Wine

ABC Winery… WTF?

Years ago (17 now) when I came to Hillside, I was told that we are an ABC winery—Anything But Chardonnay. New on the job and eager to please I nodded knowingly. I get it, Chardonnay definitely has some baggage. Historically grown in the burgundy region of France, specifically Chablis, chardonnay is now grown wherever wine…

Don’t Quote Me On This – Post Harvest 2025

A year and a half ago I stood in our Hidden Valley Vineyard with Marcus Keller, Distinguished Professor in Viticulture, WSU Prosser. “I predict 100% recovery next year—but don’t quote me on that.” Of course I did, every chance I got, quote him, but I didn’t quite believe him. The red varieties in this vineyard—syrah…

Hot Time Summer in the Cellar

What do we do in the cellar during the summer…especially when there has been no harvest? Usually, the spring and summer months are filled with blending, finishing and bottling the white wines from the previous year. July and August are taken up with emptying barrels, blending and finishing the early-to-bottle red wines, Pinot Noir, Gamay,…

Duncan’s “Monday to Thursday” Wine

Merlot has been a staple in Hillside’s portfolio since 2000 when Hidden Valley Vineyard was planted to include 2 blocks of Merlot comprising over 5 acres of the 15 acres managed by Hillside. This fruit was used along with a substantial amount of contracted Naramata Bench fruit to produce roughly 1500 cases of Hillside Merlot…

Seeing Red at Hillside

For decades now it has generally been accepted that the Naramata Bench produces premium quality white wines and excellent Pinot Noir. Bigger, Bordeaux and Rhone style reds were thought to do best when grown further south, with some exceptions from the Naramata Bench, which consistently score top marks in international competitions (such as the gold…

Sweet Eyes – Occhi Dolci Vineyard Merlot

What’s new at Hillside? I’ll tell you what’s new! Last month we released our first vintage of the newest addition to our Single Vineyard Series, the Occhi Dolci Vineyard Merlot. This merlot was planted and grown on a beautiful vineyard site (come on they’re all beautiful) just below the Penticton sign at the south end of…

Rosé, Two Ways

August is BC Rosé Month, so let’s talk about rosé! We have made our Hillside Rosé since 2005 with sales being slow for the first few years. In 2008 we had a rockstar salesman in our wineshop who was able to double sales by convincing the male contingent that rosé is a very manly wine: …

Best of the Bench—has sub-GI designation made a difference?

The Naramata Bench wineries were the first in BC to join and pool their marketing efforts through a regional association when the Naramata Bench Wineries Association formed in 2003 as a marketing organization promoting awareness of Naramata Bench wineries throughout BC and Alberta. This vibrant group became well known for “taking it on the road”…

All About Mosaic

Winemaker, Winemaker Blend me a Wine… “Start with Merlot, make it taste fine, we want it to win awards when tasted blind, tell me what will Mosaic be?” What goes into blending a wine like Mosaic? “…for Mama add Cab Franc and Malbec, for Papa–Cabernet Sauvignon” Vineyard skill, careful barrel selection and cellar craftsmanship come…

Sustainability and Resilience

As we celebrate budbreak, that magical period when the grapevine buds come out of dormancy, reconnect with the vine’s vascular system to draw up the nutrients stored in the root system through the winter, and unfurl two tiny leaves and a teeny pre-grape cluster, we wonder what the season will bring us. Each growing season…

Why Does Vintage Matter?

To be truthful, it doesn’t always. Some wines are made specifically to be the same year on year as variation is not considered desirable. What I call “factory wines” are vinted and then blended with a view to give the consumer the same experience year on year. Hence, warmer vintages may be blended with cooler,…

Why I Hate Icewine….

Of course I don’t hate Icewine!!! It truly is nectar of the gods, with its rich aromas, concentrated flavours and unctuous texture. It’s the intense ICEWINE-ness of icewine I hate. For decades whenever a non-Canadian was told we had a wine industry in Canada, icewine was evoked, along with images of harvesting in the dead…