Discovering Wines in the Great (Red) North - Part 2 of 3 Painted Rock and the First Views of Osoyoos

Welcome back!  And thank you for joining me on the second part of our South Okanagan wine adventure.  In my previous post, I went into some detail of the wineries we visited the first morning of our trip on the Naramata bench.  This post will pick up right after we departed from Naramata and journeyed southward toward Osoyoos.  It begins at what ended up being perhaps our favorite winery of the trip:

Painted Rock Estate Winery

After departing the Naramata bench, we headed south along the eastern bank of Skaha Lake to Painted Rock Estate Winery. If I were to rate all of the wineries we visited on the basis of two criteria, overall wine quality and pictures worthy of a post card, Painted Rock would get the top overall score.  Please note you were warned in advance of my gushing over this winery.

Painted Rock sits up on a cliff overlooking Skaha Lake on 60 acres of land.  Due to the rugged terrain, only 25 acres of the property is under vine.  Standing in the newly constructed open air tasting room, you look out over the vineyards and into Skaha Lake.  The view of the vineyards, resembles an infinity edge pool; gazing out toward the lake, the neat rows of lush grape vines appear to flow directly into blue water in the background.  To the south of the vineyards sits a huge rock face that contrasts beautifully with the lush vines and sapphire waters below. It's striking in its beauty. That there were preparations under way for a wedding to be held on site the day following our visit is no mystery.

The new tasting room, designed by local Penticton architect Robert Mackenzie, is the perfect setting to enjoy both the scenery and their fantastic lineup of wines (though I do wish I’d made it by for a tasting in the old, small yellow shack on the property that was the home of the winery’s first tasting room).  One of my favorite elements of the current tasting room, the white table top bar that actually lights up, though only slightly, allows you to take in the true color of the wine before you get down to drinking.  The wines are rich and expressive of both vintage and vineyard.  Sitting up on the hill, these vines catch a lot of rays, and it shows through in the richness of the wines.  The 2014 Syrah smells like fresh cracked pepper but tastes ripe and structured.  The flagship "Red Icon," another Bordeaux style blend, had only been in bottle for 2 weeks upon our tasting but was drinking as if it had been in bottle for a year.  Again, full bodied, dark fruit and great structure and tannins to these age-worthy wines.  On the merits of this tasting, we added this to our list of wine clubs we joined on this trip.

Side note on Cab Franc - this is yet another winery that intends to make a single varietal Cab Franc in their next release based solely on the unexpected quality of the fruit being produced on site.  Our gracious host for the afternoon mentioned that the past two vintages, a certain block of Cab Franc vines were producing exceptional grapes, inspiring their winemaker to both increase its quantity in the blends and to go out on a limb and make a single varietal (released only to wine club members).

Their distribution is small, and by the sounds of it intentionally so.  Proprietor John Skinner’s previous life was in finance and he has parlayed his contacts in the Chinese finance industry into sales leads for a portion of his annual production. With anywhere from 20-50% of their sub 10,000 case annual production sold abroad prior to the vintage being released, these wines can be tough to find. If you’re fortunate enough to find them, I can't recommend them highly enough.

Burrowing Owl Estate Winery

Our final true tasting of our first the day of the trip was at Burrowing Owl Estate Winery just north of Osoyoos Lake.  This also happened to be our lodging for the weekend.  Burrowing Owl holds some of my highest praise and is the source of some of my biggest head scratches through the weekend.  As we spent a lot of time here, I had ample time to overanalyze this place.

The Winery and the Wines - We had as much experience with Burrowing Owl going into this trip as we had with any BC winery.  With over 160 planted acres on 3 vineyard sights, their production is massive and their distribution wide.  It is astonishing they've been able to maintain the quality and consistency they have in their offerings.  We tried their 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon (fully reviewed in my prior post) and fully anticipated this being one of our favorites based on our prior experiences.  However, we found that there were 2 wines we appreciated even more.  The 2013 Athene was on release as well.  This is a 50/50 Cab Sav and Syrah "cofermented" wine.  Cofermentation was a new one on me and involves crushing and fermenting the wines pre-blended (as opposed to crushing and fermenting each varietal individually and blending at a later date).  It's a risky proposition but the results were fantastic.  It was darker, richer and more vibrant than the 100% varietal Cab Sav.  The other wine we thoroughly enjoyed (and was our favorite overall from this winery) was the 2012 Meritage.  Once I discovered that Cab Franc was the dominant varietal in this blend at 43%, it was no mystery why we loved it so much.

