Each year our flagship Pinot Noir most beautifully captures the evolving maturity of our vineyard; offering us a wonderfully natural expression of our unique terroir in Southeast Kelowna.
Dark crimson in the glass, the nose is lively with bright floral notes alongside cocoa and red berries. Rich notes of cedar, wet earth and graphite complement the aromatic profile. Despite its youth, the palate is showing beautiful complexity and nuance with swaths of red currant, cherry and fig spun together with a unique mineral expression. Lush tannins offer depth and structure and the expectation of a graceful development in bottle. Comfortably enjoy over the next 5 to 10 years.
Crafted from multiple clones from our estate Pinot Noir blocks and a neighbouring Southeast Kelowna vineyard of great pedigree, parcels of fruit were handpicked and vinified in small lots using 100% wild fermentation. Each parcel was fermented separately, with a light working once a day through fermentation, mainly by way of gentle foot-treading. Anywhere from 30 to 50% whole bunches were included.
Once the wine had finished primary fermentation the must was gently pressed between 18-35 days on skins depending on the block. The wine was then aged in oak barriques (20% new) for 16 months, at which time it was “blended” and returned into neutral barrels on fine lees for another winter. The wine was bottled in February 2022, unfined and unfiltered. Clonal selection: 114, 115, 667, 777, 828, 37, 943.
TECHNICAL INFO
Varietal: 100% Pinot Noir
Alcohol: 13.1%
Residual Sweetness: 1.49 g/L
pH: 3.74
Total Acidity: 5.81 g/L
ACCOLADES:
Silver Medal, National Wine Awards of Canada, July 2022
90 points - Dr. Jamie Goode, Wine Align.com, July 2022
"A concentrated, dark expression of Pinot Noir with plenty of structure and a firm savoury edge to the sweet cherry and plum fruit. It's really focused and quite brooding."
91 points - Treve Ring, Gismondi On Wine, July 2022
"The final blend rested over winter in neutral oak, and was bottled unfined and unfiltered. Silken black raspberry, plums glide across the palate, dusted with fine white pepper and nutmeg, and framed with lightly sticky, black tea lined, well placed tannins. Lovely structure, freshness, and charm, and an easy choice to crack into now or over the short term."
-
VINTAGE NOTES
Although challenging, 2020 gifted us some of the best quality fruit we have seen in years. Mirroring the winter of 2019, a cold snap of under -20 C in late February harmed several vines and buds but fortunately damage was not extensive. Above average rainfall in May charged the soil with water and gave the vines everything they needed to hit the ground running after bud break. A period of cool and wet weather in early July coincided with flowering, unfortunately resulting in uneven berry set across the property.
Summer was rewarding: lots of sunshine, warm temperatures but not too much excessive heat. Vine growth caught up but we eased into harvest a week later than usual, in the second week of September. Luckily, smoky skies on the early days of harvest quickly dissipated so that we enjoyed clear days for the remainder of harvest. Unlike in previous years, the first frost (and snow!) did not arrive until late October, and we escaped harvesting our last bunches in whiteout conditions by only 12 hours!
