Anthony Gismondi: Shortages and weather affect local industry

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We continue our highlights from a challenging 2023 year, one that will affect the quantity of wines coming to market in the months ahead. We already discussed the deep freeze and vine damage inflicted in December 2022 and how it may limit future production. You can add some of the lowest yields in years from the surviving vines in 2023. Another potential hit from a January 2024 deep freeze across B.C. will aggravate the vineyards in the short term, adding uncertainty to the coming season’s production levels.

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The coming shortages typically suggest more wines will be sold onsite at the winery or through the wine club and rationed to restaurants and critical retailers afterward. This means personal visits or online buys will be necessary for those hoping to buy locally in 2024. Shortages also mean price hikes, but given the current astronomical level of BC wine prices, it is hard to believe there is room for higher prices. There is a fair bit of talk about surplus wine sitting in winery cellars, a victim of higher prices, so it’s challenging to know the whole story.

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Picking up from last week’s tour, we move north to the narrow strip of the Naramata Bench along the eastern side of Okanagan Lake, touching Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park in the north and Penticton Creek within the city of Penticton in the south. The 40-plus wineries are generally diminutive, if not tiny, but many wines punch well above their weight. Another draw is the approximately 50 different grape varieties grown on the Bench, adding some much-needed variety to the retail scene.

It isn’t easy to create a short list of wines from Naramata. Still, any of the following would suggest a stop on the Bench is a must: Van Westen Vineyards V, Roche Tradition Pinot Gris, Martin’s Lane Naramata Ranch Vineyard Pinot Noir, Meyer Family Vineyards Chardonnay Stevens Block Old Main Road Vineyard, Lock and Worth Kerner, Three Sisters Winery Cabernet Franc, Tightrope Winery Syrah, Hillside Mosaic, Four Shadows Merlot, Terravista Fandango, Moraine Pinot Noir Sophia Estate, Little Engine Gold Chardonnay, CedarCreek Platinum Naramata Bench Sauvignon Blanc, Boyd Classic Cuvée, Howling Bluff Sauvignon Blanc Sémillon, Bella Wines Gamay Noir Ancestrale Rosé Bella Estate Vineyard, Amulet Roussanne.

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Across the lake, the wines of Summerland are in transition under their newly minted Okanagan Valley sub-GI. Haywire Winery, Lunnesence and Dirty Laundry have been longtime players in the region, inspiring others to join and up their game. Certainly, Lightning Rock and Solvero are excellent new additions to the scene, concentrating on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Haywire owners Chris Coletta and Steve Lornie have installed a crush pad at Garnet Valley Ranch as it prepares to make wine onsite, taking the upper Summerland district to a new level of wine growing.

On the way to West Kelowna, take in the Fitzpatrick experience, where the combination of affordable table wines and high-level sparkling wines are as unbeatable as the view and the dining. Mission Hill and Quails’ Gate have set a standard for visiting and dining, but many others have joined the party. Mount Boucherie and Frind are hospitable stops with unique dining offerings and a wide range of well-made wines. A new West Kelowna name to look for is Terralux Estate Winery, which is set to open this summer for visits. The hiring of winemaker Jak Kemp has catapulted this well-financed and structured company to make big waves in the coming days.

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Across the lake in Kelowna, your choices are Cedar Creek, St. Hubertus and Oak Bay Vineyards, Summerhill Pyramid Winery, Tantalus, Spearhead, and The View. Further north in Lake Country, O’Rourke Peak Cellars, 50 Parallel and Arrowleaf make authentic cool-climate wines. Another deep freeze for Lake Country will be a setback, but in the meantime, I’m sure your visit will be welcomed with open arms.

Some of our favourites from last year that are still available appear in our weekend picks today.

Weekend wine picks

Howling Bluff Sauvignon Blanc – Sémillon 2022, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, B.C.

$21.74 I 90/100

UPC: 626990392620

Surprisingly similar in style to the Sauvignon Blanc label at this stage, but another step up in complexity and mouth feel. Three vineyards make it into this Naramata blend. The difference here is the addition of Sémillon in the Bordeaux tradition. You will find plenty of citrus here, lemons and limes, mixed with green apples and a touch of pear over a zippy mineral undercurrent that finishes with lovely bitter guava and lime rind. Creamy seafood dishes and more complicated sushi rolls would work here. Winery direct.

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Oak Bay Vineyard Gebert Family Gamay Noir 2021, East Kelowna, Okanagan Valley, B.C. 

$21.99 I 88/100

UPC: 625259207194

St. Hubertus has a long history, with Gamay first planted in 1964, with followup plantings in 1990 and 1999 over clay, sand, and gravel. It is fermented in a stainless steel, French, and American oak blend. This wine is fresh and juicy, with a nod to a leaner northern style. It has always been a good value pick, is very food-friendly, and will age effortlessly through 2030.