The winery experience itself was one that was a bit of a head scratcher.  I'll have to say that the multiple different attendants we worked with both to purchase wine and complete our tastings were some of the least knowledgeable we encountered on our trip.  There were no prior releases on site, wine clubs to join, or any notable effort at marketing to the general public.  My questions about annual production and where we could find prior vintages went frustratingly unanswered.  Where others wineries were happy to share notes on their wine making philosophy, vineyard specifics and history, the only nugget we got from our hosts at the winery was a bit of an awkward tale about removing burrowing owls from the vineyard site during planting (they are deemed to be pests in the vineyard apparently) and relocating them to a bird sanctuary.  In what I have to assume is a rationalization of their guilt, they winery was named after the eradicated pests.  It appears to me that the commercial success of this winery must primarily be generated through distribution and commercial accounts.  It definitely helps that the product quality is on par with the best in their industry.

The Guest Houses - Our experience with the guest house, in contrast to my frustration with the wine tasting experience, was stellar.  The suites were beautiful and the service was top notch.  Our hosts greeted us, walked us to our rooms, detailing the onsite amenities and features of the suite.  In all of our travels, there have been few experiences that have exceeded this one in both service and setting.  Waking up to the site of acres of lush vineyards fading into the valley and ultimately out to Osoyoos Lake off in the distance, and spending an afternoon in the onsite swimming pool and patio is the essence of why we wanted to take this vacation.  The fact that there was a hot breakfast served to us every morning, complete with a new egg dish (think benedicts and frittatas) and a daily hot pastry, only enhanced an already incredible experience.  Staying at a winery, and one in as beautiful a setting as this one, is truly a unique experience and one you shouldn't go your life without experiencing.

The Sonora Room Restaurant - Breaking with the sequence or our trip, we did enjoy what was the single finest meal of our trip at The Sonora Room restaurant on site at Burrowing Owl winery.  If you are looking for a unique wine experience or library wines from Burrowing Owl, this is the place for you.  On this evening, they had vertical tastings of their 2007-2010 vintages of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.  The wine list had multiple vintages of all of their most popular wines so you could create any experience for yourself that you wanted.  The menu itself was stellar.

For our meal, we opted for the vertical tasting of Pinot Noir.  It was my first real experience with a true vertical tasting and I will say the 2007 vintage stood out for me.  Smooth, mellow and earthy.  It was a perfect paring for my meal to follow.  2007 was closely trailed by 2009 for similar qualities that will ultimately shine through after another couple years rest.  The 2008 and 2010 vintages were more fruit forward and more acidic than the '07 and '09 vintages and really resembled one another with the 2010 again only needing a couple years to catch up to its older counterpart.

For starters we enjoyed a silky smooth mushroom veloute.  Our mains were an oven roasted Cornish hen with a pan sauce (these were flavours that take time to build - deep, dark and rich) and a poached arctic char (light, delicate and cooked to perfection).  We followed up the meal with a 3 way tasting of chocolate (sorbet, soufflé cake, and "cold hot chocolate” - all decadent in their own right with the cake stealing the show) and pared it with Burrowing Owl's "Coruga" port style wine.  All in all, this was a fantastic wine and dining experience and one that we'll remember for years to come.  Compliments to a truly talented chef for executing a near perfect meal.

Nk' Mip Cellars

As our first winery of the second day of our trip, Nk' Mip (pronounced INK MEEP) is a winery I had no expectations for.  As the first winery in North America to be wholly owned and operated by an Aboriginal tribe, there is no precedent from which to draw expectations.  We'd enjoyed one of their Pinot Noirs in the past but hadn't done much research into the winery itself.  Despite my lack of expectation, I'll have to say, this place exceeded whatever expectations I could have set for myself.  The winery itself is a relatively small part of a much larger complex that sits amongst vineyards that expand down near the shores of Osoyoos Lake.  The broader complex includes a cultural center dedicated to the history and culture of the Osoyoos Indian Band, a four-star resort, 9-hole golf course, and conspicuously does not include a casino (a welcome omission in my opinion).  

