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AWARD WINNING ORGANICALLY PRODUCED WINES |
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| Red
Grape Varieties, Part 2 |
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These 3 red grape varieties
are not exactly what one would call mainstream
in a world context. One wine columnist
has recently suggested the removal of
Kerner, Ehrenfelser, Auxerrois, Müller-Thurgau,
Muscat Ottonel, and Schönburger from
the B.C. marketplace. We've always thought
that one of the special virtues of our
industry was that we could offer wines
made from varieties that are not widely
available elsewhere. People now expect
to find, and will pay top dollar for,
foods which are local, seasonal, unique
and even unfamiliar or obscure. Why wouldn't
they want the same opportunity when they're
tasting wine? If the wine is well made
and the winery finds a market for it,
why not offer it? Even experienced palates
can be enchanted by surprise encounters
(a most memorable match between a curry
and a bottle of Müller-Thurgau comes
to mind). Are we incorrect in thinking
that it's a whole lot more interesting
trying a well-made Okanagan Ehrenfelser
than yet another formula Chardonnay from
just about anywhere? Some of these varieties
are uniquely suited to our climate, and
have been carefully selected after decades
of observation. And let's not kid ourselves
about the climate; the 1996 growing season
is a brisk reminder that we are a cool
climate growing area, that we're on the
northern fringe for grape growing, and
that we simply don't have enough Vine Yard
space crammed into the south of the valley
to grow sufficient quantities of whichever
less hardy varieties are deemed "acceptable."
Biodiversity in a marginal growing season
could mean the difference between making
a living and shutting down. Our advice?
Keep an open mind. Loosen up! Take a chance
on that seductive little Schönburger!
Lemberger
Those of you who have visited Washington
State's Yakima Valley will no doubt have
encountered full-bodied, fruity red wines
made from this variety. And before we
go on, no, it's not the cheese. (We've
heard this little quip far, far too many
times for it to be even mildly amusing
anymore.) The spelling of this varietal
name has a bewildering array of variations
(Janis Robinson, for example, in The Oxford
Companion to Wine, calls it "Limberger"),
and in Austria, you'll find it under the
name "Blaufränkisch." It
is widely planted in Austria and in Württemberg,
the southern grape growing area in Germany.
In Stuttgart homes and wine bars, you'll
often be offered a quarter litre glass
of house wine made from a blend of Lemberger
and a very light red grape called Trollinger
(those of you who have done your homework
may remember that Trollinger is one of
Kerner's parent varieties). In Germany,
the wine is light, fresh, fruity and eminently
quaffable, and remains a sentimental favourite
of the many Hainles still residing there.
In our warmer growing conditions, however,
Lemberger ripens beautifully to produce
wines of Merlot-like intensity, with good
deep colour and a lovely raspberry/cracked
black pepper character. Top notch Yakima
Valley producers such as Kiona and Thurston
Wolfe have consistently had great success
with Lemberger, and thankfully, they haven't
shied away from putting the varietal name
on the label. We have a vertical collection
of Kiona Lemberger extending back to 1982,
and there will be an occasion very soon,
we hope, to start exploring them. The
wines, if well crafted, have the same
aging potential as Merlot.
The similarity in the Yakima and Okanagan
Valley growing conditions is encouraging,
and we're still hoping that more growers
will invest in this variety. It may not
be the prettiest plant in the Vine Yard
(we recall one grower calling the vines
"geeky"), but it is tough, disease
resistant, and will survive winter conditions
which would kill Merlot. It ripens toward
the end of the harvest season, and as
long as the site is carefully selected
and crops are kept low, the quality will
be rewarding. We originally had access
to Lemberger and Trollinger fruit from
an interplanted Peachland Vine Yard, but
when this property was sold, we obtained
small quantities of fruit from Bob Holt's
Vine Yard in Cawston for the 1992 to 1995
vintages. Adelheid's Vine Yard in Okanagan
Falls contains about 1.5 acres of Lemberger,
and we are expecting the first crop from
these vines in the 1997 vintage. There
will be no Lemberger from our cellars
from the 1996 vintage.
In the cellar, Lemberger is handled in
much the same manner as Merlot, with all
of the fruit being crushed, a complete
fermentation on the skins, and a period
of post-fermentation maceration on the
skins for added colour and tannin extract.
We usually age the Lemberger for several
months in older oak puncheons, and we've
found that of all the red wines we produce,
it can benefit the most from oak aging.
Samtrot
This variety, too, (its name means "red
velvet") is a sentimental favourite
of the Hainle family, and is widely planted
in Württemburg. According to Jancis
Robinson, it is a mutation of the slightly
more familiar Pinot Meunier, which is,
in turn, a mutation of Pinot Noir. It
was Tilman's father, Walter, who requested
that the owners of Adelheid's Vine Yard
in Okanagan Falls plant a small amount
of Samtrot, and the first fruit from these
vines arrived at the winery as part of
the 1995 vintage. In the Vine Yard it is
naturally low-yielding, and slightly more
winter tender than Pinot Noir. The 1995
wine (all 45 cases of it) is deep in colour,
similar in character to a Pinot Noir,
but bearing the added soft, rich floral
notes typical in a Meunier. In 1996, the
Samtrot crop was reduced to marginal levels
and there won't be a release from this
vintage. We are quite accustomed to our
role as sturdy pioneers out on the wine
fringe, but even so, we hesitated when
faced with the challenge of putting this
varietal name on a label. With the permission
of the growers, the 1995 vintage will
be bottled as the red wine in our Bibendum
series.
Ehrenfelser
This white German variety, developed in
1929 at the prestigious Geisenheim Institute,
is a crossing of Riesling x Sylvaner.
Its name comes from Schloss Ehrenfels,
a castle on the Rhine River. It ripens
earlier than Riesling, and in the Okanagan
is used for both table and dessert wines.
Its Riesling heritage shines through in
a flint/apricot/apple character which
makes it a lively companion for many foods.
1996 will mark our first vintage of Ehrenfelser,
made from about 6 tons of fruit from Fischer
Vine Yard (owned by the nice folks at Tinhorn
Creek Estate Winery) in Oliver. We were
very pleased with the quality of the fruit,
and are looking forward to offering about
450 cases of Ehrenfelser to our customers
with the release of the vintage in summer,
1997. Ehrenfelser is, by the way, widely
planted; in the 1995 growing season, there
was almost as much Ehrenfelser as Gewürztraminer
harvested in British Columbia, about 395
tons.
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