Harvest 2018 will be our fourth BC Vintage in the Okanagan. Many thanks again to all the winemakers that took the time out of their busy schedules to provide their thoughts for the readers to enjoy.
Spring floods, dense smoke from summer wildfires and September rains brought many challenges.
Our recent survey, which admittedly was a small sample, indicated that 2018 was verage vintage.
Here are the details for you to ponder as you await the release of Vintage 2018.
Okanagan Valley
Lake Country
Adrian Baker|The Chase Wines / O’Rourke Family Vineyards
August was ruined by smoke. Key effects of smoke included:
- Decreasing the average daily temperature in August by 5 or 6°C.
- Smoke will filter out all UV light from the sun, UVB is particularly important in ripening tannins and phenolics in black grape skins.
So we changed tack and made a less extracted and more aromatic wine in 2018. For our earliest ripening Pinot Noir we went 100% whole cluster on 5 Metric Tonnes.
September had no growing energy, was wet and cool, but clear of smoke
A good season for aromatics whites, a good season for citrusy Chardonnay. Also a good season for Pinot Gris, Gruner Veltliner.
2018 was a strong season for the noble Riesling grape. Our house Riesling style will always be dry. This year, with higher acidity the wine will be able to handle a few grams more of natural sugar. In 2018 we have made an extraordinary Riesling Block 11, it has 35 g/L of natural residual sugar, but tastes dry to the layman and even to sommeliers it taste only like 12-16g/L.
For more on The Wines see our earlier post – The Chase Wines Impressive Facilities & Wines
Kelowna
U Andy Gebert | St Hubertus & Oak Bay Estate Winery
Another Vintage under our belts… I think is #33. The 2018 vintage was not as much about the weather or temperatures it was a mixed bag, (like so many vintages before, as they all are in general turn out solid). It was not growing all Organic.
It was all the political / trade clouds and storms threatening the BC Wine industry, that’s where the biggest concerns are in our industry.
We live and work the vines for a long time. If we take care of the vine’s, the Wine’s will take care of us. 2018 will end up in the bottle a good solid vintage!
West Kelowna
Sheri Paynter | Off the Grid Organic Winery
This year we had amazing fruit, for the most part, the Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay and Zweigelt are the best we’ve had so far. The intense smoke in August seemed to pause all our grapes, and as the smoke lifted, things seemed to speed up in unusual ways, what I mean by this is things ripened out of turn. The Chardonnay was one of the last off the vines, which is unusual, with the best acidity, sugar balance to date. The Zweigelt was and shows the best cherry and pepper I’ve tasted in these grapes.
We had beautiful weather for picking and for crush, we are also really excited to have my sister in law Chandra Paynter join our vineyard team after completing the viticulture program at OC.
Naramata
Bradley Cooper | Daum Cooper Winery Services Ltd.
You know that saying about ignorance is bliss? It’s true! This year I served as a production winemaker under the direction of Therapy’s Jacq Kemp. She made all the hard decisions, worried about grapes, dealt with growers, created the style protocols and communicated with the ownership. I showed up when asked, put forth all the important questions, kept the seasonal hires from hurting themselves or doing dumb things to the juice, supplied expertise when the situation demanded it and generally enjoyed the equivalent of a working staycation. Stress-free!
Overall the vintage looked pretty good. If you were able to harvest certain varieties before the September rains and cool down, you’re looking sweet. Longer hold reds probably survived to enjoy the mid-October string of mid-teen temps and sunny days. Certainly, no more sugar builds but perhaps some flavour reconciliation and dry days for harvest. Smoke taint? Haven’t run across any in my limited exposure. Early testing revealed some moderate presence of smoke taint but it hasn’t surfaced yet. Maybe if it does everybody can add “Fumé” to their label?
Grapes seemed to be in short supply until suddenly – they weren’t! Plenty of action up and down the valley on the spot market late in the harvest. While not a wicked great vintage, I expect to taste good and appetizing expressions of the valley terroir in the bottle.
Andrew Etsell|Singletree Winery
2018 was the first crush at the new Singletree Winery facility on the Naramata Bench. We have added new varietals and new wines: some will be released this year and others will be released later. The 2018 vintage had its challenges with wildfires and weather, but the wines are coming along nicely. The wine we are producing from this vintage has exceeded my expectations and I am optimistic their final outcome.
Okanagan Falls
Larry Gerelus | Stag’s Hollow Winery
2018 started off cool and wet in the early Spring. The huge snowpack and some timely downpours in the Spring resulted in flooding at our Shuttleworth Creek Vineyard. Shuttleworth Creek breached its dyke at our vineyard and resulted in flooding in both Okanagan Falls and the north end of our vineyard. An emergency response ensued with major equipment required to rebuild the dyke.
Although bud break was a bit late, a hot May quickly resulted in an earlier than normal bloom date which is the basis for my early prognostication for a vintage. An early bloom date brings the confidence of having a nice ripe vintage. Cooler weather in June did not seem to slow things down perhaps because nights remained warm. A very warm and dry July moved the vines forward quickly to an early veraison.
