Between September, 1992
and February, 1994, we included in our
newsletters a 6-part series of articles
called "Wine Hardware" which
provided some basic information on bottles,
corks, capsules, labels, tasting glasses
and setting up a wine cellar. We're now
starting a new series, "Wine Software",
dealing with what actually goes into the
bottle.
This first installment gives you a partial
profile of the grape varieties used in
our wines. Other parts of the series will
focus on some of the interesting people
who grow grapes for us, and on various
aspects of our winemaking techniques (reductive/oxidative
approaches contrasted, use of added sulphites,
oak aging, Malolactic fermentation, sur
lie aging, carbonic maceration, Icewines,
fining and filtration).
In preparing the varietal profiles, we've
relied heavily on The Oxford Companion
to Wine, edited by British wine journalist
and Master (Mistress?) of Wine, Jancis
Robinson. While it's not something you
will want to carry with you while bike-touring
in wine country (it weighs in at 1,088
pages and just under 7 pounds), it is
the most comprehensive reference tool
we've encountered. As well, the prose
is delightfully honest and free of the
arcane jargon which encumbers some wine
writing. Another excellent reference volume
is also written by Jancis Robinson; it's
called Vines, Grapes and Wines, but it
seems to be much harder to find.
Starting At The Beginning
Although the history of wine in British
Columbia started in the 1860s with the
first vine plantings by Father Pandosy,
there were very few successful plantings
of vitis vinifera ("purebred"
European wine grapes) in the province
until the mid 1970's. Until that time,
most Vine Yards were planted with hybrid
grape varieties which were created by
crossing a native North American "wild"
grape with a vinifera. (It should be noted
that a vinifera crossed with another vinifera
produces a vinifera, not a hybrid.) Hybrids
are more winter and disease resistant
than vinifera, and there are still some
large hybrid plantings, particularly of
red varieties, in the Okanagan Valley.
(About 35% of the red grapes crushed in
1995 were hybrid.)
Are the wines made from red hybrids as
good as wines made from red vinifera?
Our view is that in the hands of a skilled
winemaker, hybrids do very well, and only
the most discerning of palates would detect
hybrid character. (We know of at least
one very well known wine writer who admits
to being a "closet" fan of some
hybrids.) Should all red hybrid plantings
be removed and replaced with vinifera?
This is one of the issues now faced by
our industry. The international wine marketplace
is full of wines made from the classic
"fighting varietals" (Chardonnay,
Cabernet Sauvignon etc.), and in order
to compete in that marketplace, British
Columbia will have to display its own
style in the vinifera line up. However,
put yourself in the position of a grower
who realizes he must rip out his healthy,
winter hardy, productive and reliable
hybrid vines and replace them with risky,
finicky vinifera which will need a lot
more help from him and from nature to
produce a consistently good crop from
year to year.
There is also something to be said for
local colour; in our view, one of the
many virtues of British Columbia's wine
industry is that it offers the wine enthusiast
an opportunity to try wines made from
hybrids or from unfamiliar vinifera varietals.
You can find Chardonnay anywhere and everywhere,
but Vancouver Island Vine Yards and wineries
produce the best Ortega we've ever tasted!
Here is the first part of the list of
varieties currently used in our wine production:
Riesling
This German vinifera is also called White
Riesling, Rhine Riesling and Johannisberg
Riesling in North America, and should
not be confused with Okanagan Riesling,
a hybrid which was once widely planted
in the Okanagan. Jancis Robinson says,
and we agree, that this variety "could
claim to be the finest white grape variety
in the world on the basis of the longevity
of its wines and their ability to transmit
the characteristics of a Vine Yard without
losing Riesling's own inimitable style."
It represents the second biggest grape
crop in the province (825 tons produced
in 1995). It is ideally suited to the
Okanagan's climate; the vines can withstand
remarkably cold weather with little or
no damage (we took a full crop off our
vines after winter temperatures of -34
deg. C in 1991) and our warm, long fall
days and cool nights help to produce ripe,
sweet fruit with good acidity. The only
disadvantage we can think of is that it's
always the last crop to come in. Every
year, you can hear tired growers grumbling
about the fact that they're still waiting
for the sugar in the Riesling to come
up another point or two before they can
finish harvest. The wait is always worth
it, and can be prolonged even further
by the decision to make Icewine!
