Volcanic Hills launches Gidda Family Estate wines

Photo: Volcanic Hills president Bobby Gidda

Volcanic Hills Estate Winery in West Kelowna is celebrating the legacy of its founding family with the release of small lot wines under the Gidda Family Estate labels. Patriarch Sarwan Gidda and his family first planted grapes in West Kelowna in 1978. Subsequently, Sarwan and two brothers established Mt. Boucherie Winery. However, Sarwan and his family broke away to open Volcanic Hills in 2010. The two remaining Gidda brothers at Mt. Boucherie then had a falling out. Mt. Boucherie then went into receivership, emerging several years ago under new ownership. Volcanic Hills, with Sarwan’s son, Bobby, as president, has had no such drama. The winery is making about 10,000 cases of wine a year and farming about 80 acres of vineyard, all in West Kelowna.

The Gidda Family Estate wines, which are sold only to members of the winery’s wine club, represent an effort by Volcanic Hills to break out of its value niche. “These are all small lots,” Bobby Gidda says. “We have introduced them to our wine club to give them something a little special. We needed to separate our regular wines to these wines, so that is where we introduced Gidda Family Estate. This is like our higher end tier.” Daniel Bontorin, Volcanic’s long-time consulting winemaker, has applied winemaking techniques to make these wines stand apart from the winery’s regular range. Both of the whites in the initial release are barrel-fermented. That is not the commontreatment for Gewürztraminer or Pinot Gris but Daniel has made it work.

There are two more Gidda Family wines to be released later this year. One is a barrel-aged red made from Zweigelt, a variety identified with Austrian red wines. The first planting in the Okanagan was on the Naramata Bench in 1998 by a winery called Benchland. When Sarwan tasted the wine, he liked it well enough to secure vine cuttings from Benchland. He planted these on his West Kelowna property. “We have never done a straight Zweigelt before,” Bobby says. “It has always put in one of our blends.”

The other wine still to be released is a traditional method sparkling wine called Royale, from a cuvée put down in 2020. “The last time my family produced a Blanc de Blanc is when we were part of Mt. Boucherie,” Bobby says. “It was just a small batch we did for ourselves. It has been a while since we have done it.” This time, enough wine has been made to allow it to be released in yearly tranches over three years, beginning this summer. The object is to let both the Gidda family and their wine club members to decide what is the optimal time that the sparkling wine should remain on the lees before being released.

The packaging of the Gidda Family wines is also special. The labels, loaded with symbolism, were designed by Bobby’s wife, Harpreet. There are three peacocks on the label as well as lotus flowers. Both the peacocks and the lotus flower, Bobby notes, are emblems of India, where the Gidda family originated. The peacocks and the flowers also represent Bobby’s parents, as well has his brother, Amit and his sister, Christina.

Here are notes on the wines.

Gidda One Block Gewürztraminer 2020 ($37 for 80 cases). This is a wine club exclusive wine. This wine was barrel-fermented in French oak (20% new) with semi-monthly battonage. The barrel treatment, while not adding oak flavours, has given the wine length and texture. The wine has aromas of spice, lychee and pear, echoed on the palate along with notes of baked apples. This is not a conventional Gewürztraminer but rather a sophisticated example. 90.

Gidda One Block Pinot Gris 2020 ($33 for 94 cases). Wine club only. This wine was fermented in French oak (15% new) and then aged three months in barrel with weekly battonage. This has given texture to the wine and softened the acidity. There are aromas and flavours of peach, baked apples with a hint of lemon meringue on the finish. 91.

Gidda One Block Rosé 2020 ($37 for 211 cases). Made with Gamay Noir, this wine presents with a lovely pink hue, the result of 30 hours of skin contact. Some 20% of the wine was fermented in neutral oak barrels, adding texture. The wine begins with aromas of cherry and cranberry, leading to intense flavours of strawberry and cherry and a dry finish. 90.

Gidda One Block Pinot Noir 2019 ($54 for 65 cases). The aromas and intense flavour are the result of low tonnage of fruit (2.3 tons an acre) in the vineyard. The grapes were cold-soaked for three days before a quick fermentation. The wine was aged 12 months in French oak (30% new). Still youthful, this wine is bright, with aromas and flavours of raspberry and pomegranate. The wine will benefit from a further year or two of bottle aging. 90.