Bartier Bros. adds a sparkling wine to the portfolio

Photo: Winemaker Michael Bartier

The wine-industry verity that “it’s all about the dirt” is nowhere more obvious than at Bartier Bros. The winery’s 14½-acre Cerqueira Vineyard produces wines with complex flavours with a spine of minerality. The vineyard is on the Black Sage Terrace’s gravel bar where the last glacier, as it was retreating 10,000 years ago, laid down a calcium-rich layer of gravel. The vineyard was planted in the early to mid-2000s with Sémillon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Syrah. It began selling fruit to Township 7 when Michael Bartier was the winemaker there.

“I loved the grapes and coveted the property,” Michael says. When the Cerqueira family’s contract with Township 7 ended, they offered it to Michael and his older brother, Don, when Michael began making wine for the brothers’ label in 2009. Subsequently, the brothers bought the vineyard. They were both born in the Okanagan Valley, Donald in 1958 and Michael in 1967, the sons of an accountant, and initially pursued careers outside of the valley. Don, an Alberta oil-industry executive, planted a small Gewürztraminer vineyard at Summerland in 2010. Michael, after getting a degree in recreational administration and working five years with a Victoria wine agency, returned to the Okanagan to start his winemaking career at Hawthorne Mountain Vineyards in 1995. Over the next two decades, he made wine at Township 7, Road 13, and Okanagan Crush Pad, as well as providing consulting work with other wineries. The brothers began selling their wines in 2011, establishing the winery and tasting room after buying the coveted Cerqueira Vineyard in 2015.

The current releases indicate that, as the winery’s sales have grown, Michael has dipped into his industry contacts to buy grapes beyond what Cerqueira can provide. There are wines here with grapes from the Similkameen Valley, from the north Okanagan and from the Naramata Bench, no doubt from growers proud to see their grapes in Bartier wines. Here are notes.

Bartier Bros. Brut NV ($34.99). This is a traditional method sparkling wine made with Chardonnay, with grapes from 2019 and subsequent vintages. The wine was aged in stainless steel for four months and then was en tirage on the yeast lees a minimum of 12 months. It is a wine that wants to be consumed; the cork shot out with an explosive pop as soon as the cage was taken off. The bubbles are active. The wine has aromas of brioche, echoed on the palate. The mousse gives the wine a creamy texture on entry but the finish is dry. 91.

Bartier Bros. Chardonnay 2022 ($24.99 for 451 cases). This is a fruit-forward Chardonnay fermented and aged four months in stainless steel. It has aromas and flavours of apple, peach and citrus with bright acidity to give the wine a crisp, refreshing finish. 90.

Bartier Bros. Sémillon 2022 ($22.99 for 327 cases). This is a rare example of a single varietal Sémillon from the Okanagan. It begins with honeyed aromas of apricot. The palate delivers flavours of stone fruit and melon with a lingering minerality on the dry finish. I recommend aging this wine for several years to bring out all of its complexity. 91.

Bartier Bros. Riesling Grüner Veltliner 2022 ($29.99 for 219 cases). The blend is 56% Riesling, 44% Grüner Veltliner. The varietals compliment each other well, with the Grüner adding texture to the lean Riesling. The grapes were whole-cluster pressed and fermented cool in stainless steel, followed by two months aging in stainless. The wine begins with aromas of melon and grapefruit. The palate delivers flavours of stone fruit wrapped around a spine of minerality. The dry finish lingers. 92.

Bartier Bros. Rosé 2022 ($18.99 for 3,092 cases). The volume tells us how popular rosé has become. The blend is 51% Gewürztraminer, 45% Chardonnay and two per cent each of Merlot and Pinot Noir. The two white varietals were fermented in stainless steel while the Merlot and Pinot Noir were fermented on the skins for 19 days before pressing and blending. The reds contributed a light salmon colour to the wine, which begins with aromas of watermelon and rose petals. The fruity but dry palate delivers flavours of pink grapefruit. 90.

Bartier Bros. Pinot Noir Rosé 2022 ($24.99 for 215 cases). The wine, which is salmon pink in hue, was aged four months on yeast lees in stainless steel. The wine begins with delicate aromas of strawberry. On the palate, there are flavours of raspberry and citrus, leading to a crisp, dry finish. 91

Bartier Bros. Merlot 2021 ($25.99 for 520 cases). This wine, with grapes from the winery’s estate vineyard (Cerqueira) on the Black Sage Terrace, was fermented with cultured yeast and aged 15 months on neutral French oak barrels. The wine begins with aromas of dark cherry and minerals, leading to flavours of blueberry and cherry. There are long, ripe tannins with a persistent finish. 90.

Bartier Bros. Cabernet Franc 2021 ($29.99 for 1,098 cases). This wine is 92% Cabernet Franc and 8% Merlot. It was fermented in five- and ten-ton open top fermenters with cultured yeast. After a 24-day maceration, it was aged 14 months in neutral French oak barrels. The wine presents a rich and concentrated texture with the flavours of blackberry and plum echoing the aromas. There is an appealing sweetness to the fruit. 92.

Bartier Bros. Pinot Noir 2021 ($39.99 for 172 cases). The grapes, from a Naramata vineyard, were destemmed (15% of the clusters remained whole) and crushed into one-ton fermenters for fermentation and maceration of 18 days. The wine was aged 17 months in neutral French oak. It is a bright and juicy wine with aromas and flavours of cherries. 91.

Bartier Bros. Grenache Syrah 2021 ($44.99 for 222 cases). The blend is 61% Grenache (from Cawston in the Similkameen Valley) and 39% Syrah from the Black Sage Terrace. The Grenache was destemmed into one-ton open-top fermenters while the Syrah was destemmed into a four-ton oak fermenter. Fermentation temperatures were allowed to rise. Average maceration time was 23 days. The colour is dark. The wine begins with aromas of plum and dark cherry. On the palate, the wine delivers flavours of dark fruits mingled with a slight hint of pepper and deli spices. The tannins are ripe and the finish does not want to quit. 94.