Plot Wines: new Okanagan virtual winery

Photo: Vigneron/winemaker Kevin Rossion (credit Chris Stenberg)

Among the new small-lot producers that emerged in the Okanagan this year, Plot Wines stands out for, among other things, bold and funky labels. It is one way that the winery can differentiate itself from its 300 or so competitors. On occasion, the typography can be a bit confusing. When I first picked up the Viognier/Chardonnay blend, I read to label as Thistle. The actual label is Thick because the texture of the wine is so rich. Silly me: I thought Thistle was a charming name. And I liked the wine.

The funky labels appear to have emerged from the mind of one of the winery founders, Adam Kereliuk, who teamed by with vigneron and winemaker Kevin Rossion to create Plot. Adam runs a branding and creative studio in Kelowna, focussed on food and wine. The third partner at Plot is Jayme Donohoe, the winery’s marketing and sales director.

Kevin and I first met about five years when, as a vineyard manager, he was helping get Kaleden’s Lakeboat Vineyard & Winery up and running. He is a self-made man in the wine industry. Born in Belgium, he worked in France and then in Spain, where he ran a restaurant and met his wife in Barcelona. He came to British Columbia in 2009 and like it. “Belgium in summer is like Vancouver Island – it rains over 200 days a year,” Kevin told me. His father-in-law had vineyards in the Okanagan. Kevin learned viticulture there, eventually launching his own vineyard management company and consulting with various wineries. He began making wine in 2010, initially for personal consumption by his family. The first vintages for what has become Plot were made in 2018.

On its website, Plot says that “while [Kevin has] mostly taught himself about winemaking, there's been a couple special mentors along the way. His approach starts first in the vineyard, and carries through with a minimalist touch in the winery, striving to use as little intervention as possible.” He continues to manage vineyards, including his own in Kaleden where he grows Muscat, Sauvignon Blanc and Tempranillo.

As to the winery’s name, there is a simple logic. “We select fruit from the best plots of land we can find,” the winery says. Here are notes on three current releases.

Plot Thick 2022 ($34 for 147 cases). This is 60% Viognier, 40% Chardonnay, barrel-fermented. The wine begins with aromas of apricot, vanilla and honey, leading to stone fruit flavours on the rick palate. The odd name was inspired by the weighty mouthfeel. 90.

Plot Tempranillo 2020 ($36 for 72 cases). This Spanish varietal is rare in the Okanagan. Kevin has a small plot in his Kaleden vineyard. The wine was fermented with wild yeast and was aged 15 months in neutral oak. There is bright fruit in both the aroma and the flavours: pomegranate, cherry, cranberry, with sage and spice on the finish. 89.

Plot Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 ($36 for 211 cases). Fermented with wild yeast, this wine was aged 15 months in French oak (42% two-year-old barrels, 58% neutral oak). The wine begins with aromas of cassis, leading to flavours of dark cherry, black currant and plum with notes of spice on the finish. 90.