Ann Sperling: a winemaking legend

Photo: Ann Sperling Recently, I drew up a list all the British Columbia-born winemakers working in our industry. There are more than 50 names on the list.

Arguably, the most respected one is Ann Sperling, the co-proprietor of Sperling Vineyards in Kelowna. Her roots go back a long way, as is indicated by the winery’s slogan: “Love and Labour since 1925.” That was when an ancestor, Peter Casorso, planted vines on a property still called Pioneer Ranch.

Ann’s father, the late Bert Sperling, married into the Casorso family and took over running the vineyard in 196o. Ann grew up on this historic vineyard. She went to the University of British Columbia to earn a degree in food sciences.

On 1984, Ron Taylor, then winemaker at the Andrés winery located in Port Moody, recruited her to do quality control. He soon switched her to a winemaking role. In 1991, she moved to CedarCreek Estate Winery where she was the winemaker through the 1995 vintage.

She crafted some legendary wines early in her career in British Columbia. “Even at André’s, I was experimenting with late harvest wines,” she told me a few years ago. “I made some botrytis-affected Ehrenfelser two or three times when I was there. I would come out and do the hand-picking myself. As well, my dad had Optima. I remember the first time I made botrytis-affected Optima [because her father could not sell the grapes].” She continues to be interested in late harvest wines, as two recent releases indicate.

In the 1992 vintage at CedarCreek, Ann made a Merlot so good that the judges at the 1993 Okanagan Wine Festival competition insisted it be given a platinum award rather than a gold medal. To this day, CedarCreek’s top reserve wines are released as platinum wines.

After CedarCreek, she moved to the Niagara wine region where she has had a distinguished career at Malivoire, Flatrock Cellars and subsequently at Southbrook Vineyards. She helped the wineries transition to organic winegrowing. She has done that again at Sperling Vineyards, the Kelowna winery she launched in 2008 with siblings.

“It was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to make wine here [Pioneer Ranch], because I am so familiar with every foot and every slope and every grape on the property,” she told me after she returned to Okanagan winemaking.

While getting Sperling Vineyards off the ground, she also made the wines for two other wineries that were being launched at the same time: Camelot Vineyards in Kelowna and Clos du Soleil in the Similkameen Valley. Both have since employed their own winemakers.

As if that is not enough, she and husband Peter Gamble own a small vineyard in Argentina which produces premium red wine.

She is respected throughout the Canadian wine industry. She should get an Order of Canada for her accomplishments in viticulture and winemaking. Sperling Vineyards is a leading producer of sparkling wine, old vine Riesling and natural wine, among other wines.

Here are notes on current releases, which are all organic.

Sperling Late Harvest Vidal 2018 ($30 for 375 ml). Golden in the glass, this wine begins with intense aromas of ripe pineapple mingled with a suggestion of botrytis. The wine is luscious on the palate with intense flavours of ripe pineapple and apricot. Bright acidity balances the 123 grams of residual sugar. The finish goes on and on and on. Try this wine with Cambozola cheese. 92.

Sperling Late Harvest Pinot Gris 2010 ($40 for 375 ml). This surprisingly fresh for a 10-year-old wine. It has aromas of spice mingled with honey, which is echoed on the palate. There is a hint of tobacco on the finish, perhaps a suggestion of botrytis. The wine is well-balanced: sweet but not overly so. 91.

Sperling Dry Riesling 2018 ($35 for 202 cases). This wine, which is austerely dry, is made with fruit from the estate’s 1978 Riesling block. The wine has aromas and flavours of lemon and lees. The wine needs to be decanted for consumption now. It will age superbly. 90.

Sperling Old Vines Riesling 2016 ($96 for a magnum). The fruit also comes from the 1978 Riesling block. The wine also has bright acidity and great ageability, with a little residual sugar. There is lemon zest on the nose and flavour, with a hint of petrol developing. The flavours are intense and the finish is very long. 93.

Sperling Pinot Noir 2018 ($35). This is a light and fruity take on Pinot Noir that can be served slightly chilled. There are aromas and flavours of cherry and raspberry. 88.

Sperling Speritz Pet Nap 2019 ($30 for 368 cases). This dry and lightly effervescent wine is 85% Perle of Csaba, 15% Chardonnay. Perle is an aromatic variety no longer widely grown in the Okanagan. The Sperling vines were planted in 1934. The winemaking for this wine was basically hands-off: it was fermented with natural yeast in the bottle. It was not fined or filtered and it was bottled with light lees. The wine is fresh and lively, with hints of citrus. 90.