We’ve long been dedicated to our love of Chardonnay, and like anything worth its weight, this small but mighty piece of our portfolio has gradually and rightfully emerged as a touchstone for us; alongside its noble cousins, Riesling and Pinot Noir.
Pale golden in the glass, our 2023 Chardonnay opens with a floral, flinty lift that sets the tone for a layered and expressive wine. Aromas of lemon rind, lime zest, and honeycrisp apple—caramelized with a hint of grass-fed butter—build into a generous and inviting nose.
The palate carries warmth and texture, with notes of baked orchard fruit, lemon crème, and a touch of orange marmalade. Sweet, toasty oak frames the fruit beautifully, adding richness without overwhelming its vibrancy. Young and textural, with citrus pith and chalky tension at its core, this wine shows great promise. Like all of our Chardonnays, it is built to evolve over the next decade and beyond.
WINEMAKER'S NOTES
The principal composition of this wine comes from our estate Chardonnay blocks, planted in 2006 and 2013, which provide the backbone and structure of the blend. Due to low yields from these sites in 2023, we also proudly incorporated fruit from two "upper-bench" vineyards in the East Kelowna Slopes sub-GI, both planted in 2013 and offering similar cool-climate expression and slope orientation. A small portion (less than 15%) of fruit from an established Naramata Bench grower (Graham Duncan) rounds out the blend, contributing additional depth and complexity.
The fruit was gently whole bunch pressed and run to a combination of new and seasoned barriques and puncheons before undergoing wild fermentation in barrel as well as partial wild malolactic fermentation. It was then aged for 10 months on fermentation lees in those same barrels (with 20 to 30% new oak incorporated) before bottling and an additional 6 months in the cellar before its release.
Clonal make-up: Clones 95, 96, 76 and 589.
TECHNICAL INFO
Varietal: 100% Chardonnay
Alcohol: 13.7%
Residual Sweetness: 1.99 g/L
pH: 3.37
Total Acidity: 6.0 g/L
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VINTAGE NOTES
The 2023 growing season was a true rollercoaster. After an extreme cold snap in late December 2022, the vines were slow to awaken, with bud break not arriving until early May. From that point forward, growth accelerated rapidly—turning the season into a race against the vintage.
The heart of the growing season and ripening period was marked by sustained warmth, minimal rainfall, and periods of high humidity. Thanks to the vigilance of our viticulture team, the fruit moved through the season clean and healthy, with no disease pressure. Winter damage left us with a smaller crop, but one of remarkable concentration, leading to earlier-than-usual harvest dates for many varieties. Late-summer wildfires added another layer of complexity, making careful, nuanced winemaking decisions essential to the vintage.
