Class of 2017: Origin Wines

Photo: Winemaker Daiya Anderson in the Origin wine shop

Origin Wines

1278 Riddle Road, Penticton, V2A 8X2

T 250-328-2158

W www.originwines.ca

For years, winemaker Daiya Anderson and her husband, Blake, entered possible winery names in their smart phones without finding one that clicked – until “Origin” occurred to them.

It was obvious: their roots are in the Okanagan. Daiya, born in 1982, had grown up on Black Sage Road and then Penticton, while Blake grew up on Naramata Road. “It took us a long time to land on Origin, but I think it is fitting because of our history,” Daiya says.

This tiny winery, which debuted with four wines, opened in July, 2017. It is perched on a plateau high above Naramata Road. The million-dollar view from the tasting room more than makes up for the careful drive there along a narrow gravel road. The winery fulfils a 10-year-long journey by the couple.

They met when Daiya was 21 at a party to inaugurate a 10-acre vineyard that Blake’s father, Aaron Anderson, had planted on Naramata Road, at the site of what today is Moraine Vineyard. (The elder Anderson sold it more than a decade ago to pursue a career as master gardener.) When Daiya was offered a drink at the party, she asked for a glass of wine. She had acquired a taste for wine during what turned out to be a 14-year management career at Earls Restaurants, a chain noted for its wine program.

“I actually started university in Kelowna,” Daiya says. “I was studying political science and psychology, two interests of mine in daily life. Then I ended up working in a restaurant to pay for college. I got into management quickly.”

“When we met, wine was an immediate interest,” she says about Blake. “He was interested in the vineyard side because he had helped his parents plan and plant the vineyard.” When the couple moved to Vancouver, they enrolled in sommelier courses. “That’s where we started to think maybe we would like to go back to the Okanagan. Maybe we will be able to do a vineyard or a winery one day, when we retired, or something along those lines.”

However, about 10 years ago, they drew up a plan to return to the Okanagan and open a winery sooner than that. While continuing to work fulltime in Vancouver, they began developing a seven-acre vineyard in Kaleden, confident that a cluster of other wineries would also spring up in that picturesque community. When that did not happen, they resumed a search for a location where the wine touring traffic promised a more successful launch of a new winery.

“We found this property as a private sale,” Daiya recounts. “Another couple who knew Blake’s parents said there is a lady here on Riddle Road that might be looking to sell. We came up and met her. She had been living here for 42 years. She wanted to make sure it got passed on to someone who wanted to be here a long time.  We said our goal is to find a place where we are going to live forever.  Our goal is just to keep doing this.”

The couple moved back to the Okanagan from Vancouver in 2016. Blake, who now runs a visual arts studio in Kelowna, has planted three acres of vines on the Naramata Bench property. Daiya, who has a taken the University of Washington winemaking course, makes the wines and manages the tasting room.

“Winemaking is my big career shift,” Daiya says. “I absolutely love it. The other people I know in the industry are so helpful.  If I have a question, I can call someone up. I think it helps that I am from here and that Blake is from here. People already know that we are super passionate about it. It helps for them to know us and know what our goals are.”

She has an adequate selection of grapes available from their two vineyards. The Kaleden vineyard grows Merlot, Pinot Noir and Gewürztraminer.  The Naramata Bench vineyard, which comes into production next year, grows Syrah, Malbec and Cabernet Franc.

The winery opened with 500 cases of wine. Production rose to about 800 cases in the 2017 vintage. Eventually, estate-grown grapes will support 1,500 cases.

“We really will be small,” Daiya says. “If we bought grapes, too, we will be around the 2,000-case mark. If we do any more than that, we have to add another building to this at some point. We are already saving for the next project.”

The wine shop is in a tastefully renovated building that formerly was a barn. “The fact that this building was already here was a nice bonus,” Daiya says. It also fits with the rustic landscaping, including a cactus garden, done with the help of her father-in-law. “We like to have a really natural setting,” she says.

Here are notes on the wines.

Origin Gü 2016 ($19; sold out). This is the winery’s Gewürztraminer with the name abbreviated for ease of pronunciation. The wine begins with floral, rose petal and spice aromas, leading to flavours of spice and pear. The finish is dry. 90.

Origin Eden 2016 ($21). This is a Chardonnay, a portion of which was aged in oak for 12 months; the rest was aged in stainless steel. The aromas are restrained but the flavours are rich, with notes of marmalade, butter and vanilla. 89.

Origin Mistral 2016 ($23). This is the winery’s Pinot Noir. It has aromas and flavours of cherry and raspberry. Still youthfully firm, it delivers bright fruit to the palate. 90.

Origin Farm House 2016 ($24). This is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. The wine begins with aromas of black currant and black cherry, leading to dark fruit flavours with a touch of chocolate. Firm, ripe tannins will allow this wine to age gracefully for five to seven years. 90.

TH Wines could be sideswipped by the Alberta ban on BC wines

Photo: Tyler Harlton of TH Wines

Tyler Harlton’s TH Wines might become an example of the collateral damage caused by Alberta’s ban on British Columbia wines.

TH Wines is an artisanal producer in Summerland making about 2,000 cases of always interesting wines. Tyler, who is a Saskatchewan native, has attracted numerous customers in Alberta and Saskatchewan since opening the winery in 2012. His wines are in a substantial number of restaurants and wine stores in Calgary, Edmonton, Banff and Canmore.

Recently, the owner of an Edmonton restaurant called Clementine outlined his opposition to the wine ban in an interview with a Vancouver radio station. He singled out three BC wineries currently on his wine list: Laughing Stock Vineyards, Bella Wines and TH Wines. He hopes – who doesn’t? – that the ban will be rescinded before he needs to replenish the restaurant’s stock of wines.