Set in the desert, the pueblo style architecture and desert landscape of the complex play to its surroundings .  The tasting room itself has been newly renovated and has a modern appeal.  We showed up right at opening.  A half hour later, we had our first tasting.  A bit disorganized on the start but we'll chalk it up to the staff their product a bit too much the night before.  What struck me about this winery is that, while some of their peers in Osoyoos are dedicating their land to warm weather varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, Nk' Mip predominantly produces and excels in the cooler weather red varietals like Merlot and Pinot Noir.  Their varietal Cab Sav and Meritage blends were their least successful of the tasting.  The Merlot was fruity with lots of raspberry on the nose and palate.  The star of the show however was a Riesling ice wine.  It had a complex nose of lilies and apricots and did not overwhelm with its sweetness.  A fine example of an ice wine, and a big step above some of its more famous producers in Ontario.  Overall, I wouldn't say this winery produced the big, complex wines we'd tasted and enjoyed so much throughout our prior day’s tastings, but it is definitely worth the visit to see the facilities, walk through the vineyards, and experience some of the cultural elements they offer up as part of your experience.   

La Stella Winery

La Stella Winery is the Italian style sister winery of the French themed La Vieux Pin Winery (which we did not make it to on this trip).  The setting and architecture do inspire images of Tuscany with an Italian style villa built atop a steep vine covered hill that runs down to the shore of Osyoos Lake.  Our tasting this day was on the winery balcony overlooking the beautiful lakefront vineyards. As we'd previously tried and thoroughly enjoyed the 2013 Fortissimo, this one was a must hit on our list of wineries to visit on our trip.  I am sad to say, our enjoyment of their offerings fell far short of our lofty expectations.  

Our host was gracious and knowledgeable.  She made a strong effort at selling these wines to us on the basis of their merits.  The vineyards are managed organically though not technically certified as such.  The vines are allowed to grow each season without leaf thinning and apparently up to 50% of the fruit is dropped prior to harvest.  Typically this is to select the best quality fruit on the vine and focus the vines' efforts on ripening and pumping all of their energy into fewer fruit clusters.  In the wine making process, there are no additions of sulfites (which is great for those with sulfite sensitivities) and the fruit is triple sorted to select the best clusters and berries for each specific use.  All of this serves to set some pretty lofty expectations for the wine.  Unfortunately, at least for the 2014 vintage, the added effort in the vinification did not translate to the glass. 

We were able to sample 2 of their white wines, their rose (which we thought was their best effort) and 3 of their most prestigious reds.  While at home and drinking their 2013 vintage Fortissimo, a Merlot dominant red blend with the intriguing addition of the Italian Sangiovese grape, we found the wine fruit forward, structured, and complex with a smooth mouth feel.  The 2014 version unfortunately did not stack up. We found this wine thin, acidic, and tannic.  This unfortunately was true for their flagship Maestoso (100% Merlot) and premium blend "La Sophia" wines as well, which price at $90 and $80 per bottle respectively at the winery (by far the highest price tags we found on our trip).  In both cases, the acid and tannins overwhelmed the fruit character of the wine and pulled them consistently out of balance in our estimation.  I've questioned my evaluation of these wines thoroughly now and I become more confident every time.  These wines had everything going for them, a super technical vineyard management system (which I'm a huge sucker for), a beautiful setting, the psychological advantage of high price tags, and a prior experience with their wines that was positive enough to make this a must stop location on our trip.  Yet "the proof is in the glass" rang true here and I unfortunately cannot recommend these wines, and certainly not at the prices they’re being offered (though I would even hesitate at prices more in line with their neighboring competitors).  

La Stella rounded out the part of the trip in which I had to spit (as I was driving, I didn’t think it safe to drink the wines at all of these wineries – to my surprise, spitting was not as unpleasant as I would have imagined.)  While it was a bit of a disappointment overall, it was not the end of our trip.  We had several great wineries to come on our fully guided wine tour that will be the focus of the final part of this series.  Hope you’re enjoying it!

Discovering Wines in the Great (Red) North - Part 1 of 3 The Naramata Bench

In advance of our pending wedding which is just over a month away, Lindsay and I decided to take a trip out to Canada's budding wine region in the Southern Okanagan Valley of British Columbia.  We figured we needed a weekend away from the stress of planning a wedding to rediscover why we made this decision in the first place.  OK, I'll admit, this has been a pretty stress free process for me; my lovely fiancée is one of the most organized people you'll ever meet and has tasked me only with the jobs she knows I can handle (or at least is confident that I won't screw up).  These tasks I think I can count on one hand.  Our weekend away in Western Canada’s wine country, as with most of our vacations, was yet another opportunity for me to tag along on another of her intricately planned adventures and to enjoy the fruits of her labor (grapes in this instance).

