When your wine is so exclusive, nobody sees it
We’re strolling through the recently completed, glassed-in, industrial-modern architecture that is Martin’s Lane Winery in Kelowna talking about exclusivity.
It’s the basis of Martin’s Lane. And it’s the only way this no-compromise, no-rush, limited-production, uber-elite winery can, and will, operate.
“There’s no doubt, people are drawn to exclusivity,” said Martin’s Lane experience curator (yes, that’s what it says on her business card) Lauren Berntzen Rorie.
“It goes hand-in-hand with our members’ love of single-vineyard wines that taste like where they come from. They understand that luxury and the price that goes along with it.”
Ah, the price. Martin’s Lane makes only six wines – three Rieslings and and three Pinot Noirs, which are priced from $55 to $150 a bottle.
Even if you’re willing to pay that, you can’t get a hold of any wine without becoming a member to receive a minimum of six bottles twice a year at a starting price of $600 per shipment.
Eventually the winery sees itself moving to an allocation system where the best customers will be offered a piece of the limited production.
Membership has its perks, since the winery isn’t open to the public.
Besides the stunning wines made by the meticulous and talented Shane Munn, members can visit the winery on Lakeshore Road by appointment to tour, taste and hang out with Munn or Rorie.
Oh, the winery is so much more than a building.
Set into the hillside, it has six levels so the winemaking can be assisted by gravity to reduce the amount of intervention needed to craft the vintages.
And, it was designed by Seattle’s Tom Kundig, the starchitect responsible for the bell-tower reimagining of West Kelowna’s Mission Hill Family Estate and the stunning glass-box tasting room at Oliver’s CheckMate Winery.
Martin’s Lane is owned by Anthony von Mandl and named in honour of his late father. Von Mandl is also proprietor at Mission Hill and CheckMate and CedarCreek Winery, Martin’s Lane’s neighbour. Von Mandl also pays tribute to his 102-year-old mother, Bedriska, at Martin’s Lane.
Her nickname is on the Fritzi’s Vineyard 2014 Pinot Noir ($150) and Fritzi’s Vineyard 2015 Riesling ($75).
The Pinot is a powerful interpretation of the grape with cherry aromas and flavours making way to a plush tannin earthiness.
The Riesling is also a bold expression of the grape with vanilla, butterscotch and garden herbs framed by vibrant acidity.
Retired Mission Hill winemaker and viticulturist John Simes also gets his name thrown in the mix with the Simes Vineyard 2015 Riesling ($55), a dry and floral wine from 10-year-old vines, and Simes Vineyard 2014 Pinot Noir ($100), an elegant and perfumed red.
The final two wines come from von Mandl’s Naramata Ranch Vineyard.
The 2014 Riesling ($65) is opulent and off-dry with a nose and tastes of peaches and marmalade.
The 2014 Pinot Noir ($100) starts juicy and joyful and finishes soft and earthy.
NEW FROM CEDARCREEK
Meantime, Martin’s Lane’s sister winery next door, CedarCreek, is open to the public so you can easily pick up three of the new releases my wife, Kerry, and I just tasted.
Fresh off a trip to Morocco, we were in search of a rose to go with chicken tagine, the North African staple cooked in clay.
The 2017 Platinum Block 1 Pinot Noir rose ($30) fit the bill with its classic strawberries and cream profile.