THESE CANADIAN CHARDONNAYS ARE CHANGING THE WINE GAME

Owner of Okanagan-based CheckMate compares winemaking to a chess match

Established in 2013, CheckMate Artisanal Winery set its sights on being a producer of great Chardonnay from the Okanagan Valley. Part of the Von Mandl Family Estates portfolio, the British Columbia winery is changing the template of how fine wine is made and marketed in this country.

The first public tasting of its wines was staged in New York City with international media in attendance.

To introduce his second vintage to Canadian media and sommeliers, winemaker Phil McGahan recently hosted a series of tastings in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal that saw his Chardonnays poured blind alongside premium samples from Argentina, Burgundy and California. No one knew the identities of the wines until after they had tasted and drawn their conclusions.

It was a risky move that could have seen invited guests prefer another producer’s wine, but the quality of the CheckMate wines shone through.

“The CheckMate name is fitting because owner Anthony von Mandl sees winemaking as being like chess,” says McGahan, an Australian native who made wine in Sonoma County, Calif., before being recruited to the Okanagan.

“You always need to be thinking several moves ahead.”

The focus of CheckMate is on single vineyard wines that retail for super premium prices. The least expensive of the six Chardonnays is $80 a bottle, which means these small batch wines are aimed directly at well-heeled connoisseurs. In addition, there’s also a range of four different Merlots.

CheckMate wines are available exclusively online from checkmatewinery.com and at restaurants.

Unlike many wineries, there’s no visitor centre, tasting room or restaurant, but a pop-up tasting room is planned to open later this summer near the production facility south of Oliver, B.C., for curious wine lovers to get a taste of some of Canada’s most exciting wines.

In keeping with the theme of rich and flavourful whites, this week’s wine recommendations are for two different approaches to California Chardonnay. Christopher Waters is the co-founder and editor of Vines, a national consumer wine magazine.