Winemaking by the light of the moon
Last full moon, I found myself in the North Okanagan out in the orchard with live music in the air. Branches bowed heavy with fruit, their sweetness flowing into my glass as Jasmine Wong led a tasting at BX Press Cidery.
The Prospector traditional dry cider offers a clean, crisp, yet earthy tasting and is my top pick. For those wanting just a touch more sweetness, The Hostler, pressed with dessert apples like Ambrosia, Honeycrisp and McIntosh, offers a more modern take on cider.
Each label shows one of the BX characters, a nod to the site’s heritage. The land on East Vernon Road was once part of North America’s largest and oldest stagecoaches, Barnard’s Express. The orchard extends over 40 acres with more than 30 apple varieties. Depending on the season, harvest (yes, hand-picked) can reach over 1.5 million apples a year.
The tasting takes on a new twist as we move into the botanical-infused line of ciders. Now, let me introduce you to Ginny. With a divine combination of Orris root, coriander, juniper berry, orange peel and rose petal, cidermaker Missy Dobernigg has transformed cider into a cocktail wonder.
Missy and her husband, third-generation orchardist Dave Dobernigg, have been busy expanding the cidery, upgrading the tasting room and are about to open the door to an open-air restaurant this fall.
Heading to join the sold-out crowd gathering on the new orchard-side patio, I’m thrilled to see the fiddle in Susan Aylard’s hand. Tonight the Celtic-inspired Cod Gone Wild band showcases the trio of Aylard, Andrew Mercer and Sean Bray.
Hurry, and you may be able to snag a ticket to their next show this Saturday, Sept. 3, back at the BX Press.
————————
That full moon was getting darker when I reached the Golden Mile Bench at Oliver to catch up to biodynamic enthusiast winemaker Barclay Robinson at Road 13.
Heading towards darkness is a perfect time to pull out a bubbly. So began my experiential “It’s just a phase” tasting with six wines and six moon phases.
For Robinson, each of the wines has a moon phase. A significant portion of the winemaking process happened during that moon: grapes were picked, wine was finished fermenting, or wine was racked off of its solids before being put to barrel.
The traditional method, 2017 Sparkling Chenin Blanc is extremely special. The full moon was beginning to wane when these grapes were harvested, picked from some of North America’s oldest Chenin Blanc vines (1968.) The wine offers butter-biscuit goodness presented in quite a dry expression, but the fruit gives it the feeling of sweetness. I found a delightful lemon-lime circus note; others may find more green apple and pear.
In Robinson’s hands, Chardonnay is quite divine, especially coming from the estate block.
“Here, the more gravelly soil with more of the mountain runoff gives the complexity on the mid-pallet that we want in a Chardonnay,” he said. “Being on the west side of the valley, you get that evening shade that tends to temper the fact that, yes, we’re in the South Okanagan. Yes, it’s super hot, but we get the nice morning sun, the heat of the day and then the cool first.”
Other standouts were the Rhôneinspired GSM 2019 and the flagship Bordeaux-inspired 5th Element Meritage.
————————
One cannot write about wine and the moon without a nod to biodynamic pioneer Kelowna’s Stephen Cipes of Summerhill Vineyard. Since the mid1980s, Summerhill has been a hub for organic viticulture in Canada, and Cipes is a steward for living in harmony with nature. Perhaps it’s time to head up the mountain for a tasting.