From Slovakia to Oliver
At Oliver’s Winemaker’s Cut, Michal Mosny is crafting wine because it’s his passion, not to make money. “Well, it would be nice to make money one day,” said Mosny with a laugh.
“But right now we’re small-scale wine, so I think we might be breaking even.”
Luckily, Mosny has a day job at Lunessence Winery in Summerland to pay the bills. (More on Lunessence in the next item.) So, at Winemaker’s Cut, Mosny does only what he wants, when he wants.
That means just two wines right now, a cherry-plum-fig-pepper-bacon-and-vanilla 2016 Syrah ($32) and a 2017 Sauvignon Blanc ($25) that smells and tastes like gooseberry-pineapple-lemon New Zealand and Chile Sauv Blanc via France.
Both of the wines have spent some time in Slovakian oak barrels, a nod to Mosny and his wife, Martina, hailing from Slovakia.
For the Sauv Blanc, only 20 per cent was aged in used, neutral barrels, so the wine gained some texture, but no oak aromas or flavours.
For the Syrah, the combination of Slovakian, American and French oak results in those subtle toasty and vanilla notes.
Mosny was working at Slovakia’s largest sparkling wine house, Hubert J.E., and his wife was a school teacher, when they saw a documentary on the world’s little-known wine regions.
The film mentioned Nk’Mip Winery in Osoyoos and the couple was intrigued, so much so they submitted immigration papers and moved to the Okanagan in 2011.
Mosny started up his own winemaking consulting firm GAGW, which stands aptly for good attitude, good wine.
One of his first clients was Lunessence Winery in Summerland, which became a full-time gig.
Winemaker’s Cut may be a side project, but one he’s very serious about.
Deadman Lake Vineyard in Oliver, where all of Winemaker’s Cut grapes are grown, has a warm micro climate and mineral-rich soil and is farmed with zero pesticides, zero herbicides and zero artificial fertilizer.
The name Winemaker’s Cut is a riff on moviemaking’s director’s cut, where a special edited version of the film represents the director’s unique point of view.
Mosny’s cut is making wine gently from sustainably farmed grapes with extended skin contact to balance fruit to tannin and only strategic use of barrels.
Mosny hopes to expand his portfolio next year with the release of a Gruner Veltliner and Rose.
Mick and Pam’s son, Joe, will remain at Road 13 as general manager as will winemaker Jeff del Nin and all other employees.
Road 13 makes a wide variety of wines, but is best known for its award-winning Rhone-style wines, including Syrah, Viognier, GSM (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre blend), Roussanne and Marsanne.