The wines of Canada by Rod Phillips

Author:Rod Phillips
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Infinite Ideas Ltd

LaStella Winery on Osoyoos Lake has a private dock for visitors arriving by boat and sea-plane.

LaStella draws on seven vineyards, five of them the same as Le Vieux Pin: La Feuille d’Or, Stagg’s, Lumeno, U2, and Mercier. Selona Vineyard (3.4 hectares), one of the two vineyards not shared with Le Vieux Pin, is located on the shore of Osoyoos Lake where the soil is deep sand. The varieties in the vineyard are Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Muscat, and Sangiovese. The other, Crowley Vineyard, is further north on Lake Vaseux, where the soils are deep sand over gravel. Syrah, Viognier, and Cabernet Franc are planted there.

LaStella Espressivo is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot, with a little Sangiovese. The fruit flavours reach for the upper registers and are well-defined and structured. The balance is very good, with some juiciness in the texture. The flagship is Maestoso ‘Solo’ Merlot, which has some Merlot from the cooler La Feuille d’Or Vineyard. It’s a big, powerful Merlot that is structured and balanced and pulls off elegance in spite of its robust, forward fruit.

Nk’Mip Cellars

1400 Rancher Creek Road, Osoyoos, British Columbia V0H 1V6

Tel.: (250) 495 2985

www.nkmipcellars.com

A noteworthy winery in the Osoyoos area is Nk’Mip Cellars, the first winery in the world owned by Native peoples – in this case, the Osoyoos Band, which owns 13,000 hectares of land in the southern Okanagan Valley. In the Okanagan language of the Osoyoos people, Nk’Mip (pronounced in-kimeep) means Bottomland, referring to the southern end of the Osoyoos band’s lands. Nk’Mip Cellars itself was a joint venture of the band and Vincor (later Constellation Brands). The first vintage, in 2000, was made elsewhere, and a winery was built in 2002. The estate winery covers 8.5 hectares and is mostly planted in red Bordeaux varieties.

The top tier of Nk’Mip wines is Qwam Qwmt (pronounced kwem kwempt), meaning ‘achieving excellence’, and wines in the series include Syrah, Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The icon wine is Mer’r’iym, pronounced mur-eem and meaning Marriage, which is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec, generally aged for eighteen months in French oak.

Osoyoos Larose

17808 103rd Street, Osoyoos, British Columbia V0H 1V2

Tel.: (250) 495 4027

www.osoyooslarose.com

Perhaps the most prestigious winery in the area, because of its ownership, this began as a joint venture of Vincor, the Canadian owner of a number of wineries, and Groupe Taillan, the Bordeaux-based owner of several estates in that region, including Château Gruaud-Larose, the Saint-Julien winery that was ranked as second-growth in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification. That is the origin of Larose in the winery’s name. The venture aimed to produce a world-class Canadian wine from the Bordeaux varieties – actually two world-class wines, as the plan included, on the Bordeaux model, a ‘second wine’, which would be merely excellent in relation to the first wine. The warm conditions of the Osoyoos region were chosen as its source.

The 24 hectares of Osoyoos Larose’s vineyards sit on an arid, west-facing bench that overlooks Osoyoos Lake.

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