Salmon Arm
British Columbia’s wine of the year is a $22-a-bottle red. In an era when premium reds are fetching upwards of $100 in the Okanagan, it’s frugal and refreshing to see the Premier’s Award at the B.C. Wine Awards bestowed on an affordable vintage.
The winner is Sandhill Wine’s 2015 Terroir Driven Syrah.
It was judged singularly the best of the 609 wines from more than 80 wineries entered in the contest.
Judges first decide what wines receive bronze, silver, gold and platinum medals.
They then go back to the eight platinum winners and determine which is the best to crown wine of the year and receive the Premier’s Award.
“This is amazing,” said Sandhill territory manager Melody Schneider after accepting the award on behalf of the Kelownabased winery.
“The Syrah is so good and is such incredible value at $22 a bottle.”
Winning the Premier’s Award creates hype around the winning wine and guarantees a quick sell out of the vintage.
When smaller-production wines in the past won, the sellout was almost immediate or the wine was virtually all gone by the time the competition rolled around.
Sandhill made a lot of the winning Syrah and has a ample stock at the winery shop on Richter Street.
There’s also inventory at government and private liquor stores.
The Syrah is a purple garnet colour with sweet-scented aroma of plum, oak, baking spices and chocolate.
The blueberry, plum and black cherry flavours are beautifully framed by elegant oak, soft tannins and a juicy mouth-feel.
The winning Syrah was made by Howard Soon, who retired this summer from Sandhill and has since emerged as winemaker at Vanessa Vineyards in the Similkameen. More on that in the next item. The seven other platinum medal winners are: See Ya Later Ranch non-vintage brut ($22), BaillieGrohman 2014 Chardonnay ($22), Monte Creek Ranch Pinot Noir 2016 Reserve ($30), Red Rooster 2016 Riesling ($18), Time Meritage 2013 ($29), Tightrope 2015 Syrah ($30) and Volcanic Hills Gamay Noir 2016 ($15).
At the awards, the Okanagan Wine Festivals Society honoured Sandra Oldfield, formerly of Tinhorn Creek Winery in Oliver, with its Founder’s Award.
The accolade recognizes her as one of the first female winemakers and winery CEOs in the Okanagan and her role on building Tinhorn into an exceptional brand.
Oldfield wasn’t there to accept the accolade in person because she’s on a European holiday after stepping down from Tinhorn in the wake of Andrew Peller Limited buying Tinhorn, Gray Monk and Black Hills wineries earlier this month.
The B.C. Wine Awards were the kick-off event of the 37th annual Fall Okanagan Wine Festival, which will continue for the next 10 days with 110 events and wineries up and down the Valley attracting over 100,000 visitors. YMCA communications manager Erica Hudson, left, accepts an $1,800 cheque from owner Margrit Zuppiger of Arrowleaf Winery in Lake Country.
The biggest event of the fest is Festival of the Grape, which will attract 4,000 wine lovers to Oliver Community Park on Sunday to taste, stomp grapes and listen to live music.
A full list of events can be found at TheWineFestivals.com.
Soon again
Well, that was a short retirement.
Just weeks after turning 65 and retiring as winemaker at Sandhill Wines this summer, Howard Soon has popped up Cawston’s Vanessa Vineyards.
Much was made of Soon’s retirement because, after 37 years with Sandhill and Calona Wines, he was the longest-serving winemaker in Canada.
He was also much-awarded from being the first winemaker in the province to receive a gold medal at the Chardonnay du Monde competition in France to Sandhill sweeping the Canadian Wine Awards one year winning best red wine, best white wine and winery of the year.
The move to Vanessa is not a big leap for Soon.
While at Sandhill, he oversaw the planting of Vanessa’s vineyards in 2006 to premium vinifera red grapes and Sandhill subsequently bought most of the crop to make award-winning wines, particularly the Cabernet Franc.
Vanessa just started recently to make wines under its own label.
“I’m excited to go back to the workbench,” said Soon.
“It will be refreshing to be hands-on with these small productions. I believe this special terroir is the best site for growing premium reds in Canada.”
The Vanessa plot is considered exceptional because it’s high on a sloping hillside overlooking the Similkameen Valley.
Planted in rocky soil, the vines absorb the heat of the day and impart it during the cooler nights for grapes and wines with complex flavours and minerality.
“We aspire to produce the best red wines in the country and are proud to have a winemaker of Soon’s expertise on our journey,” said Vanessa co-founder Suki Sekhon.
“With this premier site and an extraordinary winemaking and viticulture team, we can craft profound wines that reflect this truly distinctive vineyard.”
Our daughter, Grace, competing at the Topline Hunter-Jumper Equestrian show in Salmon Arm gave my wife and I the opportunity to slip away one afternoon to sip at Larch Hills Winery.
Living in Kelowna means most of our tasting forays are either close to the city or to the South Okanagan, so it was nice to go north for a change.
When Larch Hills opened in 1997 it was the most northerly winery in Canada and the first in the Shuswap.
Since then other wineries have launched farther north in the Shuswap and Kamloops, but Larch Hills maintains its premium-cool-climate pioneer status.
It’s all started at Larch Hills with fruity-and-crisp Ortega, the German white varietal that loves the Salmon Arm climate.
Ortega ($14) continues to be the signature bottle from Larch Hills, but there are also other aromatic whites made from grapes grown on site – Madeline Angevine ($14), Siegerrebe ($15) and Northern Lights blend ($13).
The Gewurztraminer ($14), Marechal Foch ($14) and Merlot ($15) are made from grapes bought from vineyards to the south.
The winery also makes a rose ($13), sparkling rose ($15.50), sparkling Ortega ($15.50) and two dessert wines from Ortega ($18) and Siegerrebe (18).
Y wine
Those $5 tasting fees add up. And, in the case of Arrowleaf Winery in Lake Country, the proceeds are collected and passed onto local charities.
One of those worthy causes is the YMCA of the Okanagan, which received $1,800 from the winery recently.
The Y will use the money to help local families who can’t afford it get their child into daycare, swim lessons or recreational programs.
“Financial means should never be a barrier for children to learn critical life skills or access safe spaces to grow and thrive,” said Y communications manager Erica Hudson.
Other charities will also share in the tasting fee proceeds.
Steve MacNaull is The Okanagan Weekend’s business and wine reporter and columnist. Reach him at steve.macnaull@ok.bc.ca.