The ban, of course, has nothing to do with the quality of BC wines. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley picked on the BC wine industry in response to BC Premier John Horgan’s recent moves to delay, if not stop entirely, the Kinder Morgan oil pipeline expansion.

I think it is outrageous for Alberta to take its frustration out on the wine industry. It is especially outrageous when small producers like TH Wines become collateral damage.

"As chance would have it, I have events coming up in Calgary and likely Edmonton," Tyler told me. "We still have the support of all of our restaurant customers and the wine is being allocated to cover obligations."  

I tasted Tyler’s portfolio last August, in a visit to his rustic winery, which is tucked away in a Summerland industrial park. The subject of oil pipelines never came up.

For some background on Tyler and his winery, here is an except from John Schreiner’s Okanagan Wine Tour Guide.

A law school semester in Paris in 2007 cemented Tyler Harlton’s passion for wine. He spent his weekends in French wine regions where he even helped pick grapes. “Seeing the vines in France really connected with me,” says Tyler, who was born in Saskatchewan in 1976 and grew up on a wheat farm. “I had that in my background. The wine industry is sophisticated and popular but at the same time it has an agricultural tradition.”

When he graduated from McGill law school in 2008, he articled with a Penticton law firm to be near the Okanagan’s wine industry. In short order, Tyler decided against a career in law and became a picker and then a cellar hand at Osoyoos Larose Estate Winery. He moved to the cellar at Le Vieux Pin in 2009 and to Dirty Laundry Vineyards in 2010 while planning for himself a holistic agricultural lifestyle including a winery.

He crafted a strategy allowing him to open a winery with limited capital. For a processing facility, he leases about 139 square meters (1,500 square feet) in an industrial building next to Ripley Stainless Ltd., the major supplier of tanks for the wine industry. He has handshake agreements with growers in the south Okanagan for top quality grapes. And he operates the winery under a commercial license that, unlike a land-based winery license, does not require him to be based on his own vineyard.

Since that was written, he has added a compact tasting room at the winery. In fine weather, however, he might still host tastings at a picnic table in the shade or on top of a barrel in the winery.

He continues to buy his grapes since he does not have a vineyard of his own. His methods for sourcing fruit can be ingenious.

“I always have my ear to the ground,” he says. “Winemakers from larger wineries will give me a tip about a grower, so I have a little capacity to do something fun. I am just working hard to make better wines. I spent a lot of time tasting BC wines and seeing what is here. I spend time visiting neighbours to see what is out there and what potential hasn’t been tapped yet.”

Most of the wines we tasted together last August are sold out but here are my notes.  The releases from TH Wines this year will generally be similar varietals.

TH Riesling 2015 ($27.99 for 289 cases). This is just the second Riesling that TH Wines has made. It fermented for nine months, ending up totally dry. The texture is rich. The citrus aroma has a hint of petrol. On the palate, there are flavours of pear and citrus with a spine of minerality. 89.

TH Viognier 2016 ($27.99 for 391 cases). Tyler believes that Viognier is “an interesting grape for the Okanagan.” It is hard to disagree with that on tasting this wine. It begins with appealing stone fruit aromas. On the palate, there are flavours of apricot and peach, with a refreshing acidity that gives the wine a lively finish. 91.

TH Rosé 2016 ($N/A). This dry rosé is made with Cabernet Franc and Merlot grapes. It begins with a rose petal hue and aromas of strawberry, leading to flavours of strawberry and plum. 90.

TH Pinot Noir 2015 (Sold out). Aromas of cherry and strawberry lead to flavours of cherry and plum, with a hint of oak on the finish. The texture is silky. The wine was aged nine months in barrel (mostly neutral oak). 90.

TH Cabernet Franc 2015 (Sold out). While this is sold out, a 2016 has been released at $34.99. The 2015 was excellent, beginning with brambly aromas that led to  a cornucopia of red berry flavours and a spicy finish. 91.

TH Malbec 2015 (Sold out). Tyler made just 200 bottles of this Malbec with organic fruit from a grower on the Golden Mile. The wine was sold just to the TH wine club. The wine is packed with red berry flavours. 90.

BC wines become political roadkill

Photo: Lori Savard gets blindsided by Rachel Notley

On Wednesday, Savard Vines, an Okanagan winery that opened last year, launched a Valentine’s Day promotion for its wines, offering a discount and free shipping anywhere in Canada.

Lori Savard, who owns the winery with her husband, Michael, was about hit send on the email when she learned that Alberta announced an immediate ban on wines from British Columbia. The ban retaliates against the latest intervention by the British Columbia government against the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion.

The Alberta ban applies both to wholesale shipments of wine routed through Alberta’s liquor control agency, and to direct to consumer shipments.

“It is our understanding,” Lori wrote, “that shipments will be allowed into Alberta for another week or so. For our many Alberta customers, hopefully this will end soon.”

The irony of Savard Vines being caught up in this outrageous bans that Michael Savard is an Edmonton physician and Lori formerly was a nurse in that city. The couple certainly have friends supporting their winery. The winery might not even have had time to develop a following in British Columbia.

The last thing this winery needs at this juncture is to be the victim of a totally unfair ban. Nor should the entire British Columbia wine industry be made victims of a dispute in which it is not involved. British Columbia vintners have been totally blind-sided by Alberta premier Rachel Notley.

There are now about 325 wineries in British Columbia. I would guess that at least a third have been active in the Alberta market. The BC Wine Institute reports that the retail value of BC wine sold to Alberta is $160 million. Some wineries will be taking a big hit.

Consider the various ways this will damage the industry.

·        The direct loss of sales to liquor retailers and restaurants. If 11% of BC wine is sold to Alberta and individual wineries lose more or less that volume, they will feel the pain.

