Wine Profile

Pinot Gris is the most planted white varietal in Okanagan Valley. It ripens easily and consistently produces an enjoyable, fruit forward and food friendly wine.

The nose is bright with lime peel essence and soft nectarine. Green apple and spring blossoms, with a slight stoniness, enliven the palate. The acidity is well integrated and there is a bit of creaminess on the finish. This wine pairs well with a hot summer day, grilled fish with lemon, fish curry, or oysters with spicy sauce. 

INSIDER TIP: Partially fermented in a concrete egg creates amazing mouthfeel and texture.

Winemaking notes

The 2023 Pinot Gris was fermented in 43% concrete eggs, 33% neutral French oak barrels and 33% stainless steel tank. The wine was then aged sur lie for 4 months with weekly stirring.

Grapes sourced from Lavoie & Thomas Vineyards. Our winemaking team has been using concrete eggs since 2011, however they have been used in winemaking for centuries. Concrete fermenters are slightly porous allowing the wine to breathe, while the egg shape keeps the wine in constant movement.

Vintage notes

The end of the 2022 season was abnormally warm, going from summer weather at the end of October to winter overnight and a deep freeze in December which adversely affected the plants. Early bud dissections revealed extensive damage and the resulting yields were very low, especially in our Syrah, Malbec, and Semillon plantings.  

Although the Okanagan Valley had a slight delay to the growing season with cooler than average weather through April and May, the weather very quickly changed to a long, extended period of hot, dry days through the balance of the summer. We saw bud break at our Naramata vineyard at the beginning of May and kicked off our harvest by picking the first fruit on August 23rd for our traditional method sparkling wine. This was a full month earlier than vintage 2022, which was a very late and more moderate summer. Most of our varieties ripened a week or two earlier than normal due to the warm weather and lower yields. The low yields also brought good concentration to the flavours and ripe tannins for our Bordeaux-styled reds.

vineyard source

Sourced from Thomas Ranch in Okanagan Falls and Lavoie on Naramata Bench vineyards.