2022 Reserve Chardonnay

2022 Reserve Chardonnay

Crafted only once before in 2018, our Reserve Chardonnay stands as a pure and elevated reflection of our home vineyard here in the East Kelowna Slopes. Sourced solely from our oldest estate vines planted in 1985 and 2006, it delivers everything we seek in our Chardonnays – beautiful tension, a touch of flint, and vibrant orchard and citrus notes, seamlessly woven together with elegant oak.

We’re so proud to feature the stunning gold mask “Eagle Human Chief’s Frontlet” by artist and friend Dempsey Bob on our reserve-tier wines – a striking piece that honours our long-held connection to Dempsey’s carvings and our wine. (Learn more about Dempsey Bob.)

TASTING NOTES

Sun gold in the glass, upon first impressions we find rich aromas of Anjou pear, lemon creme, apple crisp and pecan. The primary notes are supported by a wonderful lift of flinty minerality and light toasty oak.

The palate posses a wonderful sense of place. Upfront it is all charred lemon, Granny Smith apples - skin and all - shared with toasted hazelnuts and baking spice. There is just the right amount of acidity to balance the weight nicely and, as always, a support of French oak envelopes the profile, but does not over power the fruit. Built to age, this wine will only improve in nuance and complexity with time spent in cellar.

WINEMAKING NOTES

Our estate blocks were hand harvested on the 3rd of October at perfect ripeness and upon arrival at our crush pad, were whole bunch pressed. The free run juice was run directly to two barriques; one new and the other only one vintage old. The wine was fermented using native yeast in the barriques, where it then spent 10 months before being blended. After blending, we opted to return the wine to barrel for a further 5 months of ageing on fine lees in a neutral puncheon. Once bottled it then rested for an extra year in cellar before its release.

TECHNICAL INFO

Varietal: 100% Chardonnay
Alcohol: 13.2%
Residual Sweetness: .69 g/L
pH: 3.34
Total Acidity: 5.9 g/L

  • VINTAGE NOTES

    The 2022 growing produced some exceptional quality grapes and resulting wines. The winter of 21/22 was harsh, with many vines exhibiting primary bud damage following a cold snap of -26.5 around Christmas. Above average rainfall in May charged the soil with water and gave the vines everything they needed to hit the ground running after a long winter and late bud break. The rain continued into June meaning no irrigation was needed for the vines till much later than average and allowed the cover crop to flourish. 

    Summer was relatively mild though some hot spells in late July and early August helped push the season along. September and October were perfect for developing flavours in the grapes while not having too much sugar produced. This resulted in beautifully balanced wines with
    moderate alcohol. A cold snap in early November just after all the sparkling and still wines had been harvested meant that we were able to produce our first icewine since 2017.