One of the first wineries to feel the impact is Harry McWatters’s Time Winery in Penticton. Time signed a contract last fall to produce wines exclusively for the Calgary Flames organization. The wines are sold at various sporting events. As much of a third of Time’s volume was directed to this channel, which the Alberta government is now closing.

·       Most wineries have thriving wine clubs. The lose of the ability to ship directly to members in Alberta will hollow out wine club membership by Albertans. According to the BC Wine Institute: “A recent poll conducted by the Canada Vintners’ Association indicates that 85 per cent of Albertans support interprovincial direct-to-customer wine shipping.”

• Many of the wine tourists each summer are from Alberta. Now they will be prevented from having wines they taste shipped back home. And will they risk filling their trunks with cases of BC wine? It would be easy, if silly, for Alberta to have road blocks, since it still is technically illegal to take more than a few bottles of wine across a provincial border. There is a Supreme Court ruling on this due in the spring which may settle the question.

• Given that uncertainty, will this drive a stake through cellar door sales at BC wineries? It won’t help.

• Trade disputes like this create a negative image for investment in BC, both in the wine industry and in the resource sectors.

It might be an idea for the numerous Albertans in the BC wine industry to have a word with Premium Notley. Dennis O’Rourke, an Edmonton businessman who made a fortune building oil sands related projects, has poured a fortune into O’Rourke Family Vineyards in Lake Country and a sister winery, called The Chase.

Or there is Drew MacIntyre, the Calgary-based Vice Chair of Investment Banking at TD Securities. He and his wife also own Lake Breeze Vineyards (and they have a luxury home on the vineyard).

Or there are numerous Alberta shareholders at Hillside Estate Winery, Liquidity Wines and 50^th Parallel Estate Winery.

Former Albertans are scattered throughout the BC wine industry, including the owners of Baillie-Grohman in Creston, and Noble Ridge Vineyards and Meyer Family Vineyards at Okanagan Falls.

It is no accident that Alberta is the second largest market for BC wines. The industry has plenty of Albertans; and many consumers of BC wines are Albertans with time share condos in the Okanagan or at various BC ski resorts.

The ban of BC wines is triggered by the fact that the oil from the Alberta oil sands needs access to markets in addition to the United States. The producers have been frustrated, so far, in efforts to get access by way of pipelines to other markets and Premier Notley has not had much success of getting them that access.

The federal government killed the Enbridge proposed pipeline to the north coast by a proposed ban on tankers off the coast.

The BC government’s recent announcement of a study on oil spill response threatens to delay Kinder Morgan, even though there have been studies that satisfied the National Energy Board. The wine boycott is Premier Notley’s reaction to the BC government’s delaying tactic.

I get her anger. I do not get her taking it out on the wine industry. The wineries have never taken positions on pipelines. Their business is making ever better wine. To the best of my knowledge, not a single Okanagan vintner has been beating drums or getting chained to bulldozers near the Kinder Morgan tank farm in Burnaby.

Rachel Notley also is not being consistent by lashing out on only some of the jurisdictions getting in Alberta’s way.

The Energy East pipeline would have taken Alberta oil to refineries in New Brunswick. That project was killed by Quebec governments. Did Premier Notley retaliate? Not so you would notice. I believe that you can still but Oka cheese and Quebec maple syrup in Alberta grocery stores.

It could be very difficult to end this burgeoning trade war.

If Premier John Horgan even modifies the BC government’s opposition to Kinder Morgan, he would blow up his fragile government because his Green Party support would evaporate.

If Premier Notley modifies her position, the opposition in the coming Alberta election will have a field day.

She probably will not win that election, but the news might not get better for the wine industry. The likely winner will be Jason Kenney, who fully supports taking out the trade dispute on utterly innocent bystanders, the wineries of BC. Very fine BC wines are being reduced to political road kill.

Martin's Lane makes a stunning debut

Photo: Martin's Lane winemaker Shane Munn

The feature wall of wines in the private dining room at Anthony von Mandl’s Martin’s Lane Winery makes an aspirational statement by displaying the world’s best Riesling and Pinot Noir wines.

The wines include 18 bottles of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, from three different vineyards.

“That sets the stage of what this project is about,” Martin’s Lane winemaker Shane Munn says. “No pressure on me! Let’s compare my Simes Vineyard Pinot with Richebourg; or Grands-Echézeaux with my Naramata Vineyard Pinot. That is sort of the aim.”

When Okanagan wineries get to play in that league, Martin’s Lane is certain to be there. The debut releases are that impressive.

The stunning six-level gravity-flow winery was designed by Seattle architect Thomas Kundig, with some interior features designed by Barcelona architect Antonio Puig. The winery has been constructed over the last three years just north and slightly uphill from CedarCreek Estate Winery in East Kelowna. Both wineries are owned by Anthony von Mandl, the proprietor of Mission Hill Family Estate. Kundig is one of his favourite architects: he designed the redevelopment of Mission Hill a few decades ago.

Shane arrived at Martin’s Lane before harvest in 2014, with the winery in the early stages of construction. Shane spent that first vintage dodging construction workers so that he could make the wine in the building.

“We typically take on two interns during harvest, people from abroad who are like-minded to us,” Shane says. “In 2014, I joke I had 120 interns because I had 120 construction workers around me.”

Shane was born in 1970 in Palmerston North, a New Zealand community with a university where he did his first degree – in statistics. It was not the career he pursued, however.

“In the late 1990s, I was living in London and Liverpool, just on an overseas experience, like a lot of New Zealanders do,” he says. He worked at various short-term jobs to fund travel around Europe.

“When you travel around countries like Italy, Spain and France, wine is as common on the dinner table as water and bread,” Shane found. “I guess that helped me fall in love with wine.”

He returned to New Zealand and enrolled in a winemaking degree. At the same time, he worked the 2002, 2003 and 2004 vintages at Esk Valley Estate, where he made a crucial connection with Darryl Brooker, now the winemaker and general manager at Mission Hill. Born in Australia, Darryl worked for several leading New Zealand wineries before he started his Canadian career on Ontario.

