Synchromesh gears up with the 2025 vintage

Photo: Alan Dickinson

One of the more unusual winery names in the Okanagan is Synchromesh Winery – but it makes sense to anyone who has driven a vehicle with a manual transmission. That includes winery owner Alan Dickinson and his father, John, who once raced cars.

It is hard to say which is more frightening: negotiating a high-speed race track or managing a vineyard when the Okanagan weather has become hard to predict. But it seems that Synchromesh’s Storm Haven Vineyard bounced back in 2025. I recently received three 2025 wines from this producer.

For some background on the winery, here is an excerpt from my 2020 Okanagan Wine Tour Guide. Alan Dickinson champions three varietals at Synchromesh. Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir anchor the red wines, while Riesling is almost an obsession with him. “I really like old Rieslings,” he says. “When you start laying Riesling down past 15 years, there is magic that happens under cork.” The magic, in fact, comes from Alan’s singular style. Synchromesh Rieslings invariably balance high residual sugar with racy acidity, recalling fine age-worthy German Rieslings. There are many top Okanagan Riesling wines but few that compare with Synchromesh.

Born in Vancouver in 1982 and trained in marketing and entrepreneurship, Alan was a founder of Vancouver Wine Vault, which stores private wine collections. When they decided to participate in the wine industry directly, Alan and his wife, Amy, searched the Okanagan for good Riesling sites for 18 months. In early 2010, they bought a 2-hectare (5-acre) piece of land that included a four-year-old block of Clone 21B Riesling. They have since replaced all the other varieties on the property with Riesling and Pinot Noir. In 2017 they purchased an adjoining 41-hectare (102-acre) block of raw land. About a third has been planted with Riesling and Cabernet Franc, while the remainder is preserved as natural habitat. The soils are lean. “The greatest German Rieslings are basically grown in slate, with no soil whatsoever and very little nutrient,” Alan says.

The block wraps around the base of 600-metre-high Peach Cliff, the most prominent geological feature at Okanagan Falls. Peach Cliff absorbs summer heat, creating updrafts that deflect rain and hail, which is why the original vineyard here is called Storm Haven. The wide diurnal temperature swing—as much as 20°C (36°F) between night and day—make this “perfect Riesling country,” Alan says. He also sources Riesling, along with Cabernet Franc and Merlot, from contract vineyards on the Naramata Bench and near Oliver. Alan made his first Riesling vintage in 2010, signalling his style by labelling the wine halbtrocken, or off-dry. Alan has not used German on the labels since, but what’s inside remains true to the style.

Here are notes on the wines.

Synchromesh La Petite Reverie Chardonnay 2025 ($26).This is Synchromesh’s first Chardonnay, made with fruit from a vineyard on the eastern shore of Skaha Lake. The vineyard belongs to the sister of Alan Dickinson, the owner of Synchromesh. The winery describes it as “a hilly property, with the Chardonnay block facing both east and west [and] with soils of heavier glacial lake deposits.” That may for the mineral backbone to this Chardonnay, which has notes of citrus and a very dry finish. 88.

Synchromesh Storm Haven Block 3 Riesling 2025 ($45). Synchromesh, which opened in 2011, is noted for its Riesling wines, most from its home vineyard near Okanagan Falls, the 107-acre Storm Haven Vineyard. This wine begins with a characteristic whiff of petrol mingled with citrus notes. The palate is rich with flavours of lemon and lime, with a hint of sweetness. The balance is superb and the finish is long. 93.

Synchromesh Cabernet Franc 2025 ($26). This is the winery’s first Cabernet Franc in three vintages, which speaks to the challenging growing conditions in the Okanagan in recent years. Some 89% of the fruit came from the Storm Haven vineyard while the rest was from the Story Orchard Farm, a Naramata Bench property Synchromesh has farmed since 2011. The wine was aged 11 moths in neutral oak barrels. The wine has aromas of dark cherries and spice, leading to flavours of black currant and blackberry. The finish is long. 90.