Hillside's remarkable 2024 Pinot Gris partners with a new Bordeaux blend

Photo: Winemaker Kathy Malone

Two new releases from Hillside Winery include a new red blend from a great vintage; and a surprise: a rare 2024 wine made with Okanagan grapes.

Hillside winemaker Kathy Malone elaborates on the surprise in the frost-blighted year that destroyed about 95% of the vintage in the Okanagan (and Similkameen) in 2024. “I was shocked when I went to check the Dickinson vineyard [on the Naramata Bench] last September and found there was enough fruit to harvest.” That was not all. “I also found what looked like the entire starling population of the Okanagan,” she writes. “I immediately offered to replace the 18-year-old bird netting to protect what could be the only wine made in 2024. … In 2024, we received only a tiny amount of Muscat Ottonel - which went into our white port-style wine, Soirée en Blanc -and enough Pinot Gris to make one barrel’s worth, 22 cases to be exact.” The wine, which is outstanding, will be released in late September at Hillside’s wine club pick-up event. The Montage, a new red blend for Hillside, is made with grapes sourced from five or six vineyards – all on the Naramata Bench. Hillside has worked exclusively with Naramata grapes almost since Kathy became the winemaker.

I asked Kathy what the outlook is for the 2025 vintage, one in which good growing weather is helping vines recover from frost events in the previous two vintages. “The vineyards on the Naramata Bench look awesome,” she says. “Many will have full recovery. I’m using the ‘your guess is as good as mine’ yield estimation method so we’ll see. Along with some extra contracts we have picked up, I’m expecting a normal harvest.” Here are notes on the two wines.

Hillside Dickinson Vineyard Pinot Gris 2024 ($50 for 22 cases). This will be released in late September. The grapes were given two hours of skin contact before being pressed. The wine was fermented in a third-fill Tokay oak barrel and aged there, with frequent lees stirring, for six months. The wine has fresh aromas and flavours of apple, pear and citrus. If only the bird netting had been deployed earlier! This would be an outstanding Pinot Gris in any vintage. 93.

Hillside Montage 2022 ($55 for 250 cases). A new wine in the Hillside portfolio, it is a blend of 76% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. Hillside describes this wine as “a collaboration” with Tightrope Winery because most of the Merlot was sourced there. The wine was aged 24 months in French oak (10% new). A wine that will benefit from decanting, it begins with aromas of spicy dark fruits including cherry and black currant. These are echoed in the palate. The long ripe tannins give the wine a long and elegant finish. 92.