In 2004, on Darryl’s recommendation, Shane spent 10 months at Malivoire Wine Co. in Ontario, covering for a cellermaster who was on leave.

“When I worked at Malivoire,  Ann Sperling [the winemaker there at the time] first opened my eyes to biodynamics,” Shane says. “I returned to New Zealand with a few dozen books on biodynamics.”

He spent seven years with James Millton and Millton Vineyards in Gisborne, on the east coast of the north island. “That role was very dynamic and encompassed a lot of vineyard and cellar work,” Shane says. “It was probably New Zealand’s biodynamic pioneer.” From there, he became head winemaker at Woollaston Estates [now called Mahana], a winery specializing in Pinot Noir.

“I spent two and a half years there,” Shane says. “I re-acquainted myself with Darryl and ended up here. I had a meeting with Anthony and we shared a vision for making great wine. Anthony had the view that we would head in an organic direction. We are doing as much as we can from a winemaking perspective here. The only way we can make better wine is through growing grapes in a more sustainable, honest and authentic way.”

Shane was impressed immediately with the plans and prospects for Martin’s Lane. The winery is designed to produce between 12,000 and 15,000 cases annually, focused just on Riesling and Pinot Noir.

He has been given the tools to make ultra-premium wine. He has his own blocks of fruit in several the vineyards owned by Sebastian Farms, the von Mandl vineyard holding company. Shane also has a dedicated viticulturist growing the grapes he gets.

The winery is equipped for extremely detail-oriented winemaking. The stainless steel fermenters, literal works of art, are from an Italian producer recommended by Antinori. “They are the Ferraris of wine tanks,” Shane says. He has German wood casks in which a portion of the Riesling is fermented.

The winery also has concrete fermenters which Shane finds especially helpful in softening tannins. “Moving from New Zealand, the biggest thing I had had to adapt to, is the tannin structure in Pinot Noirs here,” Shane says. “Here, the soils are ancient and very volcanic and the tannins in an elegant variety like Pinot Noir can be quite forceful sometimes. That is where these concrete tanks come into their own.”

From the very first vintage, Shane has used only wild yeast to ferment the wines. “That is sticking with Anthony’s view that the wines are to be single vineyard wines,” Shane says. “I think that by naturally fermenting them, they retain a link with the site.”

Both Riesling and Pinot Noir, especially the latter, are grapes best handled gently. “We work with two of the most sensitive varieties and they don’t react well to pumping,” Shane says. “We can get the Pinot Noir from the grapes arriving at the winery to the bottle in five movements. That is into and out of the tank; into and out of barrel; and bottling. We don’t rack from tank to tank or do any of that stuff.”

The Pinot Noir is never racked during the 17 months it spends aging in barrel, with about 25% of the barrels new.

“The major cooper is François Frères but we use five different barrels,” Shane says. “It is all French oak; very, very tight grain. The barrels are all air dried for three or four years, which means that the release of wood into the wine is very subtle and elegant. We don’t go beyond medium toast for any of the barrels. The fruit should be the hero and the oak should be in the supporting role.”

 The Martin’s Lane wines are all from single vineyards; in the future, some likely will be from single blocks as Shane identifies premium fruit sources. Currently, he draws grapes from the secluded Naramata Ranch Vineyard (at the north end of Naramata Road); from the Simes Vineyard on Lakeshore Road in East Kelowna; and from Fritzi’s Vineyard on Mission Hill Road (named for Anthony’s 101-year-old mother).

“One of the main things that brought me here was the autonomy of the winemaking to take every parcel, which is kept separate all through the winemaking,” Shane says. “By keeping every parcel separate, you get to learn a lot about every parcel. You see the subtleties every year – and not just in the vineyard or during harvest. Our Pinots spend around about 17 months in barrel. During those 17 months, we are tasting them multiple times a week. So you get to see the subtleties of how they developed, and any unique characters that could make it a cuvée that could be kept separate.”

He has not yet begin releasing individual small lots but says it is conceivable to have a portfolio of 20 or so wines as distinct characters are recognized.

Here are notes on the current portfolio.

Martin’s Lane Riesling Naramata Ranch 2014 ($65). This is a superbly balanced wine, with the 13 grams of residual sugar offset with 8.2 grams of acidity. The wine is concentrated, with a juicy texture and with aromas and flavours of citrus around a backbone of minerals. 92.

Martin’s Lane Riesling Fritzi’s Vineyard 2014 ($75). Ten per cent of this was fermented in 1,250-litre German oak casks. This is a powerful wine with aromas and flavours of citrus and apple supported by minerality. It has a dry finish. 93.

Martin’s Lane Riesling Fritzi’s Vineyard 2015 ($75). Twenty-five per cent of this was fermented in the German oak. Reflecting the vintage, this wine is ripe and opulent, once again with aromas and flavours of citrus and apple. The acidity, however, is still racy, lending a freshness to the tangy and persistent finish. 95.

Martin’s Lane Riesling Simes Vineyard 2015 ($55). This cool vineyard produced a delicate wine with a subdued personality compared with its partners. It has bright aromas and flavours of citrus with good minerality. 91.

Martin’s Lane Pinot Noir Naramata Ranch 2014 ($100). This wine includes three clones – Pommard, 943 and 828. The latter two clones were destemmed before fermentation while 40% of the Pommard went into the tanks with stems. The wine fermented naturally, aged 17 months in French oak, and bottled unfiltered. The wine has aromas of cherry and strawberry. On the palate, there are flavours of cherry mingled with toasted oak and mocha. The finish is silky. This is a pretty wine with seductive appeal. 95.