If you've read any of my previous blogs, you're well aware of our newfound love for wine and possibly of our trip to one of the world's great wine regions in Napa Valley, CA.  Our weekend in Napa was spectacular. Napa has world class wines, wineries, restaurants, and accommodations. USA Today's much publicized list of 10 Best Wine Regions to Visit placed Napa at number 6, it's only real knock being the high price tag (a critique that ranks as my top criticism of the region).  I won't say it wasn't worth the trip but it's definitely one you'll have to save for.  The average wine tasting in Napa is $30 per tasting, one tasting fee waived with the purchase of 3 bottles (the prices of which commonly reach triple digits). 

In contrast, the wine tastings in the Okanagan are commonly less than $5 per person.  At most every winery in the Okanagan, we were tasting 5-6 wines for that price and in most cases, both our tasting fees were waived with the purchase of any bottle (prices of which ranged from $20-45 CDN per bottle).  When the tasting room attendants discovered our preferences, they were more than willing to throw in a couple extras at no extra cost (to be fair, the Napa wineries were great for this as well, though we typically got 4 wines per tasting).

Another advantage the Okanagan has over Napa is the stunning natural beauty of the region.  A system of four massive lakes forms the core of the Okanagan Valley, the largest and northern most of the four being its namesake Okanagan Lake.  The lake is nestled amongst what my Arizona upbringing would refer to as mountains, and bordered by rocky cliffs and pebbled beaches.  Okanagan Lake is home to two concentrations of wineries, the west Kelowna sub-region on the southwest bank of the lake and the Naramata bench on the southeastern end of the lake.  We spent the majority of the first day of our trip on the Naramata bench.  A summary of the Naramata wineries we visited will form the core of this 1^st in a 3 part series of blog posts about this trip.

Traveling further south through the valley will take you past Skaha Lake, home of what might be our new favourite winery in Painted Rock, and then past some of the most dramatic scenery in the region in Vaseaux Lake.  Finally, the southernmost lake in the region is Osoyoos Lake, settled in Canada's only desert and home to the wineries of the Black Sage and Golden Mile benches.  This sub-region of the Okanagan is producing some stunning red wines primarily driven by the heat seeking Syrah grape.  The natural beauty of these lakes and wineries, in addition to the great wines you’ll see described here and the values at which these wines are offered make no mystery of the reasoning behind the Okanagan Valley being ranked number 2 in that previously mentioned USA Today poll. 

We focused a majority of our trip on the wineries in and around Osoyoos Lake, even staying at the guest houses at Burrowing Owl Winery, one of the flagship wineries of the region.  The latter two posts of this series will focus on Painted Rock Winery and the Osoyoos area wineries we visited, but I will begin the summary of our trip on the eastern shores of Okanagan Lake and the wineries we visited in the Naramata bench.

La Frenz Winery

Our day of wine tasting started off promptly at opening hour for La Frenz.  I think they’d noticed us wandering the paths of their winery since 9:30 AM (because it’s never too early to start drinking on vacation) so they allowed us to enter and look around a few minutes prior to opening. We sat out on a covered patio overlooking beautiful Okanagan Lake and the Merlot/Sauvingnon Blanc vineyards below.  We were drawn to La Frenz on the merits of a Viognier of theirs we'd found at a local wine store back home.  While we are not white wine drinkers per se, we have recently taken a liking to this varietal as it is typically full bodied and full of ripe, complex flavors.  On this day, said Viognier was not on the tasting list, but to our surprise, we did end up purchasing one of their white wines.

Our host, Chris (highly recommended if you have a choice), explained to us in great detail the history of the winery (apparently the site from which a picture on an old Canadian $100 bill was taken) and the current winery operations.  They have 3 vineyards on the Naramata bench where they grow a majority of their white wines, Merlot, and Pinot Noir and a vineyard down south near Osoyoos where they grow a majority of their reds.  While we bought a varietal Semillion (a nice, bright wine with notes of green apple and citrus) and their Montage red blend, the wine that stood out most to us is not one we would have expected going in.

La Frenz produces a series of fortified dessert wines, no doubt stemming from their owner’s history with brandy distilling.  On release during our visit was a vintage port style wine made with 100% estate grown Syrah.  The complexity of this youthful wine is astounding.  Notes of plum and blueberry abound and finish relatively dry for a dessert wine.  This is not the cloyingly sweet dessert wine that gives these wines a bad reputation.  It is presentable as a standalone after dinner drink, as it carries a great depth and complexity of aroma, but we can't wait to pair it with rich chocolate and dark fruit based dessert at our next dinner party.

