Haywire Winery counts on inventory to get through 2024 vintage

Photo: Haywire winemaker Matt Dumayne

This summer, the staff at Haywire Winery in Summerland discovered a forgotten pallet of 2018 Syrah at the back of the warehouse. An excellent wine, it was promptly made available to members of Haywire’s wine club. Fortunate discoveries like that are always welcome, but never more so than in a year like 2024 when there is a negligible harvest for most Okanagan vineyards. While many producers have purchased fruit from American vineyards, Haywire has not done that. The winery will rely on selling its bottled inventory to get through this rough patch. Haywire has a good stock of table wines and sparkling wines, as the disc0very of a 2018 red in the warehouse would indicate. (The winery has already begun selling the 2019 Syrah.)

Formerly known as Okanagan Crush Pad Winery, the winery has transitioned to Haywire, along with brands like Garnet Valley and Narrative. The former name was appropriate when a major part of its business was making the wines for other emerging wineries. Matt Dumayne, the veteran New Zealand winemaker who joined Crush Pad in 2014, has his fingerprints on a lot of Okanagan wines. Most of the client wineries are now standing on their own feet, with their own production facilities and winemaking teams.

Even without imported grapes coming through the door, Matt was still able to make some wines this year from the winery’s limited production of 2024 grapes. The 5 ½ acre Switchback Vineyard look full of growth this fall, having lost almost no vines in the January freeze. “The growth was phenomenol,” Matt says. “We have a ton of options for pruning and we have suckers at the bottom [of the vines]. Back in business. I am estimating we will be 75% back next year.”

“Last week [early October], we harvested Switchback Vineyard and found enough grapes to produce roughly 50 cases of wine,” writes Christine Coletta, Haywire’s co-proprietor. “It’s the only harvest we’ll process this year. Friends came to help pick, and we made hasty work of it. The batch was so small that we couldn’t use our regular equipment. After letting the grapes soak overnight, Matt used our basket press and transferred the juice to amphora. The result is a tantalizingly tasty lot that gives us a glimpse of what the 2024 vintage could have been.” She continued: “At least we got to celebrate Matt’s 38th harvest. Like many winemakers, in his younger days, Matt traveled between the northern and southern hemispheres, experiencing multiple vintages in a single calendar year to expand his knowledge of different varieties and techniques. If you think 50 cases might not qualify as a “harvest,” we may have to dub this his ‘gap year’.”

The winery’s major vineyard, about 65 acres in the nearby Garnet Valley, did not come through the winter as well. That is a higher elevation property than the Switchback Vineyard and does not benefit from any lake effect. “A lot of blocks survived,” Matt says. “Gamay and Pinot Noir did well. Riesling and Chardonnay did not fare that great.” Current plans call for replanting about 15 acres next year. “We planted it in 2013, so we have had a decade of knowledge of the site and the microclimates,” Matt says. “When we replant, we will hone in on what is best suited there in terms of clonal selection. This one particular block, about four acres, we will probably plant a field blend of five different Dijon clones.” And the vines will be planted on their own roots so that they can regenerate more readily after a freeze event. Vines grafted onto rootstock are at risk of freezing down to the graft, leaving just the non-fruitful rootstock to grow the following spring.

Haywire has also been buying fruit since 2022 from the King Brothers vineyard on the Naramata Bench. “Their whites fared really well this winter while the Merlot had some damage,” Matt says. “But nothing needs to be ripped out and replanted.”

Here are notes on some of Haywire’s current releases.

Haywire Vintage Bub 2014 ($49.99). This is a traditional method sparkling wine made with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The wine was aged five years on the lees before being disgorged; it was finished dry, without dosage. There is the classic note of brioche in the aroma and on the palate while the fruit flavors remain fresh and crisp. 92.

Narrative XC Sparkling Wine 2022 ($26.99). Narrative is the Haywire brand for wines made with purchased fruit. This is a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Auxerrois. With the objective being a fruit-forward sparkling wine, this did its secondary fermentation in a Charmat tank. A tiny dosage with red wine gives it an appealing pink hue. The wine is in a lightweight bottle with a reusable screw cap. It has aromas and flavours of strawberry and cherry but still finishes dry. 90.

Haywire Switchback Pinot Gris 2020 ($29.99). This is a full-textured wine, the result of fermenting mostly concrete and spending 10 months of its lees. The wine has rich aromas and flavours of pears. 92.

Haywire Chardonnay 2021 ($29.99). Winemaker Matt especially likes making Chardonnay because the varietal is so versatile. The wine was fermented naturally in concrete tanks before malolactic fermentation, aging further on the lees. Once again, the texture is generous, supporting orchard fruit aromas and flavours. 91.

Haywire Pinot Noir 2022 ($29.99). This wine was fermented in a variety of vessels with natural yeast. The fruit aromas and flavours are bright, with notes of cherry and raspberry. 91.

Haywire King Family Vineyard Merlot 2022 ($32.99). Winemaker Matt recalls picking the grapes in the snow in early November. It was a big and very good vintage, typical of 2022. This is an appealing wine with aromas and flavours of blueberry, black currant and dark cherry. 92.

Narrative Non-Fiction 2019 ($24.99). This is a blend of Malbec, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. The wine was fermented and aged 12 months in concrete. There are aromas and flavours of spice, dark cherry and black currant with a hint of sage. 93.

Narrative Malbec 2019 ($29.99). The wine was fermented and aged 11 months in concrete. It begins with the appealing perfumed aromas of this varietal, leading to flavours of blackberry, black currant and pepper. 92.

Narrative Syrah Viognier 2018 ($24.90). Aromas of mature fruit jump from the glass. On the palate, there are savoury flavours of dark cherry with a hint of deli meats and pepper. 93.