Martin’s Lane Pinot Noir Simes Vineyard 2014 ($100). The clones in this wine are 667 (40% whole bunches) and 943 (destemmed). The wine fermented naturally, aged 17 months in French oak, and bottled unfiltered. Because the vineyard is comparatively cool, the fruit is bright and vibrant, with aromas and flavours of raspberry and cherry. The finish is silky. 94.

Martin’s Lane Pinot Noir Fritzi’s Vineyard 2014 ($100). The ambition is to produce Grand Cru quality wine from this small block of clone 115 in the middle of Fritzi’s Vineyard on Mission Hill Road. The wine is the most intense, even muscular, of the trio, with aromas of black cherry leading to flavours of cherry and dark red fruit. The wine fermented naturally, aged 17 months in French oak, and bottled unfiltered. 96.

Painted Rock will take on Bordeaux

Photo: Painted Rock proprietor John Skinner

John Skinner, the proprietor of Painted Rock Estate Winery, aims to penetrate key European wine markets, including Bordeaux, with his Okanagan wines.

Showing Painted Rock wines in Bordeaux is the suggestion of Gustoworld, Painted Rock’s agent in Brussels. They have suggested that he pour Painted Rock wines at several tastings there in March. Initially, John’s astonished response was: “Isn’t that like selling sand to the Arabs?”

“Christophe Heynen, the founder of Gustoworld, said they know more about wine than anybody,” John says. “It is the centre of it. They are curious. They don’t just want to be drinking their own wine all the time. Not only that – I employ somebody that they know and respect.” The reference is the Alain Sutre, the Bordeaux consultant who has guided Painted Rock since 2006.

It would be a feather in John’s cap if he impressed the Bordelaise, among the most knowledgeable tasters in the wine world. He began showing Painted Rock wines in London four years ago – and he continues to do so. Last year, he hosted a Painted Rock tasting for about 100 members of 67 Pall Mall, which claims to be the world’s most exclusive wine club.

London, with its top-flight critics, collectors and masters of wine, is arguably the most sophisticated wine market in the world. Canadian producers have hosted tastings there since at least the 1960s, formerly to the embarrassment of Canadian wines. The biggest fiasco was the failed attempt to launch Baby Duck in Britain. But that was yesteryear, before the sea change in the quality of Canadian wine. It is safe to say that Canadian wines this time will get a far better reception.

“I like a challenge,” says John, now the leader of a group of six Okanagan wineries beginning to explore London and other European markets.

Painted Rock’s wines have been impressive since the first vintage in 2007 from the winery’s Skaha Bench vineyard. And they have been getting steadily better as the maturing vines have put roots through the topsoil and the alluvial silt layers of varying thickness deep into underlying gravels. The majority of the 52,500 vines in the 25-acre vineyard were planted in 2005. The flavours have become more intense and complex with each vintage.

“When I started Painted Rock,” John says, “we augured a hole every three meters. We know the depth of the alluvial silt layer everywhere on the vineyard. We have a map of it.”

The thinnest layer of silt was in the two Merlot blocks. “That’s where we first noticed the most profound change in the flavours.  Once the roots reached into the gravels, the flavours opened up like a flower. That happened first in Merlot, then in Cabernet Franc. Now it is in Malbec and Petit Verdot and everything. The flavours are just exquisite and markedly improved year over year.”

The thickest layer of alluvial silt was in the Chardonnay block. In the fall of 2016, when John and Alain were tasting the fruit before harvest, the consultant noted a significant step up in the complexity of the flavours of Chardonnay. A trench was dug beside the vines and confirmed that the roots were now 10 feet down into the gravel.

That led to a significant change in how the Chardonnay was processed that vintage. In earlier vintages, the harvest had been spaced out over three pickings in order to build more complex flavours from grapes at three stages of ripeness. In 2016, the harvest was compressed because the flavour profiles were more vivid. As well, the wine had enough substance now that 60% went through malolactic fermentation, compared with 10% in previous years.

“In previous vintages, had we had more ML, that would have overwhelmed the fruit,” John believes.  “Now that we had this complexity, it could handle it. That’s the journey of the Chardonnay now. We did it again in 2017. I am ecstatic with it.”

A corollary benefit of vine age is that Painted Rock now is releasing more single varietal red wines. Individual varietals now have enough flavour that the wines need not be tweaked with a dash of another variety or two. In 2015, for example, there was enough Malbec left over after making blends that a small lot was produced just for the Painted Rock wine club.

Perhaps not every Okanagan or Similkameen vineyard has as much vine research, but it is certain that many of the vines now have roots deep into what one might call the flavour zone. There is no doubt in my mind that wines from Painted Rock and other Okanagan producers will more than more than hold their own in Europe.

As I was working through the Painted Rock wines, a house guest arrived with a bottle of Château Mouton Rothschild 2007. One of Bordeaux’s best wines, this vintage is a blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19% Merlot. The average price per bottle, according to internet sources, is about $700. Robert Parker scored it 92 points.

It is a wine great elegance and refinement. But is it better than Red Icon?  That is a matter of taste. It is not fair to compare a mature Bordeaux with an adolescent from the Okanagan, to say nothing of the dramatic differences in terroir and winemaking style. But Red Icon belongs on the same table.

Here are notes on the current releases.

Painted Rock Chardonnay 2016 ($30.49 for 488 cases; sold out). I first tasted this wine shortly after it was bottled in late May, 2017, scoring it 90+. A second bottle tasted nine months later scored 95, a dramatic illustration of how moderate bottle aging benefits a well-made Chardonnay. The complex, layered flavours of this wine were crafted by spreading out the harvest somewhat. More layers were built by aging 80% in French oak (55% new) and 20% in stainless steel. Sixty percent of the wine went through malolactic fermentation. The winery explains: “This process enabled us to embrace the beautiful bright acidity while building mouthfeel, complexity and aromatics.” The result is a delicious and refreshing wine with aromas and flavours of citrus, apple and peach. It dances brightly on the palate, the complete antithesis of those over-oaked, mouth-tiring wines that turned consumers against Chardonnay.  95.

