Our 2024 vintage will go down as one of the most challenging—yet most innovative—in our winery’s 20-year history. Faced with the crop loss at our home estate, like so many producers in our region, we had to rethink the season. Rather than seeing it as a setback, we dove in to the opportunity to explore and collaborate with our winegrowing colleagues in two exceptional cool-climate regions.
The wines from 2024 reflect not only the quality of the vineyards we worked with but also the camaraderie between our team and the industry peers we leaned on for support in a difficult situation. Our winemaker David Paterson leaned on his close ties in Oregon and unearthed some excellent Pinot Gris at Stoneridge Vineyard - an own-rooted organic site, planted in 1985 in the Northern part of the Willamette Valley.
Pouring a fine pale yellow-green hue, an exotic aromatic profile emerges from the glass with top notes of papaya and pineapple with yellow flowers, layers of orange creamsicle, damp clay and cardamom follow in closely behind. The palate is punchy and layered with zesty acidity. Gingered pears before they go in the pie, lemon cream, almond and orchard fruits, with a chalky mineral quality. A zippy yet rounded texture speaks to the barrel fermented portion of the wine, offering great mouth feel.
WINEMAKER'S NOTES
The 2024 Pinot Gris reflects the high quality growing season in Oregon with great concentration of flavour and excellent acid retention from warm days and cool nights. Upon pressing, the juice was transported overnight from Oregon to our East Kelowna cellar where the wine was fermented using 7 different specific Pinot Gris yeasts and also a (wild) yeast component.
This occurred in combination of older barriques and puncheons as well as a variety of different sized stainless steel tanks. The wine spent three months on fermentation lees with only partial malolactic fermentation pursued. The focus was on capturing the first flavour window of the vineyard allowing the wine to remain fresh and vibrant.
TECHNICAL INFO
100% Pinot Gris, Oregon
Alcohol: 12.5%
Residual Sweetness: 1.87 g/L
pH: 3.18
Total Acidity: 6.44 g/L
VINTAGE NOTES
While the 2024 growing season started off with concerns about too much precipitation too fast for some and not enough for others, a cool spring, and slow start to the growing season, winemakers across Oregon are now celebrating what turned out to be an outstanding harvest season and a vintage that promises excellence. After a cool spring, the first notable heat came to Oregon in mid-to late June when the berries were in the early stage of development, followed by a weeklong heat wave in July.
The July heat wave likely led to some variance in fruit set, including some shatter and varying averages in quality and quantity of fruit set. August brought slightly warmer than average temperatures followed by September, which was a roller coaster for temperatures with record breaking heat early and late in the month, sandwiching a very cool period in between, which helped retain a wonderful nervous acidity. October continued a run of very nice conditions to end the 2024 vintage. Generally mild to warm temperatures and not much precipitation until late in October made for a vintage with little to no pressure to pick until the fruit was showing its best flavours and acidity.
