2024 Riesling

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.

For Riesling, we were fortunate to partner with two phenomenal growers in Ontario: Paul Franciosa at Grimsby Hillside in the Niagara Escarpment and Mark Picone at his namesake vineyard, nestled geographically just next door in the Vinemount Ridge sub-GI. Both sites were planted to the same Riesling clones we have in the ground here at Tantalus: Weis 21B, with remarkably different terroir that we were thrilled to see evolve in our cellar.

A pale straw in the glass, big aromas of lemon, white peach, wild flowers, chalk, ginger and persimmon first emerge. Underlying notes of wet stone and pear skin to the lintriguing aromatic ayers in this wine. The palate is lush and juicy showing a touch of clementine and ruby red grapefruit, with candied lime peel and a lovely early crunchy pear component at the mid palate. This wine has all the chalky dry minerality on the long finish that we are always seeking in our flagship Riesling release.

WINEMAKER'S NOTES

Comprised of the Picone (planted in 2008) and Grimsby Hillside vineyards (planted in 2005 and 2007), all grapes where whole bunch pressed to 1.2 bar and the juice was settled naturally for two days before being transported across from Ontario to our cellar in East Kelowna in a temperature-controlled (chilled) state. Inoculation with a variety of Riesling specific yeasts happened upon arrival. Ferments lasted between 30 and 50 days at temperatures that did not exceed 15C. The final blend naturally balanced itself with just the right amount of sweetness (at just under 15 g/L of residual sugar) to maintain the lovely tension we seek in our typical “house” style of our flagship Riesling release.

TECHNICAL INFO

100% Riesling, Ontario
Alcohol: 11.4%
Residual Sweetness: 14.8 g/L
pH: 2.83
Total Acidity: 9.16 g/L

• VINTAGE NOTES

  The growing season in Ontario started with a mild winter and no spring frost events. Spring was warmer than usual, prompting budbreak to occur a week ahead of normal. Ontario’s Summer and the bulk of the growing season was marked by above-average temperatures, with warm days and warmer-than-usual
  evenings. The region experienced a reduced diurnal temperature range, but this resulted in intense flavours and colour development in the grapes.

  The harvest season was favourable, with warm September temperatures and some humidity linked to extreme weather events. Despite some disease risk, especially for white varieties, growers who waited for their red varieties saw exceptional ripeness and good acid balance, reminiscent of the excellent 2020 vintage. October brought three days of rain, but overall, the season was dry. The 2024 vintage is expected to produce exceptional white wines marked by vibrant acidity and intense fruit character. Quality is high in the 2024 vintage in Ontario across the board.