being pulled out. Here are notes on the wines.

Quails’ Gate Old Vines Foch 2018 ($25.99). This wine was aged in oak barrels for 19 months after fermentation in stainless steel, with nine days skin contact. The colour is quite dark. On the nose, there are aromas of spice and plums: think of a figgy pudding! The palate is generous, showing flavours of cherry and plum. 90.

Quails’ Gate Old Vines Foch Reserve 2018 ($46.99). This wine was an astonishing 19 days on the skins during fermentation – astonishing because the grapes are dark, with red flesh. This wine, which is quite dark in colour, was aged for 20 months in American oak barrels. The wine begins with aromas of cherry, vanilla and black olives. Those are echoed on the palate, along with flavours of coffee and dark fruits. There is a touch of oak on the lingering finish. 92.

Quails’ Gate Fortified Vintage Foch 2017 ($26.99 for 375 ml). Dark in colour, this wine seems a cross between a ruby port and a tawny port. It begins with rich aromas of fig, plum and dark fruit, which is echoed on the palate. The texture is generous and warming and the finish lingers. 90