Uppercase recruits winemaker Caroline Schaller

Photo: Winemaker Caroline Schaller

Montalvino Wineries Inc., the ambitious Okanagan winery group launched in 2020 by nursing home entrepreneur Bert Evertt, has capped a busy summer by hiring star winemaker Caroline Schaller. Trained in France, she was the former winemaker and executive manager at Osoyoos Larose Winery; and more recently, the winemaker at Rainmaker Winery on Black Sage Road.

This is the second experienced winemaker to change wineries recently. Last month, Terralux Estate Winery announced it has hired Jacqueline Kemp (left). Trained in New Zealand, she had previously been the winemaker at Therapy Vineyards and before that, at Moraine Estate Winery.

Currently, there are three wineries under the Montalvino umbrella. The first one to open was Uppercase Winery. After operating for two years at the District Wine Village near Oliver, Uppercase moved in mid-June to Eastside Road near Okanagan Falls, where a 12.6-acre vineyard is being planted. The second winery is gadZook Vinery on Highway 97 south of Oliver, located in the former C.C. Jentsch Cellars which closed in 2021 after the death of Chris Jentsch. Bert Evertt bought it to get access to a large winemaking and storage facility. The third winery is High Note Estate Winery which just opened at the beginning of August on Naramata Road. This was formerly the Singletree Winery, purchased last year by Evertt from the previous owners who still operate their original winery near Abbotsford.

Caroline Schaller is a significant addition to Montalvino. She came to Canada from France when she joined the Osoyoos Larose winery in July 2017 as the Executive Manager and Winemaker. She moved to Rainmaker in 2022. Born in Toulouse, she trained at the Centre de Viticulture et d’oenologie de Midi Pyrénées, graduating in 1999. After several years with wineries in the south of France, she broadened her experience by working at Pine Ridge Winery in the Napa Valley in 2001 and 2002; and at Chile’s Viña Leyda in 2003. From 2004 until 2017, she was executive manager and winemaker at Domaine d’En Ségur in southwest France. “I knew a guy who was working for Groupe Taillan [the owner of Osoyoos Larose],” Caroline told me in a 2017 interview. “He called me and said they were looking for someone for a well-known vineyard in Osoyoos in Canada; do you want to be in? I said, okay, let’s go.” Her husband, Arnaud Thierry, is also a winemaker and currently makes the wines at Church & State Winery near Oliver.

Montalvino’s hard-charging owner, Bert Evertt, is also president and chief executive of Belvedere Seniors Living in Coquitlam, a company the Evertt family has operated since 1952. An accomplished opera singer in his youth, he was introduced to wine while pursuing that career in Europe. “I have always had this sort of dream of having my own winery,” Bert told me in an interview earlier this year. “My daughter, Sabrina, has her third level WSET [Wine & Spirits Education Trust courses]. My younger daughter, Christina, had one year cooking and another year at Vancouver Community College in baking. So I thought I will combine them with a winery and a restaurant on Black Sage Road.”

He looked around for talent to guide his entry into the wine business and found Pascal Madevon, the former Osoyoos Larose winemaker and now one of the leading viticultural and winemaking consultants in the Okanagan. “He emailed me that he had two choices: to retire to Maui or to build a vineyard,” Pascal recalls. “In February 2020, he contacted me that he had bought land on Black Sage Road.” The 22-acre vineyard was planted by April and plans were laid for a 20,000-case winery. That was set aside after the C.C. Jentsch winery was purchased. “I got into it [planning a winery] and then when I found out that if you were going to do 20,000 cases, which is what the capacity is, that I needed 75 acres of vines,” Bert told me. “So I went out buying vineyards. It just went from there.”

The newly developed vineyard on Eastside Road and the three acres at the new High Note winery will take the Montalvino group close to 100 acres. The Eastside Road property was an historic orchard, mostly apple trees, known as Matheson Farm. According to a Penticton Herald article earlier this year, Bertt last year paid $5.2 million for the property, which is a short distance north of Okanagan Falls. After reconfiguring the property to a gentle westward-facing slope, it is being planted with a wide range of varietals, including Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Vermentino, Albariño, Sémillon, Teroldego, Barbera and Cabernet Franc. Petit Verdot and Muscat will be added next year. The number of Italian varietals reflect the affection for that country’s wines that Bert developed during his years in opera. “I lived in Italy for two years and I became a real fan of Brunello di Montalcino,” Bert told me. “So I thought I would name my company Montalvino.”

Matheson Farms’s former fruit stand has been converted into a charming wine shop (above) with views of both the vineyard and of Skaha Lake.

High Note winery is also to be an Italian-themed winery, with Pinot Grigio the predominant varietal in the vineyard. Montalvino is the third operator to run a winery on this Naramata Road property. For about a year, it was Ledlin Family Vineyards owned by car dealer and former hockey player Fred Ledlin. He sold it in 2018 to the Etsell family who renamed it as Singletree, similar to their Abbotsford winery. When they decided it was not practical to run two wineries that far apart, they sold it to Bert in 2022.

Here are notes on some the wines available at the Uppercase and High Note tasting rooms.

Uppercase Axis Chardonnay 2020 ($34.99 for 243 cases). The fruit, from a Peachland vineyard, was fermented and aged seven months in French oak. The wine has a rich texture along with aromas and flavours of citrus and tree fruits. 91.

Uppercase Viognier 2021 ($29.99 for 106 cases). Half of the wine was fermented in stainless steel and half was fermented in neutral oak. The wine has aromas and flavours of apricot and peach, and a rich texture but not with the oiliness sometimes found with this varietal. 90.

Uppercase Merlot 2020 ($34.99 for 375 cases). This wine, made with fruit from the Similkameen, was aged 16 months in French oak (30% new). It begins with aromas of cherry and black currant. The generous palate delivers cherry and cassis flavours; and the seamless tannins give the wine a long finish. 91.

Uppercase Petit Verdot 2020 ($45.99 for 55 cases). A rare example of Petit Verdot on its own, this is a bold, dark wine. It was aged eight months in neutral oak. The perfumed aromas recall plum and cherry while the concentrated palate delivers flavours of fig and dark chocolate. 92.

Uppercase Foundry 2020 ($49.99 for 120 cases). This is a premium blend of Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, aged eight months in French oak. The aromas of plum and cherry are echoed on the palate, mingled with vanilla and chocolate. 93.

High Note Continuo Rosado 2022 ($25 for 212 cases). The wine, which has an appealing coral pink hue, has aromas of strawberry and cherry. There is delicious juicy fruit on the palate, with flavours of strawberry and watermelon. 91.

High Note Soubrette Pinot Grigio 2022 ($25 for 385 cases). The winery calls this wine “charming, playful and refreshing” and I agree. It has aromas and flavours of melon and citrus, with a dry finish. 90.