Winery of the year title decade in the making
Winery of the year is a title a decade in the making for Oliver’s Road 13. “Our goal has always been to be the No. 1 winery in Canada,” said Road 13 general manager Joe Luckhurst.
“For nine years we were in the top 10 at the WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada. And, finally, this year, our 10th year in the competition, we’re No. 1. We’re incredibly proud.”
WineAlign’s national awards are the biggest and most comprehensive in the country.
This year, 1,850 wines from 257 wineries were judged in a marathon weekend in Penticton in June.
Results have just been released and Road 13 ended up at the pinnacle with 15 medals, including eight gold and a platinum for its 2016 Roussanne ($25).
The Roussanne is an exotic elixir with aromas and flavours of pineapple, marmalade, apricot, marzipan, honey and vanilla.
For added complexity and texture, it was fermented in a combination of older oak barrels (as not to impart too much wood), concrete vessels (to preserve the Roussanne’s freshness and fruit) and stainless steel tanks (also for freshness and fruit).
Road 13 was also awarded gold for its Blind Creek Collective Cabernet Franc, Blind Creek Viognier, Blind Creek Consensus red blend, 5th Element red blend, Chip Off the Old Block Chenin Blanc, Syrah, Blind Creek Petit Verdot and Jackpot Petit Verdot.
“I’ve always been a big fan of the Roussanne and I know why it won platinum,” said Luckhurst.
“But, for me, my favourite has always been the GSM, and it only won silver.”
The 2016 GSM ($36.50) so named for its Rhone-style blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre is a big and silky potpourri with aromas and flavours ranging from pomegranate, cherry, apricot and red liquorice to violet, white pepper and white flowers.
Luckhurst’s parents, Mick and Pam, own Road 13 and Jeff Del Nin, formerly of Church and State Winery in Oliver, is the winemaker.
“For all of us, it’s all about the dirt and excellent farming, the best vineyards, the best fruit and the best winemaking,” said Luckhurst.
In the entire WineAlign National Wine Awards competition, only 18 wines were awarded platinum medals and 11 of them are from the Okanagan – the Road 13 2016 Roussanne, of course, Nk’Mip 2016 Qwam Qwam Chardonnay, Bench 1775 Semillon 2016, Stag’s Hollow 2017 Albarino Shuttleworth Creek, Meyer 2016 Micro Cuvee Chardonnay, Thornhaven 2015 Syrah, Daydreamer 2016 Amelia, Le Vieux Pin 2016 Syrah Cuvee Violette, CedarCreek Platinum Block 5 Chardonnay 2016, Deep Roots 2016 Syrah and Lang 2012 Riesling Icewine.
Road 13 topped the lists of the best wineries in B.C. and the best in Canada.
Rounding out the top five in B.C. are Nk’Mip in Osoyoos, CedarCreek in Kelowna, Bench 1775 in Naramata and Fitzpatrick in Peachland.
The other four in the top five across Canada are three from Ontario – Tawse, Redstone and Two Sisters – and Nk’Mip.
The list of top small wineries started with Two Sisters from Niagara and had Hidden Bench from Beamsville, Fitzpatrick, Meyer from Okanagan Falls and Stag’s Hollow from Okanagan Falls rounding out the top five.
New at Moraine
Winemaker Dwight Sick is making the move from Okanagan Falls to the Naramata Bench.
After 10 years at Stag’s Hollow in Okanagan Falls, Sick has started his new job as winemaker and director of vineyard and winery operations at Moraine in Naramata.
“While I’ve only just had time to inspect the vineyards, taste through the wines and view the construction of the new winery facilities, I couldn’t be happier with the situation,” said Sick.
“There is a strong team at work and they are doing great things at Moraine. My hopes are to add to these successes and to help take the brand to a new level.”
Sick has inherited a beautiful portfolio of wines crafted by previous winemaker Jacqueline Kemp, a former research nutritional scientist originally from New Zealand, who is now a consulting winemaker with Privato in Kamloops.
Sick’s style of winemaking is already in step with Moraine’s fresh, elegant, fruit-driven mantra.
Two examples are the Moraine 2017 Riesling ($25) and the Moraine 2017 Cliffhanger White ($18).
The Riesling was a platinum-medal-winner at the Great Northwest Wine Competition for its lush, German-style profile of lemon, dried apricot, orange blossom and elderflower.
The Cliffhanger blend of Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris is named after the winery’s location atop dramatic glaciated white clay cliffs and delivers with a slightly off-dry smack of pineapple, honeydew melon and lychee.
Moraine is in the midst of a major reconstruction to expand the production facilities and barrel cellar as well as build a new tasting room and guest experience centre.
Meantime, the existing tasting room and shop are open daily 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Moraine is owned by Oleg and Svetlana Aristarkhov and the winery’s two vineyards, Anastasia and Sophia, are named after their daughters.
Sweet 16
Only the best for my daughter’s sweet 16. For Grace’s 16th birthday, I sabered a bottle of Moet & Chandon Champagne 2002 Grand Vintage.
During a 2009 trip, my wife, Kerry, and I bought the bottle right at the Moet mansion on Champagne Avenue in Reims, France, the epicentre of the Champagne region.
We deliberately purchased the 2002 because it’s Grace’s birth year and obviously a special date because Champagne producers declared it a grand vintage year.
Such a pronouncement is only made every few years when conditions are just right to make exceptional sparklers.
Otherwise, most Champagnes are NV, or non-vintage, the result of blending wines from several years to produce consistent, albeit spectacular, results.
However, the 2002 is even more stunning from its culmination of grand vintage designation and 16 years of aging.
We chose Grace’s 16th birthday to slice it open because we thought it might be past its prime if we waited until she could legally drink in three years.
However, Moet is touting the 2002 as ideal to enjoy now through 2022.
And perfect it was.
Joined by our son, Alex, 26, and his girlfriend, Kailee Frasch, the oenologist at Quails’ Gate Winery in West Kelowna, we had an appreciative audience for this milestone wine.
We did let Grace have a sip and the rest of us enjoyed two glasses each.
Taking our cues from Kailee’s more educated palate, we prattled on about its endlessly elegant and long-lasting preponderance of fine bubbles and divine profile of almond brioche, lemon pie, grapefruit, apple and nectarine.