Sparkling wines from Church & State

Photo:Winemaker Arnaud Thierry

Soon after Arnaud Thierry arrived in 2018 as the new winemaker at Church & State Wines, he set out to make the winery’s first sparkling wine from Okanagan grapes. It should not have been a surprise. Born in Normandy, Arnaud was trained in Champagne. He had extensive experience in France before coming to the Okanagan with his wife, Caroline Schaller, now the winemaker at nearby Rainmaker Winery. Church & State has now released just over 1,000 cases of the 2018 Blanc de Blancs, along with a small quantity of sparkling wine from Vancouver Island. Arnaud could serve these wines with confidence to his acquaintances in Champagne.

Church & State has 85 acres of vineyard in the south Okanagan and 10 acres at Brentwood Bay on Vancouver Island, where the winery originated in 2002 as Victoria Estate Winery. It was acquired two years later by lawyer Kim Pullen. At the recommendation of his consulting winemaker at the time, Californian Bill Dyer, he moved production to the south Okanagan a few years later rather than transporting grapes to Vancouver Island. But the island vineyard has remained in production. The Brentwood Bay vineyard now produces Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris grapes just for sparkling wines, a very sensible use for grapes from this cool site. (Kim Pullen sold the winery in 2017 to Sunocean Wineries and Estate, a Vancouver company owned by a low-profile Chinese businessman. But Kim kept several Okanagan vineyards to relaunch, with son John, Second Chapter Wines and, this year, Rainmaker Wines on Black Sage Road.)

Arnaud says that his approach to winemaking is simple and traditional. “I am very attracted by tradition, and the respect of the fruit,” he says. Winemaking is very classic: a good expression of the fruit and freshness in the whites; and volume, fruit and spice in the reds. I want to have the varietal specificity of the grapes each time.”

Here are notes on the sparkling wines.

Church & State Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature 2018 ($32.88 for 1,018 cases). This wine is made with Chardonnay grown, the winery says, in a Black Sage Road “terroir that ripens Chardonnay perfectly for this method of winemaking.” The wine was aged 30 months in bottle on the lees “at our sparkling wine house in Brentwood Bay.” This wine begins with an active mousse and aromas of brioche and citrus. On the palate, the flavours are clean and fresh, with citrus and apple mingled subtly with brioche. The finish is crisp. 91.

Church & State Gris de Noirs 2019 ($33.80 for 102 cases). The Pinot Noir grapes for this wine are from the Brentwood Bay Vineyard. The wine begins with a lovely rose petal hue and an active mousse. This is a delightfully fruity wine, with aromas and flavours of raspberry and apple and a subtle note of brioche. 91.