Pinot Blanc
This French vinifera from Burgundy started
off as a mutation of Pinot Gris. It has
proven to be highly successful in the
Okanagan Valley, and now ranks third in
provincial grape crop statistics (780
tons in 1995). It produces robust, ripe
fruit with good acidity as long as crop
volumes are kept low; if the vines have
their own way, tonnage will be excessive
and the grapes will lack intensity. It
is more resistant to cold weather and
more reliable in its ripening than Chardonnay.
We like Jancis Robinson's description
of its varietal character: "No Pinot
Blanc is notable for its piercing aroma;
its scent arrives in a cloud." This
ambiguity may have contributed to tendencies
to compare Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay,
especially when similar winemaking techniques
have been employed.
Our Pinot Blanc, made from grapes grown
by Elisabeth Harbeck in Okanagan Falls
is generally very full-bodied and quite
complex, and in our view, this variety,
rather than Chardonnay, is the white French
varietal best suited to our growing conditions.
As well, because it is not as ubiquitous
as Chardonnay, it offers a comfortable
and successful little niche for British
Columbia in the North American wine scene.
Chardonnay
OK, OK, we'll stop picking on Chardonnay,
but really, it is EVERYWHERE isn't it.
The variety has gone from being the "secret"
ingredient in some of the world's most
famous white wines (such as Chablis, Montrachet
and Meursault, which are labeled by region
and Vine Yard, not by variety) to becoming
synonymous the world over with "white
wine." Even people who never drink
wine at all will manage to blurt out this
varietal name when cornered.
Jancis Robinson refers to its malleability
and its "broad, easy charms."
Those broad, easy charms (displayed attractively
in a trendy, uncritical marketplace) led
to some rather promiscuous planting of
Chardonnay in a lot of unfortunate places,
producing some delinquent vinous offspring
who are weak, flabby and bitter, even
after prolonged therapy with good old
Dr. Oak and matronly Nurse Malolactic.
Do we ourselves grow Chardonnay? Yes,
and when the bears leave enough on the
vines, we even manage to make about 130
cases of very nice wine from it each year.
Do we dislike Chardonnay? No, of course
not, but Chardonnay is now the single
largest grape crop in British Columbia
(948 tons in 1995), and it shows no signs
of decreasing. Is Chardonnay really the
best crop for the majority of BC. vines?
Does the wine world really need even more
ubiquitous white wine, or does it need
something which consistently speaks truthfully
and eloquently about the uniqueness of
our wine region? Shouldn't the wine world
borrow some wisdom from the food world
which has already started recognizing
the value of uniquely local ingredients
and products?
Do any of the intelligent, sophisticated
customers who fill the ranks of our mailing
list have any opinions on these issues?
Kerner
We're very fond of Kerner for some very
good reasons. It's a fairly recent vinifera
cross which was developed in 1969 by Tilman's
alma mater, the Weinsberg Institute of
Oenology and Viticulture in southern Germany.
It's named after the 19th century Weinsberg
doctor and romantic poet Justus Kerner
who just happened to write some pretty
fine drinking songs. Some of those songs
surely were inspired by the variety's
vinifera parents, Riesling and Trollinger
(a light red grape), both widely cultivated
in the Hainle family's original terroir,
the picturesque terraced Vine Yards along
the Neckar River close to Stuttgart.
The Kerner grapes which we purchase from
Tinhorn Creek Vine Yard and Estate Winery
in Oliver are ripe, intense morsels of
pure fruit, and the wine is very full-bodied,
very fruity, and in keeping with our winemaker's
signature, completely dry. The variety
ripens well, even in adverse growing conditions,
and has good frost resistance.
Sadly, it seems that Kerner is undervalued,
frequently over cropped and often under
ripe in German Vine Yards. There have been
occasions when German visitors in the
tasting room, after tasting our Kerner,
have been seen shaking their heads, saying
"No, this can't be Kerner, because
it is very nice and we like it very much."
Only 3 British Columbia wineries are
making wine with Kerner grapes, and the
total tonnage in 1995 was 116 representing
about 1.45% of British Columbia's total
grape crop.
Next: more white grape
varieties. |