Painted Rock Merlot 2014 ($34.99 for 1,356 cases). This is a bold (15.2% alcohol), richly flavoured and concentrated Merlot. It was aged 18 months in French oak (30% new). It begins with aromas of spicy red fruit, leading to flavours of black cherry, blueberry, mocha and vanilla. 92.

Painted Rock Malbec 2015 ($NA for 140 cases). This wine was released just to Painted Rock’s wine club. Again, the alcohol is 15.2% but the wine has the substance and ripe fruit flavours to carry it. It begins with powerful and appealing aromas of violets, cherries and plums, leading to flavours of black cherry, blackberry and plum. The finish goes on and on. 92.

Painted Rock Cabernet Franc 2015 ($44.99 for 400 cases). This is a wine remarkable for its power (15.3% alcohol) and intensity of flavour. Aromas of cassis, blackberry and cherry bound from the glass, followed by a rich medley of red fruit on the palate, including cherry, blackberry and raspberry. The hint of mocha on the finish supports a lush texture. 93.

Painted Rock Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 ($39.99 for 328 cases; sold out). The wine, which was aged 18 months in French oak (30% new), begins with savoury aromas of cassis, blackberry and mint. On the palate, there are flavours of black currant, black cherry, fig, tobacco, leather, dark coffee, spice and vanilla. Concentrated in texture, the wine should be decanted before being served. 93.

Painted Rock Syrah Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 ($34.99 for 146 cases). A wine club only release, this is 80% Syrah and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged 18 months in French oak (30% new). The wine is made with grapes from 2009 infill plantings in the Syrah and Cabernet blocks in the vineyard, with each varietal fermented and aged separately from the older plantings. The wine begins with aromas of pepper, black currant and cedar, leading to flavours of plum, black cherry and vanilla. The soft, ripe tannins give the wine a svelte, polished texture. 92.

Painted Rock Syrah 2015 ($39.99). This wine delivers terrific fruit aromas and flavours – black cherry, blackberry and fig, with notes of leather, vanilla and pepper. The wine was aged 18 months in barrel (30% new), of which 80% was French oak and 20% American oak. 92.

Painted Rock Red Icon 2015 ($54.99 for 1,487 cases). This blend is 45% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc, 11% Malbec, 11% Petit Verdot and 9% Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine begins with aromas of black cherry, cassis and vanilla which are echoed in the flavours. The texture is rich and concentrated, backed by long ripe tannins. On the finish, mocha and coffee mingle with spicy dark fruit. Decanting helps open up the aromas and flavours. It would be preferable to let it blossom in bottle for five or 10 years before opening it. 94.

Mission Hill's Darryl Brooker making his mark

Photo: Mission Hill General Manager and Winemaker Darryl Brooker

Darryl Brooker has been putting his finger prints on the wines of Mission Hill Family Estate since he succeeded John Simes as winemaker and general manager.

John remains a legend in Okanagan winemaking. He joined Mission Hill in 1992 and made his final vintage there in 2014 before retiring. Darryl quotes John as saying that 2014 was the best vintage he had experienced in the Okanagan.

During his 22 vintages, John was in charge of selecting and planting Mission Hill’s extensive vineyards in the Okanagan Valley. Those properties stretch from East and West Kelowna through the Naramata Bench and Black Sage Road to the Osoyoos East Bench. This cornucopia of terroirs enabled John and his winemaking team to create an extensive portfolio of premium wines.

In wine, there is always room to raise the bar, no matter how high it is already. Previously the chief winemaker at CedarCreek Estate Winery, Darryl is rising to the challenge at Mission Hill.

Born in Canberra in 1973, Darryl is a graduate of Charles Sturt University in Australia. He has a Bachelor of Applied Science - Wine Science, as well as a graduate diploma from Adelaide University in Wine Business.

He made wine at Villa Maria Estate in Hawkes Bay and at Mountadam Vineyards in Barossa Valley in Australia.  He came to Canada in 2003 when he was hired to launch Flat Rock Cellars in Ontario. He moved to the Andrew Peller group, working at Hillebrand and Thirty Bench, before joining CedarCreek in 2010. CedarCreek was acquired in 2013 by Anthony von Mandl and put under the umbrella of his holding company, VMF Estates. Darryl was promoted to Mission Hill.

Darryl’s touch on the Mission Hill portfolio can already be found in several of the current releases. Among them, Mission Hill’s first single varietal Cabernet Franc, a restyled Sauvignon Blanc, and a single vineyard aromatic white blend. As well, a new source of fruit has enabled him to rework Perpetua, Mission Hill’s premium Chardonnay.

The 2016 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, Darryl says, is “a big change for us in the style of Sauvignon Blanc. And a big change on how John Simes was making it as well. I don’t want it to be New Zealand style but I wanted it to be a little more grassy, so I picked a lot of our blocks earlier than I have traditionally, just to layer in some of those grassy, herbaceous notes.  Then I picked some mid-tier and some ripe and tropical, just to get a few more layers in the blend.  I wanted to find something that was uniquely Okanagan but sat in the middle” between the New Zealand style and the Loire style.

The C Sharp wine is a single vineyard blend of five white varietals. “We wanted to have another go at a white blend,” Darryl says. “White blends have come and gone. They all got made sweet and dulled down. We wanted something very contemporary and fresh and very different.”

The Jagged Rock Vineyard is a block is at the top of a Mission Hill property on Black Sage Road. The elevation and the aspect make this a comparatively cool site, which accounts for the varieties grown here. The 2016 wine is a blend of 33% Sauvignon Blanc, 22% Semillon, 15% Muscat, 15% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Gris.