Quails’ Gate Chasselas – Pinot Blanc – Pinot Gris 2021, West Kelowna, Okanagan Valley, B.C. 

21.99 I 87/100

UPC: 778856121056

In 1961, the Stewarts planted their first shipment of Vitis Vinifera on the Quails’ Gate Estate. It was Chasselas. Of Swiss origin, the vines have adapted with ease to West Kelowna. The blend is Chasselas, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc. The nose is a lemon and pear affair drizzled in honeydew, and the palate is full of juicy, ripe fruit. Ready to drink.

Frind Estate Winery Viognier 2022, B.C.

$25.99 I 88/100

UPC: 696852009676

A fresher, drier style makes this a more attractive Viognier from the get-go. The aroma is a mix of floral green and yellow fruits. Clean green melon and light apricot mark the mid-palate with a medium, short, clean finish. This is best with food, and the winery suggests seared scallops with mango salsa or grilled pesto prawns.

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Van Westen Vineyards Voluptuous 2020, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, B.C. 

$40 I 91/100

UPC: 626990066309

The 2020 Voluptuous is all that and more. It is luxurious and what I would term the perfect Okanagan red blend at 67 per cent Merlot and 33 per cent Cabernet Franc. Both are fully ripe and concentrated on winning you with sweet fruit and silky textures, even at a young age. Like last year, an enticing, savoury jacket is wrapped around ripe, juicy blueberry, blackberry, black olive, and cedar dusted in baking spice and sagebrush. The tannins are much better managed this year, and I suspect it came in fully physiologically ripe. You can drink this now, but I think it’s a case of this wine being so well-balanced. I would wait at least three years, but it is delicious now. Good value.

B.C. wine of the week

1 Mill Road Chardonnay 2022, East Kelowna, Okanagan Valley, B.C.

$40 I 91/100

UPC: 628942298684

This Chardonnay is the first release for 1 Mill Road from a 10.4-acre site on the East Kelowna Slopes. About a third of the vineyard was planted to clone 95 a decade ago, and the quality is high. The year 2022 was a long, cool growing season, and it yielded a delicious, well-balanced Chardonnay long on flavour. I love the vibrancy here and the lovely salty, citrus nuttiness. Fresh and lean but with complexity and depth, this is a winner. Restraint and elegance are rare in B.C. Chardonnay, so it is time to buy when it arrives. The hand-picked fruit was pressed, and some 85 per cent was fermented in seasoned French oak puncheons, while the remainder was fermented in new French oak barriques: post ferment, the wine aged in a barrel for nine months before blending and bottling. Good value.

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Value wine of the week

Peak Cellars Terraces Dry Riesling 2021, Lake Country, Okanagan Valley, B.C.

$24 I 89/100

UPC: 681714105207

Superstar clones, 21 and 49, bring vestiges of Germany and France (Alsace) to the mix. A long, cool fermentation has issued a delicious drinking, bone-dry Riesling full of citrus, pomelo, green apples, and a touch of softness to entice. On the palate, honeysuckle-spiced apricots, fresh-cut herbs, and a saline finish make it hard to put your glass down. Juicy, thirst-quenching and a dynamite food partner. The winery says it “screams for salt, fat and crunch! Raclette, fondue, pork belly, creamy cheeses, pasta carbonara, shrimp scampi and sushi. Impressive.

Calendar items

Fairmont Pacific Rim is hosting the annual Oakridge Park Lunar New Year celebrations with immersive programming to welcome the Year of the Dragon. The highlight festivity is an exclusive Lunar New Year Dim Sum menu, courtesy of the renowned Chinese fine dining restaurant Mott 32. It is available in the hotel Lobby Lounge & RawBar until Feb. 25.

The menu features a selection of traditional and signature dim sum creations, including dumplings, delicate steamed buns, and crispy spring rolls that pay homage to the rich culinary traditions of Chinese cuisine, along with the Signature Mott 32 Applewood Peking duck, expertly prepared to perfection, served with crepes, hoisin and cucumber. The Lunar New Year Dim Sum Menu is available daily from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. For reservations and more information, visit lobbyloungerawbar.com/lunar-new-year/.

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The yearly Wine Industry Suppliers Association (WISA) conference in Australia always focuses on practical approaches to the wine business: How to drive more sales. How to increase wine tourism. How to be more profitable.

This year’s theme was The Only Way Is Up and focused on remaining optimistic about the worst crisis facing the Australian wine industry in decades. In a widely-read Rabobank report called Swimming in Wine, Pia Piggott, an associate analyst, reported the challenge: “We now have 875 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of wine in storage in Australia,” she began. “That’s equivalent to over two billion litres of wine and close to three billion bottles of wine.”

It has become painfully clear that reliance on a growing Chinese market is no longer viable in a post-pandemic and tariff-protected market that has lost its appetite for foreign wine.

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