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, Hillside Merlot and Syrah in a sometimes-mad scramble to get barrels and tanks emptied and ready for the next harvest.
This year, not so much. Because the January 2024 freeze damaged all the fruiting buds, well almost all, there was virtually no fruit to harvest in 2024. I say virtually, because we were fortunate enough to get a tiny bit. We picked one barrel’s worth (225 liters) of Pinot Gris from the Dickinson Vineyard about half-way to Naramata Village, and a half-barrel’s worth of Muscat Ottonel from a vineyard close to town.
As they say “never miss the opportunity to make lemonade from a good disaster”, or something of that ilk. We just bottled our first Single vineyard Series white wine, the Dickinson Vineyard Pinot Gris, and last month we bottled, after a 2-year hiatus, Soirée en Blanc, a white port-style wine made from the Ottonel.
While the quantities are small the excitement is big for these two wines.
We also had time to play with a new red blend. Using 2022 Merlot from the Occhi Dolci, and Gjoa’s Vineyards, along with a bit from the Thomas Vineyard, owned by Tightrope winery, some Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, we created a new blend—Montage. Released this month, it is crafted to be in the same league as Mosaic, but earlier to be released and more flexible. Each year can be different, not tied to the Bordeaux varieties—just the best we can do (after Mosaic of course). Think of this as Mosaic’s younger sister, a bit more modern and adventurous.
Anthony Gismondi, writing for the Vancouver Sun, recently suggested that 2022 may be BC’s best vintage ever for red wines, and Montage is giving that a nod and a wink.
This “gap year” has given us a chance to execute some long-overdue projects. Our grounds, warehouse, and cellar have never been more organized. We are re-vamping our self-guided tour in the area above our tank cellar. Mike, our cellar-master, has created two amazing cases out of old barrel staves to hold soil samples. Working with our President and resident geologist, Duncan, he has filled them with representations of above-the-road and below-the-road soil cross-sections.
www.hillsidewinery.ca/whats-the-down-dirty-on-our-single-vineyard-merlots/
Mike is now working on a similar case to display the many many medals our wines have received in competitions over the years.
In the vineyards??? The vines are loaded with fruit and look healthier than ever. I need to knuckle down and get my strategic plan and crush supplies in place.