Then there was smokey August. This year smoke was much more dense, lower and worrisome than in August of 2017. The saving grace may be that this smoke has slowed ripening down to allow maturity to finish in cooler conditions giving us the signature vibrancy we cherish in our northern climate wines. September quickly turned cool and wet. Fortunately, many grapes are very close to being ripe, needing only a few more days of sun and heat to finish them off leading towards a potentially beautiful vintage.”
I feel we got very lucky with a warm and sunny October, producing some very fine grapes in the end for those that waited it out. At the beginning of October, several of our grapes were showing acids that would have made a winemaker’s life difficult. By the end of October, they were picked with nice acid levels and fantastic flavours. Brix levels were lower this year, coming in at perfect levels that will create wines with elegance and finesse.
Simone Ardiel | Mayhem Wines
There was some smoke! While the vineyards were off to a solid start throughout the early part of the season, the latter part of the season slowed growth significantly. The nearly month-long smoke that settled throughout the valley in August effectively cut out UV rays needed for ripening and contributed to cooler than average daily temperatures. Couple that with a cold and wet September, we were starting to lose sleep. Thank goodness Mother Nature showed her generous side in October. The fall arrived with redeeming warm, sunny days, helping to achieve phenolic ripeness, flavour profile and balanced acidity.
The Riesling that we received from a Summerland vineyard retained a beautiful natural high acidity through sampling and harvest; we look forward to the longevity of this wine. The aromatics of the whites this year really shone through in all varietals.
The reds came in with great fruit intensity, structure and ripe tannins despite the challenges of the growing season. They continue to go through natural malolactic fermentation and we look forward to their release after continued barrel ageing.
Oliver Osoyoos Wineries
Michal Mosny | Winemaker’s CUT
The 2018 vintage was influenced by two major things. Forest fires and very heavy and dense smoke in the valley with Air Quality index reaching 300-400. The second was a grape shortage, which was expected for some time. I don’t believe that smoke taint will be influencing wines produced from 2018 vintage, but to a certain level, smoke is becoming part of Okanagan growing seasons. Dense smoke lowered heat days and sun exposure on grapes which caused slow developing of phenolic compounds in berries and causing to some especially red varietals hanging on vines much longer.
As far as grape supply in the Okanagan there was definitely no oversupply, but the price per ton skyrocketed. Wineries controlling their own vineyards are going to be an advantage. Wineries relying on sourcing grapes are going to have tough times dealing with growers to secure a reliable and good quality grape source. Overcropping was a pretty common word during this harvest.
As far as Deadman Lake Vineyard, home of Winemaker’s CUT wines, we are very satisfied with this vintage and all wines are making us very happy. We managed to produce a small amount of rose´ and a small amount of my very favourite varietal GREEN (in german Gruner Veltliner), typical varietal for middle Europe and for Slovakia, where I am coming from.
I can’t wait to try my new releases next year! For more on the Winemaker’s Cuts previous vintage go to the following link – Winemaker’s Cut Releases Sauvignon Blanc & Syrah.
Deborah Wilde | Hidden Chapel Winery
The 2018 growing season was off to a slow start with a cool, wet spring but took off quickly once bud break happened. A hot May through July enabled the vines to catch up to normal years.
However, heavy smoke blanketed the Okanagan in August and held humidity down around the vineyards for a good 2 to 3 weeks. This caused mildew and late veraison in some vineyards. We were able to control the mildew with a good spray program. Also, we kept our crop down a bit and at the end harvested in late September. This is about average for our Cabernet Sauvignon.
We were happy with the Brix and acid levels. The tonnage is down about 10% over average yields. This was much better than the disappointing 2017 yield.
A cool end of September and beginning of October had some growers worried as the numbers weren’t there yet. A warm, sunny end of October contributed to a good harvest in the end, at least for our growers in the South Okanagan area. Although harvest was as much as 3 weeks later than recent years for some of the grapes we purchased, the Brix came through and the flavours were good.
I believe 2018 will be an excellent vintage for our ever popular wines at Hidden Chapel Winery!
Corrie Krehbiel |Prospect Winery
The 2018 season started out hot, with above average growing degrees in the spring and early bud break – an excellent start to the season. As the growing season progressed, the August and September temperatures were moderate with cooler nights providing consistent ripening and outstanding flavour development.
The quality of the grapes looks exceptional with dense fruit, balanced acidity and ripe tannins. I am excited about the calibre of grapes that we are seeing in the 2018 wines.
Kootenays Winery
Shannon Cardinal – Red Bird Estate Winery
We started out with a late spring but things caught up in early summer. Until the smoke arrived, which really put the brakes on ripening. A cool and wet period from the end of August until the end of S also resulted in delayed ripening.
Things took a turn for the better in October, with some really beautiful autumn weather. It was a challenging year for Pinot Gris with the late season moisture and extended season, but our Gewuztraminer turned out beautifully.
All in all, it was a challenging year, allowing us to really dial in what is happening in our home vineyard.
Conclusion
Harvest 2018 will go down as a challenging one. Flavourful whites but watch for tannins in the reds! This will be a vintage that separates the experienced winemakers from the newbies!