LIVELY TIMES AT LAUGHING STOCK
Winery’s already high quality products signal polish and finesse for future
Earlier this summer I sat down with Laughing Stock Vineyards owners Cynthia and David Enns in their Naramata Bench tasting room.
The couple traded their jobs in the finance business more than a decade ago to “follow their hearts” into the far less predict- able wine business. Despite the winery name, their venture into wine has been anything but a laughing stock. In fact, their plan — based on a lot of planning, travelling and visiting of wineries in Europe and the U.S. — appears to be working out just fine.
When they started out in Naramata, they were winery number nine and the bench was still largely covered in orchards. Today they make between 6000 to 7000 cases a year and there are 35 wineries spread across the mostly vine-covered bench that stretches from Penticton to Okanagan Mountain Park.
There haven’t been any big physical changes at Laughing Stock since the opening, save for the equipment, “that has been flushed out to everything I need,” says David. He makes the wine while Cynthia manages the vineyards and hospitality, although you get the impression the tastings are often a joint venture.
One thing stands out: the Enns appear committed to upping the quality of their work every vintage. The current path to greatness involves fermenters including temperature regulated stainless tanks, a large French oak fermenter they call The Ferminator, and three concrete eggs nicknamed Free Range, Scrambled and Benedict.
It’s hard not to miss the two clay amphorae brought in from Italy to be used for the winery’s limited production blend of Viognier and Roussanne. With 13 harvests complete there is a healthy level of confidence that permeates the place.
Among the handful of wines coming out of Laughing Stock, there are three labels that speak to the soul of the place. The Amphora VR 2015 ($21, available online), is made the way ancient wine was made 1000 years ago. It’s only year three of the project that is essentially a blend of Viognier and Roussanne stuffed into a 500L terracotta clay amphora but, oh, what a wine. After a couple of weeks, the grapes begin to ferment naturally. The wine is on the skins for five and a half months before it is pressed off, cross flow filtered and bottled. The result is an off-the-charts, delicious, almost unctuous Rhone-style white that, frankly, is hard to believe it is from B.C.
Next up is Portfolio, maybe the most consistent and affordable Bordeaux blend in B.C. The current release of Portfolio 2013 ($39.99) is probably the best we have seen yet and it is just a baby. Portfolio has always had a certain complexity that is often lacking in so many of its counterparts. From the beginning the blend has been Merlot-dominant, with only one vintage in 11 where the Cabernet Sauvignon took the lead. Fastidiously avoiding unripe Cabernet Sauvignon fruit sets the blend apart, allowing all other grapes to reach their aromatic and flavour potential. The 2013 has really come into its own this year and may well be the best yet from Laughing Stock. The fruit is sourced from three Naramata sites and the Perfect Hedge Vineyard in Osoyoos.
One of the best kept secrets is the Laughing Stock Syrah 2014 ($33.99). This wine has grown with winemaker Enns to become a B.C. benchmark for the variety. Inspired by the Northern Rhone, Enns has honed his winemaking skills to the point where he is now fermenting 30 per cent of his Syrah in barrels, including cofermenting with three per cent Viognier. Blueberries, black pepper, dense soft tannins, savoury — it has it all and will for a decade or two to come. Very promising.
It’s an exciting time at Laughing Stock, and with the grunt work done I’m guessing the next decade will be all about polish and finesse, and really reaching or the stars. If it’s starting to sound a bit predictable, fear not, Mother Nature is bound to intervene whenever anyone gets too comfortable.