Oleksyn: Summerland is a hidden gem within the Okanagan Valley

Article content material

On the subject of wine areas in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, Summerland positively flies underneath the radar.

Article content material

With vineyards alongside the west aspect of Okanagan Lake and up across the iconic Large’s Head Mountain, Summerland and its wine tradition is considerably tucked away. You don’t get a transparent sense of what’s there from the busy freeway. However in case you cease to go to, you’ll discover a various mixture of younger and established entrepreneurs making distinctive wine, cider, spirits and beer, with many following natural practices.

Article content material

A go to a number of weeks in the past offered by the realm’s Bottleneck Drive affiliation of producers opened my eyes to what’s occurring, beginning with the creation of three new winery sub-regions — Summerland Lakefront, Summerland Bench and Summerland Valleys. The brand new sub-region will seem on bottles from the 2022 classic.

Scott Smith, a soil scientist with Eterrna Consulting who has labored on the event of most of the Okanagan Valley’s now 11 official sub-regions, says elements resembling soil, panorama and local weather are thought of when classifying a sub-region. Every space ought to have its personal id.

Summerland Lakefront is closest to the lake and its moderating influences. The soil is usually stone-free and silty, and shares many similarities to the Naramata Bench positioned straight throughout the lake.

Article content material

Article content material

Summerland Bench is a bit greater in elevation and farther from the lake, resulting in barely cooler temperatures. The soil is a coarser mixture of sand, silt or gravel.

Summerland Valleys is additional nonetheless, with vineyards scattered within the Garnet and Prairie valleys. Elevation is that this space’s calling card, notably within the Garnet Valley the place vineyards climb to 700 metres above sea degree, making them among the many highest within the province, properly above Okanagan Lake’s elevation of 342 metres. It is a chilly area with 10 totally different soil sorts which have been squeezed and stirred by glaciers to type what Smith calls a “mineral melange.”

The primary vineyards had been planted within the serenely wild and comparatively untamed Garnet Valley in 2014 by Christine Coletta and Steve Lornie, the driving forces behind Okanagan Crush Pad and Haywire Vineyard in Summerland. They consulted with famend Chilean terroir guide Pedro Parra earlier than planting the undeveloped land and hay discipline to vines. Now 9 years in, the pinot noir and chardonnay bought underneath the newly established Garnet Valley Ranch label are exhibiting distinctive character and purity.

Article content material

The second participant in Garnet Valley is Solvero Wines, owned by well-known Calgary businessman Bob Sartor and his spouse Andrea, with son Matt Sartor serving as president and viticulturist. Alison Moyes, well-known within the valley, is making the wines, which embody a contemporary and floral pinot noir, a taut but creamy chardonnay, an nearly electrical pinot gris and a mouth-wateringly contemporary and savoury rosé. A brand new vineyard constructing was simply opened and extra vines are being planted on the steep hillside across the property.

Lots of the wineries in Summerland are very small household enterprises that don’t promote in Alberta, which means one of the simplest ways to strive their wines is to go to. The simplest wines to seek out in Calgary are in all probability from Soiled Laundry Winery, which has a number of labels in native shops, together with the Woo Woo Vines gewurztraminer. The spicy and plush wine is constructed from the oldest gewurztraminer vines within the valley, says assistant supervisor Alia Etchison-Bone.

Lunessence Vineyard and Winery, which crafts wines from property grapes and vineyards additional afield, has additionally bought in some retail and restaurant areas in Calgary. For those who go to the vineyard, don’t miss the 2022 Small Lot Vin Gris whereas taking within the beautiful view of the valley and lake past. The Vin Gris is a white wine constructed from the purple gamay grape.

Article content material

The gamay grapes come from Lunessence’s neighbour, Heaven’s Gate Property Vineyard, the place proprietor Tyson Felt, previously of Edmonton, is doing all of it, from viticulture to winemaking, tastings and every thing in between. Felt, who was working in house development, wished a change and took the plunge in 2017 with the acquisition of an present vineyard. He has been working carefully with native wine guide Christine Leroux as he pursues his new journey. Try the 2018 Igneous, a tart mix of merlot, malbec and cabernet franc named after the volcanic rock sprinkled across the space.

Maybe one of the simplest ways to see how terroir impacts what’s within the bottle is to pop by Lightning Rock Vineyard, the place house owners Ron and Tracy Kubek and workers will pour a side-by-side sampling of their electrical 2021 Blanc de Noirs glowing wines constructed from grapes grown in two totally different vineyards.

Positioned simply two kilometres aside, the Elysia and Canyonview vineyards create dramatically totally different wines regardless of nearly equivalent winemaking and viticulture. Made within the conventional technique like Champagne, and with zero sugar added after main fermentation, the 2 glowing pinot noirs present excessive minerality and acidity. The Elysia Winery, consisting of about 15 to 30 centimetres of soil on high of rock, gives chalky and tart citrus flavours on a slim profile. The Canyonview Winery, consisting of sandy loam soil, is broader on the palate, with much less chalk and riper fruit flavours. It’s a actually cool tasting expertise.

Article content material

Among the Lightning Rock wines have been bought at a handful of Calgary boutique shops.

Haywire Vineyard, which has a great presence in Calgary, additionally believes in exhibiting terroir. A lot in order that they’ve nearly utterly stopped utilizing oak barrels, switching as a substitute to concrete eggs and tanks for fermentation and ageing. Concrete doesn’t impart any flavour to the wine. Co-owner Steve Lornie says they’re bought on concrete as they need the wines to style like the place they got here from, not like wooden from France or the U.S.

With simply 11 wineries, 4 cideries, two distilleries and one brewery, it’s simple to get a great sense of Summerland in a few days. I discovered the wines, notably from the Summerland Lakefront and Bench, to have a particular salty minerality whereas the Summerland Valleys wines present extra pure fruit expressions. It’s definitely worth the cease.

Contact Darren Oleksyn at [email protected] or observe him on Twitter or Instagram. Searching for a selected wine? As a result of wine inventories are at all times in flux, it’s a good suggestion to name a retailer to verify they’ve it. A search on Liquorconnect.com may give you an thought of shops which have carried the wines.

Article content material