Corcelettes launches wines under the Phoenix brand

Photo: Jesce and Charlie Baessler with a bottle of Talus

Since the launch of Corcelettes Estate Winery in 2013, the wines were always made with grapes from the Similkameen Valley – until the 2023 vintage. That was the year when the cold snap in November 2022 caused significant bud damage to the vineyards in the Similkameen, forcing Charlie Baessler, the managing partner at Corcelettes, to buy grapes from Okanagan vineyards. He and his wife, Jesce, then created their Phoenix brand to distinguish these non-Similkameen wines in the portfolio, even though the quality remained high.

The Phoenix brand proved even more useful in the 2024 vintage. The severe freeze in January 2024 devastated vineyards in the Okanagan and especially in the Similkameen. Like so many other producers, Charlie had to turn to Washington State for grapes. Those wines, primarily Chardonnay and a Syrah rosé, will be released next year under the Phoenix label. Meanwhile, Charlie is replanting most of the Corcelettes vineyards – but in a manner to make them more able to survive the next hard winter. “Pheonix was born from that opportunity or necessity, depending on how you want to look at it,” Charlie says. “So how do we create exciting wines while maintaining the integrity that we have developed in Corcelettes. The wines have always been estate grown and products of the Similkameen. Phoenix broke those handcuffs. We can do anything as long as we are visually clear [on the label] what the wine product is.”

The Phoenix wines were released this spring, beginning with 600 cases of Afterglow, a 2022 rosé, along with a 2022 Merlot that combines fruit from the Okanagan as well as the Similkameen; and 2023 Chardonnay. “It is a new product line with us,” Charlie says. “It fills a gap while we get the production of Corcelettes back up. The Washington product moves nicely into that niche.” Charlie estimates that he and his winemaker, Brett Meier, visited about 100 vineyards across four Washington appellations in a search for a property that appealed to them. “We were working on this as early as the spring,” Charlies says. “We were committed to making wines from Washington grapes for zero dollars. We were willing to keep our hoses wet, our staff going with no markup exemptions; and move to commercial winery status. Those were all things we were prepared to do.” Fortunately, the provincial regulations were changed in late July, enabling wineries to use imported grapes in 2024 without having to switch to commercial licenses.

“I told Brett that we have to fall in love with this,” Charlie recalls. “We did not want to go down there and just pull grapes off a menu. The whole idea was we have to look until we fall in love with something.” They settled on Wahluke Slope, an 81,000-acre appellation on a broad south-facing slope close to the Columbia River. They brought in about 50 tons of grapes, which were crushed in Washington, for white and rosé wines. “That is what we sell through quickly,” Charlie says. “Whites and rosé wines were the immediate hole we needed to fill. Reds, we can limp along for maybe two years from what was a decent production year in 2022, by slowing down sales.” The strategy at Corcelettes (as it is with other producers) is to stretch out existing inventory. Corcelettes had a reasonably large harvest in 2022 in part because new vineyards had just begun to produce.”

Unfortunately, the 2024 freeze killed many of the new vines and most of the older plantings. The surviving vines, already damaged by the previous freeze, could not be salvaged economically. “When the vineyards died, I lost it,” Charlie recalls. “I said now what? I had just finished planting so many of these vineyards. I had already done this work … and now I was doing it again. That was pretty heart-wrenching. But we decided what we were going to do it and we committed [to it].” About 20 acres has been planted this year, including seven acres of Syrah, a notoriously tender varietal but one with which Corcelettes has acquired a reputation for top quality. Next year, Corcelettes will plant close to another 20 acres.

Many of the vines are being trained as bush vines – stubby vines that can be covered each fall with protective straw mulch. “Having experienced two hard winters - two in a row of 50-year events - I didn’t want to keep doing it the same way,” Charlie says. “The strategy was not fundamentally working.” Many Washington growers protect their vines by hilling up earth against them in the fall. Most of the Corcelettes vineyards are too rocky for that to work. Consequentially, Charlie has had a machine built that mulches bales of straw and deposits the straw against the vines. A protective layer of straw is brushed onto the vines, keeping them alive should there be another hard winter.

Here are notes of some current releases from Corcelettes.

Phoenix Afterglow 2023 ($21.90 for 275 cases). This is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Cabernet Sauvignon, all from a Naramata vineyard. It is a juicy wine with aromas and flavours of cherry, strawberry and watermelon. 88.

Phoenix Chardonnay 2023 ($22.90 for 310 cases). The fruit for this wine is also from a Naramata grower. The wine was fermented and aged in concrete. It is a fresh, fruit-forward Chardonnay with aromas of peach and pear leading for flavours of apple and citrus. 90.

Phoenix Merlot 2022 ($29.90 for 400 cases). Sixty per cent of the fruit came from the Corcelettes estate vineyard while 40% was from a grower in Oliver. The wine begins with aromas of dark cherries mingled with sage. The palate delivers flavours of blueberry, blackberry and cherry with a hint of spice on the finish. 90.

Corcelettes Pinot Noir 2022 ($34.90 for 585 cases). The fruit is also from vineyards in the Similkameen Valley. The wine had a 28-day maceration and was then aged in French oak (25% new) for nine months. The wine begins with aromas of cherry, spice and leather, leading to flavours of cherry and plum with notes of forest floor on the finish. 90.

Corcelettes Syrah 2022 ($36.90). Estate-grown fruit is in this wine, with 5% Viognier co-fermented with the Syrah. The wine begins with aromas of dark fruits and pepper. On the rich palate, there are flavours of fig, plum, dark cherry and pepper. The finish is persistent. 93.

Corcelettes Talus 2021 ($54.90 for 500 cases). This is the winery’s flagship Bordeaux blend, all from estate-grown grapes. The blend is 40% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Cabernet Franc and 1% each of Malbec and Petit Verdot. The wine was aged 18 months in French oak barrels. The wine begins with aromas of cassis, blackberry and cherry. On the palate, the wine delivers flavours of dark cherry, plum and black currant mingled with hints of chocolate and spice. Long, ripe tannins give the wine a long finish. 93.