Tantalus champions Riesling and Dempsey Bob

Photo: Tantalus general manager and winemaker David Patterson

At the beginning of the Covid pandemic, David Patterson, the general manager and winemaker at Tantalus Vineyards, had the foresight to inquire whether he could insure his senses of taste and smell. Loss of those senses, usually temporary, was one of the consequences of getting Covid. It would be devastating for a winemaker. David found that insurers in the United States offer that coverage, but apparently no Canadian insurer offers it. He was right to inquire, however. “I had Covid over bottling,” he told me in June. “It was the first time in 13 years I could not bottle my own wine. I had to rely on my team. They did a good job. It was a scary thing because I lost my taste and smell for four days.” He had regained his senses fully when we met at the winery. He led me through a tasting of the current releases from Tantalus, including a mini-vertical of Chardonnay to show how well it ages. For the record, if you happen to have a bottle of 2011 Tantalus Chardonnay, it still is drinking well.

Tantalus occupies a storied vineyard in East Kelowna. This is one of the Okanagan’s oldest vineyards, and one of the first to grow wine grapes in quantity. It was planted by horticulturalist J. W. Hughes and then sold to his foreman, Martin Dulik. Martin’s son, Denny, planted Clone 21-B Riesling in 1978, an excellent variety for this terroir. When his granddaughter Susan opened Pinot Reach Cellars, her Old Vines Riesling drew international acclaim. Vancouver investment dealer Eric Savics bought the property from the Dulik family in 2004. He expanded the Riesling plantings significantly here and on recently acquired adjacent vineyards. The winery farms more than 30 hectares (75 acres). The wines are primarily estate-grown. Old Vines Riesling remains the flagship white at Tantalus.

David Paterson, the New Zealand–trained winemaker who joined Tantalus in 2008, credits the site for the exceptional quality of Old Vines Riesling. “It is all of the terroir,” he says. “The aspect, the elevation, the soils. The root system has gone down a long, long way and draws up a lot of minerality. The root system is so deep now and so established that they buffer themselves against hot and cold vintages. We get a very consistent product. It has very little to do with winemaking. I put my stamp on it, I suppose, but at the end of the day, the grapes are really, really good.”

He puts his stamp on some wines literally as well as figuratively because he stomps the Pinot Noir grapes by foot when making the wine. “Foot-treading is to what I saw in Burgundy with winemaking,” he says. “What I really want to do was make that more rustic style of Pinot Noir that I love out of Burgundy and out of Oregon. I do 40% whole bunches, only foot-trodden. I find that pumps and punch-downs can really bruise the fruit. Human feet jumping in once a day preserves the integrity of the wine and extracts what we want without extracting any bitter seed tannin or astringency. We’ve gone back to the old school of how our grandfathers used to make their wine. I really like that. Really aromatic, really brambly and beautiful, rather than being big and bruising. The wine still has power – but elegant power.”

While the winery made its reputation initially with Riesling, it is rising force as a Chardonnay producer. This is based, in part, on Bear Chardonnay. “I created it from the younger block of Chardonnay vines to emulate Chablis in style,” David says. “It is barrel-fermented but no new oak; all done in old puncheons and barriques. It is bottled so there is only about five months élevage. We want to capture that freshness of Chardonnay in this wine.” Tantalus also made this style to fill a gap in the market for a Chablis-style Chardonnay that restaurants could serve by the glass at a reasonable price. Bear has been so successful that it is the fastest growing wine in Tantalus portfolio. The winery produces more than 2,000 cases of Chardonnay, most of it Bear.

This winery also is notable for its labels, reproducing masks by the Tahltan/ Tlingit artist Dempsey Bob. Even before buying the winery, Eric Savics had assembled a significant collection of Bob’s art. This summer, visitors to the Tantalus tasting room have also been able to buy a book: Dempsey Bob In His Own Voice. It is extremely interesting recounting of the artist’s career, with stunning reproductions of his work. The book accompanies a major exhibition of Bob’s art currently in the Audain Galley in Whistler.

Here are notes on the current releases from Tantalus.

Tantalus Blanc de Blancs 2019 ($31.30). This is a traditional method sparkling wine made with Chardonnay. It won gold at the National Wine Awards. An elegant wine, it presents with an active display of bubbles which lend a creamy texture to a wine that is otherwise crisp and dry. There are notes of brioche in the aroma and on the palate, along with citrus flavours. 93.

Tantalus Blanc de Noir 2019 ($36.52). This wine is sold out but there still are a few cases at the winery. It is made from a single block of Pinot Noir was planted in 1985. Winter damage in recent vintages, which froze buds but not the plants, limited the winery to produce just 125 cases in 2019. A dash of Pinot Noir dosage has given the wine a hue that Tantalus calls “pale sunset pink.” Close your eyes and the wine transports you to Champagne with its elegantly fruity aroma mingled with brioche. On the creamy palate, there are notes of raspberry and red apple. 93.

Tantalus Riesling 2021 ($27.83). This wine won gold at the National Wine Awards. The small berries produced in the 2021 vintage has result in a wine packed with aromas and flavours of lime, lemon, apple mingled with peaches. 93.

Tantalus Old Vines Riesling 2019 ($39.13). Also a gold medalist at the National Wine Awards, this is the cult wine associated with the property. The old vines, planted in 1978, give the wine both intensity and longevity (15 to 20 years). This wine has begun to develop the classic “petrol” aroma of Riesling. This carries through to the flavour, where it mingles with citrus and minerality. 96.

Tantalus Rosé 2021 ($23.48). This is 65% Pinot Noir and 35% Pinot Meunier. The winemaker suggests that Pinot Meunier gives this pretty rosé lift, texture and charm. There are aromas and flavours of strawberry and pink grapefruit. 92.

Tantalus Bear Chardonnay 2021 ($23.48). This is a vibrant wine with aromas and flavours of peaches and apples. The finish is crisp and refreshing. 91.

Tantalus Chardonnay 2020 ($36.52). This is a classic barrel-fermented Chardonnay, aged 10 months in French oak. However, the oak just frames the sweet fruit flavours of peach, pineapple, apple. There is a hint of clove on the long finish. 94.

Tantalus Pinot Noir 2020 ($40). This wine won silver at the National Wine Awards. This is a complex wine, incorporating seven clones: 114, 115, 667, 777, 828, 37, 943. Multiple parcels are fermented separately, with wild yeast. The wine is aged 16 months in oak barriques (20% new), blended and put in neutral oak for several more months. The wine is dark, with aromas of cherry and cedar. The texture is youthfully firm, which bodes well for ability to age. There are flavours of dark fruit mingled with vanilla and cloves on the finish. 92.

Tantalus Pinot Noir Reserve 2019 ($65.22 for 100 cases). The estate vineyard includes 18 rows of mature clone 667 Pinot Noir, considered by the wine to produce “some of the prettiest parcels of fruit from our single-vineyard estate”. This wine is primarily that clone, with splashes of clones 37 and 777 to enhance the blend. The wine was aged 15 months in French barriques (40% new). The wine begins with alluring, perfumed aromatics mingled with spice and oak. Full-bodied, the wine delivers flavours of dark cherry and plum with a satisfying note of forest floor on savoury finish. 95.