“It was important to me to make it as a single vineyard wine,” Darryl says. “I wanted to make a more serious white blend as opposed to whatever is left over in the winery. We blend this wine before we blend any of our other wines. We use what we consider some of the best fruit, as opposed to what is left over.”

The 2015 Perpetua is another big change. Traditionally, the wine was made with Chardonnay grapes from Mission Hill’s Osoyoos vineyard. The 2015 wine contains 25% fruit from Mission Hill’s Naramata Ranch Vineyard.

“The reason I went for Naramata Ranch was not just because I was impressed with the wine from there; 2015 was such a hot year,” Darryl says. “We did not have enough acid in the Osoyoos fruit while the Naramata Ranch had good acid. So I blended the wines.”

Naramata Ranch, formerly known as Paradise Ranch Vineyards, is secluded at the very northern end of Naramata Road. Mission Hill purchased the vineyard some years ago and, by now, has replanted much of it.

“We planted a new Chardonnay clone at Naramata Ranch,” Darryl says. “It is clone 548, a French clone. I believe it is the first in Canada. It is about eight years old now. I liked it so much that it is 25% of the blend in the 2015 Perpetua.”

  

The 2015 Terroir Series Cabernet Franc is to be released this spring – the first time Mission Hill has released a solo Cabernet Franc. The grapes are from the Vista’s Edge  Vineyard in Osoyoos right against the U.S. border, one of the best properties that John Simes developed for the winery.

“I talked to John about Cabernet Franc when I got here,” Darryl says. “That was where we differed. He said Cabernet Franc is made for blending; we will never make a single varietal. So for my first vintage, I wanted to make a single varietal.”

It was a good call. “It is a big structured Cabernet Franc, which most people don’t expect,” Darryl says. About 625 cases were produced from vines that were 21 years old.

“Cabernet Franc is playing a much more important role than it did five, 10 years ago,” Darryl believes. “I think it is the variety of the future for the Okanagan Valley, when it comes to Bordeaux reds. Every year, the window for Cabernet Franc is getting more and more perfect.”

Mission Hill’s flagship wine is Oculus, a Bordeaux blend made every vintage since 1997. The 2014 vintage, made by John, has not yet been released. “It’s a stunning wine,” Darryl says. “The vines are older, the winery is so well equipped. It will prove to be the best Oculus yet made. Everything came together in 2014 for a really good wine.”

Here are notes on some wines in the portfolio.

Mission Hill Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2016 ($20). This is a lively and expressive wine, beginning with aromas of lime and fresh grass. The flavours are intense, mingling notes of lime, lemon, herbs and grass. The finish is crisp; and the flavours linger on the palate. 92.

Mission Hill C Sharp Jagged Rock Vineyard 2016 ($25). This small lot wine is available just in the Mission Hill wine shop. It is now sold out but a larger volume will be released from the 2017 vintage. This is a delicious wine. Tropical fruit aromas explode from the glass, leading to flavours of green apple, lime and spice. The wine was deliberately bottled with some natural carbon dioxide and this adds to its delightful freshness. 91.

Mission Hill Perpetua 2015 ($50). The wine begins with citrus and apple aromas subtly touched with oak. The fruit is bright, with notes of butter and citrus and a hint of vanilla on the finish. The good acidity portends fine aging ability. 94.

Mission Hill Five Vineyards Cabernet Merlot 2014 ($15.99). Five Vineyards is the entry level tier at Mission Hill. This is a tasty, if uncomplicated, blend with aromas and flavours of cherry, blackberry and black currant. 88.

Mission Hill Reserve Merlot 2014 ($25.99). This is a bold red, with aromas of cassis and vanilla. It has a concentrated texture with firm tannins; the wine needs decanting but will age well. It has flavours of black currant and black cherry with a note of cedar and tobacco on the finish. 91.

Mission Hill Terroir Collection Pinot Noir 2015 ($Sold out). The grapes for this come from what is now called Fritzi’s Vineyard on Mission Hill Road. Only 350 cases were made and offered primarily to the winery’s wine club. It was also submitted to a recent Decanter wine competition, where it won a gold medal. The wine is dark and full-bodied for a Pinot Noir, with aromas and flavours of cherry and raspberry. 92.

Mission Hill Terroir Collection Cabernet Franc 2015 ($50). The wine begins with aromas of cassis, blackberry and mulberry. Quite concentrated, it delivers flavours of black cherry, leather and chocolate. The finish is very long. This wine makes a profound statement on behalf of the variety. 93.

Mission Hill Oculus 2014 ($135). The blend is 50% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot, with most of the fruit coming from Vista’s Edge. Still to be released, this wine shows great harmony, with aromas and flavours of black currant and black cherry. There are notes of dark chocolate and leather on the finish. The power and structure of this wine will give it a long life – easily 15 years in a good cellar. 95.

Alvear at Vancouver International Wine Festival

 Photo: Alvear president Fernando Gimenez Alvear

Pedro Ximénez is the major grape variety in the southern Spanish province of Andalusía (where Alvear’s vineyards are). Jancis Robinson writes that the variety is used “mainly for some of darkest, stickiest wines made anywhere.”

Quite remarkably, Bernardo Lucena, the technical director of Alvear S.A., makes a complete line of wines with this grape, from a dry white, a dry rosé, fino sherries and rich, tawny amontillado sherries.

Several of those wines will be available for tasting (and purchase) at the Vancouver International Wine Festival in late February. Alvear is among the 39 Spanish wineries at the festival, where Spain and Portugal are the 2018 theme regions.

Alvear is one of the oldest family-owned wineries in Spain. Fernando Gimenez Alvear, the current president and a winery principal at the festival, traces his predecessors back to Diego de Alvear y Escalera, once a tax collector in Cordobá.