Laughing Stock Vineyards

As far as the winery experience goes, Laughing Stock was a true standout and, along with Black Hills Winery, the closest thing to some of the experiences we had in Napa that we found in the Okanagan.  The product of a husband and wife team of former stock brokers, their talents in business and marketing are apparent in both the execution of their brand and the character of their branding.  Tastings are by appointment only, making the experience feel exclusive and personal.  As a small winery, whose product is in high demand, they are uniquely able to create and provide this type of experience.

Laughing stock is admittedly red wine focused even producing "white wines for the red wine drinker" as they put it.   Co-owner and head winemaker David Enns has a home-brewer's passion and creativity when it comes to his wines and styles (and they're happy to advertise this is what sparked their passion and ultimate entry into the wine business).  A small portion of their annual production is fermented in one of four massive concrete eggs (all with creative names like “over easy”).  They make what could be classified as an "orange wine" in their annual Amphora release by naturally fermenting white wine grapes in massive Italian clay vessels and leaving white grapes on skin for 75 days.  The wines are unique, rich and high quality.  They are the result of capping production at levels 7,000 cases annually, a level that vineyard manager and co-owner Cynthia Enns, and winemaker David can micromanage and not let business growth put their quality control at risk.

While seated on their patio overlooking their Naramata bench vineyards, our hostess poured us samples or their Pinot Gris (from 3 different fermentation styles - concrete egg, stainless steel, and neutral oak), and Viognier (a full bodied example of this style) before moving into their signature red wines.  Their previous life in the financial industry that is the core of their branding is everywhere, from the name of their Series A and Series B preferred share wine clubs, to the ticker tape labels on their bottles, and even to the names of their blended wines in "Blind Trust" (they go as far as to hide the blend composition beneath the foil cap on the bottle) and their flagship "Portfolio" Bordeaux style blend. The branding borders on gimmicky but gives a lighthearted approach to otherwise serious wines.  Top to bottom, you can taste the quality and passion in every bottle, even in wine styles that we otherwise wouldn't seek out.  By the end of this tasting, the decision to become preferred share wine club members was easy and we can't wait to feature their Viognier and Blind Trust Red at our wedding rehearsal dinner.

Poplar Grove Winery

We enjoyed a light lunch at Poplar Grove's Vanilla Pod restaurant prior to sampling their wines.  Sitting out on a patio, surrounded by a beautiful lawn and perennial flower garden with Penticton and Okanagan Lake in the background is fantastic way to spend an hour with your fiancée.  We thoroughly enjoyed the potato pancakes (crispy and light with a summery, avocado pico de gallo) and house smoked maple cured salmon on the charcuterie board.

The winery building itself is clean and modern with huge picture windows that look out over the lake.  Their branding is clean end elegant, a gold poplar leaf set on white, gray and black labels on tall, slender bottles.  The wines themselves are fantastic.  If you're not a fan of French Oak, this is likely not the winery for you.  They have an aggressive oaking program on most all of their reds for 18-24 months and at least 50% new oak.  The oak provides structure and richness to their wines and, in my opinion, is the perfect complement to the fully extracted style of Cabernet Franc that is a signature of this winery.

Prior to visiting this winery, Lindsay and I had enjoyed their Cabernet Franc and flagship "Legacy" Bordeaux style blend.  A unique aspect of Legacy is that the dominant varietal in the blend is Cab Franc.  Quality Cab Franc in the Okanagan presented itself as a theme throughout our trip.  Speaking with winery representatives at several wineries, most all of them made some mention of the quality of the fruit coming out of their Cab Franc vineyards over the last few vintages, inspiring winemakers to create 100% varietal Cab Franc wines when they otherwise had no intention of doing so.  While a varietal I've always been fond of, Cab Franc truly seems to be taking on a new life in the Okanagan Valley, so much so that our first Magnum bottle purchase ever was the 2012 Poplar Grove Cabernet Franc, purchased the day of our visit to this winery.

The wineries of the Naramata Bench were some of our favourite of the trip.  They are easy to get to with 2 airports within an hour and a half drive of the area. The scenery and atmosphere are unmatched in our wine country travels and it was a great way to start our adventure and wet our palates for what awaited us as we traveled south through the Okanagan Valley.  Stay tuned for a recap of those wineries and some spectacular meals we had along the way.