Black Hills releases first sparkling wine

Photo: Winemaker Ross Wise MW

Black Hills Estate Winery’s winemaker, Ross Wise, is among the few Okanagan winemakers who have earned a Master of Wine designation. No doubt, MW candidates taste a lot of Champagne during their studies. Clearly, an appreciation of fine sparkling wines rubbed off on Ross – if he did not already have it. This is the first sparkling wine from Black Hills. The quality ranks up there with good Champagne. The sparkling project by Elaine Vickers, who was then the Black Hills winemakear and now is at Red Rooster Winery. Most of the fruit in the wine is from the 2018 vintage. "I was overseeing the crush of the 2018 vintage so I would have made picking, pressing and ferment decisions for the base wine." Ross joined Black Hills early in 2019. "He was around when we blended the base wine and when it was bottled. He decided on how long to age it on lees and all the dosage decisions as well." He was also there to oversee the 40 months of riddling the wine.

There was a time when one could count the number of Okanagan sparkling wines on the fingers of one hand. Now, it is rare to find a winery without one. It is clear what turned consumers on to drinking sparkling wine at occasions other than celebratory ones. Italy’s Prosecco producers popularized bubbly wines, usually priced so that one could afford to drink them whenever one felt like it. One B.C. winery has even labelled a sparkling wine as Prosecco. The winery can expect a stiff lawyer’s letter when the Italians find out. The style of the wine can be copied but it is not legal to copy the name. Note that Black Hills does not label this wine as Champagne, nor should they. The wine is called Brut, which designates a style. Canadian wineries once did release wines labelled as Champagne, which led to years and years of litigation with the French wine industry.

Some years ago, the Canadian wine industry agreed to stop copying European wine appellations. The excellent quality of our wines is such that we no longer need to lean on the Old World for validation. If you doubt that, just taste the Black Hills Brut against comparable sparkling wines from Champagne or elsewhere. Here is a note on the wine.

Black Hill Brut NV ($55 for 480 cases). The wine has a classic Champagne cuvée: 59% Chardonnay, 41% Pinot Noir. The wine matured eight months in stainless steel and neutral oak and then spent 40 months in bottle on lees before being disgorged. This elegant wine begins with aromas of citrus mingled with brioche. This is echoed on the palate. The wine has a bright, crisp finish. The fine mousse persists in the glass. 95.