He established his winery in 1729 in Montilla, a community half an hour south of  Cordobá. From small beginnings Alvear grew to be a dominant producer in Andalusía, especially after it began shipping its wines to Britain late in the 1700s.

The family also produced several colourful descendants, notably Don Diego de Alvear y Ponce de León (1749-1830), who followed a military career before joining the family business. Initially, he spent 25 years as a military officer in Argentina, then a Spanish possession.

When he returned to Spain to take up a new military posting, his wife and children followed on a different ship. They were lost when the ship was sunk by the British Navy. Don Diego remarried and fathered a second family. Clearly, he was not a man to hold grudges because his second wife was English.

Don Diego is said to have left an illegitimate son, Carlos Maria de Alvear, in Argentina who took part in the successful uprising against Spain in 1815.

The winery prospered under Don Diego and his heirs. They developed vineyards in the gently mountainous terroir around Montilla. In the town, the bodega’s burgeoning structures came to dominate the centre. Alvear money also built schools and other public buildings there.

Today, Alvear has moved its winemaking facilities outside the city, closer to the vineyards, with modern stainless steel fermenters replacing the cement and earthenware vessels known as tinajas (below). The latter stand in bulbous ranks in one building of the historic bodega in the centre of Montilla.  

Still used for wine storage, the tinaja building is a leading attraction for the wine tour here.

The wines, however, are the real attraction, whether one arranges a visit to the bodega or to the Alvear table at the wine festival.

I visited the winery last October, at the end of vacation and tour of the great Moorish capitals of Andalusía – Granada, Cordobá and Seville. According to my hosts at Alvear,  Cordobá “once was more sophisticated than London or Paris.” It retains a good deal of its historic charm, along with the mosque/cathedral which is one of the finest examples of Moorish architecture in Spain.

It was a bonus to find the Montilla-Moriles wine region south of  Cordobá and to be able to arrange a visit to Alvear. Travellers with more time can arrange a tour of several wineries through www.bacustravel.com, an agency recommended on the Alvear web site.

The tasting room at the Alvear bodega is in another set of rooms redolent with history. A portrait of Don Diego, splendid in his military uniform, hangs on one wall.

Here are notes on Alvear wines. Some will be available at the wine festival; others are listed at various wine stores. Prices shown for those listed in the BC Liquor Stores. Given how long these wines are aged, the prices are astonishingly low.

Wine festival wines are marked **.

**Marqués De La Sierra 2016. A wine like this was totally unexpected in Pedro Ximénez country. It is a crisp and fresh dry white, with notes of apple and spice in the aromas and flavours. Night harvest of the grapes and fermentation at low temperatures preserves the freshness of the fruit. This wine is offered just at trade tastings at the festival. 88.

Vino De Pueblo 2016. This is a rosé from Pedro Ximénez grapes fermented and aged in tinajas. A dry wine with good weight on the palate, it mingles flavours of apples and almonds. 88.

**Alvear Fino ($19.99). This is an excellent dry sherry-style wine. It is unfortified because the Pedro Ximénez grapes are ripe enough to produce 15% alcohol. The wine spends four years under flor yeast in American oak barrels and is blended in the solera method. The flavours and aromas mingle notes of rancio with almonds. 90.

Alvear Fino Capataz. This wine has been aged for 10 years under flor yeast in oak butts and verges on the style of Amontillado. Tawny in hue, it has richly concentrated flavours, with a long finish that is still dry. 90.

Alvear Amontillado Criadera A ($26.99 for 375 ml). This is also a fino aged 12 years under  flor. Tawny in hue, the wine has notes of almond on the nose and the palate. The minerality of the terroir comes through on the finish. This is a cerebral after-dinner wine. 91.

Amontillado Carlos VII. This wine has been aged 15 years in oak, partly under flor yeast. Amber in colour, it has fruity aromas and flavours. Full-bodied, it is a very complex wine. 92.

Alvear Solera Fundación Amontillado. One of the rarest wines made by Alvear (current release was 318 bottles), the wine is said to include some solera wines from the foundation of the winery. Perhaps that is just an eye dropper of 300-year-old wine. This is a rich, even unctuous, wine with 20% alcohol, achieved naturally. It reminded me of a fine single malt scotch. 94.

**Alvear Medium Dry ($19.99). This is a blend of fino and oloroso style wines, slightly sweetened and aged six years in a solera system of white American oak. A tawny wines, it has fruity flavours and an off-dry finish. The texture is silky. 91.

Alvear Oloroso Asunción. This is a fortified wine from Pedro Ximénez grapes. The wine was aged for more than 10 years in oak barrels, without flor. Dark tawny in hue, the wine has rich notes of figs and raisins, with a lingering but moderate sweetness. 92.

Alvear Pedro Ximénez Añada ($29.49 for 375 ml). This is a young Pedro Ximénez wine from a single vintage. The grapes are air dried on mats in the sun to concentrate the sugar and flavours. After fermentation, the wine is aged about a year in earthenware tinajas. This is a tour de force: golden tawny in colour, with flavours of raisins and marmalade and an exceptionally long sweet finish. Robert Parker scored this wine 100 points and I would not argue. 100.

**Alvear Pedro Ximenez Solera 1927 ($29.49 for 375 ml). Once again, the grapes are dried on matts in the sun. The grapes are then pressed and alcohol is added immediately to the sweet juice. The blend is assembled from a solera, presumably with a thimble full of 1927. Dark in color and unctuous on the palate, the wine is dense, with flavours of figs, licorice, toffee, molasses and chocolate. 95.

Alvear Pedro Ximenez Solera 1910. Incredibly intense and concentrated, this dark, silky, sweet wine incorporates wine from the oldest Pedro Ximénez solera in the winery. Think of drinking licorice and raisin pie, if such a thing exists. 96.