Corcelettes winery is on a roll

Photo: Jesce and Charlie Baessler

It is first vintage in 2011, Corcelettes Estate Winery made just 200 cases. Charlie and Jesce Baessler, who run the Similkameen-based winery, have come a long way since. Corcelettes is now producing 5,500 cases a year and is continuing to expand. In several recent wine competitions, Corcelettes has been judged of the 10 best small wineries in Canada. For background on the winery, here is an except from The Okanagan Wine Tour Guide.

The name of this winery reflects the Swiss roots of the Baessler family. Before they moved to a Manitoba grain farm in 1978, Urs and Barbara Baessler had a family farm near Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland called Domaine de Corcelettes. The name followed when they moved to a Similkameen Valley garlic farm in 2007 and planted vines in 2010. “The goal always was to have some grapes,” Urs says. The vineyard propelled their son, Charlie, into winemaking. Born in 1985, he took a job in the vineyard and cellar at Herder Winery and Vineyards after earning a science degree at the University of Lethbridge in 2007. Late the following year, he moved to the Burrowing Owl winery, where he became a vineyard manager and learned winemaking under the tutelage of Bertus Albertyn, then Burrowing Owl’s winemaker. In 2013, the Baesslers opened their own winery on their 1-hectare (2½-acre) vineyard near Cawston, which grew just three white varieties.

Even with purchased grapes, the original Corcelettes could not support two families. Charlie and Jesce, his Nunavut-born wife, also worked at other Similkameen wineries, while Urs became a long-distance truck driver. Then Herder Winery, where Charlie had his start, came on the market in 2013 (the result of a divorce). The vineyard was larger and planted primarily with red varieties, and the winery was well equipped. Friends of the Baessler family, Brandon businessman Gordon Peters and his wife, Diane, partnered with the Baesslers to take over Herder early in 2015. Urs and Barbara sold the Cawston vineyard to move to a property adjacent to Herder, now rebranded as Corcelettes with a vineyard expanded 27 acres. The Corcelettes portfolio now supports the two Baessler families with five white wines and ten reds. Jesce says that Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Syrah are the “three cheerleaders” in the uniquely sunbathed vineyard. The vines grow in mineral-rich soils bordered by a steep south-facing rocky hillside. Located halfway up the hill, the winery and the tasting room command a dramatic panorama over the Similkameen Valley.

Here are notes on current releases.

Corcelettes Chardonnay 2019 Micro Lot Series ($35 for 195 cases). This barrel-fermented Chardonnay spent six months in French oak (20% new). The mandarin and peach aromas and flavours mingle with notes of vanilla and butter in this bold, fruit-forward Chardonnay. 91.

Corcelettes Oracle 2020 ($19.90 for 760 cases). This fashionably pale rosé is 81% Pinot Noir, 19% Syrah. There are aromas and flavours of strawberry and papaya. 90.

Corcelettes Pinot Noir 2020 ($26 for 560 cases). This youthfully exuberant wine has aromas and flavours of plum and black cherry. The wine has the classic silky tannins of a well-made Pinot Noir. 91.

Corcelettes Merlot 2018 ($28.90 for 795 cases). With fruit from 16-year-old vines, this wine has great concentration of flavour. The grapes were on the skins for 30 days during ferment. The wine was aged 18 months in oak (92% French, 8% American). The wine begins with aromas of black cherry and black currant. The palate delivers flavours of fig, black cherry, cassis and spice. 91.

Corcelettes Syrah 2018 ($28 for 540 cases). The wine begins with aromas of pepper and cooking spices mingled with fig. Plump in texture, the wine delivers flavours of fig and black cherry mingled with chocolate and black pepper. 92. Corcelettes Syrah 2019 ($28 for 680 cases). This is a bold and meaty Syrah with classic notes of pepper in the aroma and on the finish. On the palate, deli meat flavours mingle with dark cherry and fig. 92.

Corcelettes Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 ($46.90 for 175 cases). This is an elegant Cabernet Sauvignon, beginning with aromas of cassis and blueberry. Full on the palate and with long ripe tannins, it delivers delicious sweet fruit flavours – black currant mingled with cherry and blueberry. The finish is very long. 93.

Corcelettes Talus 2018 ($49.90 for 320 cases). The flagship red blend, this is 35% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Petit Verdot and 4% Malbec. This wine was crafted with great care, beginning with selecting grapes from the best rows and handling them as small lots. Some lots had as much as 65 days of extended maceration to extract flavour and texture. Aromas of black cherry and blueberry mingle with spice. On the concentrated palate, there are flavours of dark fruits, dark chocolate and spice. 92+.

Corcelettes Talus 2019 ($49.90 for 355 cases). The blend is 45% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Franc, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Malbec and 2% Petit Verdot. The wine takes its name from the “Talus slides” on the steep walls of the mountains bordering the Similkameen Valley. The soils of the estate vineyards here are a mix of earth and broken stone. The soils and the sun exposure make for very full-flavoured grapes. This is a rich wine with aromas and flavours of dark cherry, black currant, fig, spice and mocha. 93.