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Introduction

Located on the slopes above Okanagan Lake in West Kelowna lives Mt. Boucherie Estate Winery. First started as a grape growing business in 1968, Mt. Boucherie soon became one of the largest vineyard holdings in BC, farming 200 acres of land in both the Similkameen and Okanagan Valleys. 

Sonny Huang¹, President at Pure West Properties, purchased the winery in 2016. In 2020, following 20 years of running from a modest tasting room, they opened the doors to a brand-new luxurious wine experience centre. The 15,000 square-foot building features a dining lounge, tasting room and multiple private event facilities with some of the best views in the valley. The property also includes three estate guesthouses that make the perfect base for exploring the Okanagan wine country.

Mount Boucherie, the landmark

The Mt. Boucherie Estate Winery name and logo come from West Kelowna’s stunning landmark, a mountain that overlooks the winery’s estate vineyard from the west.  Mount Boucherie, the mountain, is the remnant of a former volcano, which was created more than 60 million years ago. While today it rises over 400 meters above Okanagan Lake, Mount Boucherie is estimated to once have towered at 2,000 meters or more. Over the past 50 million years, five different glacial periods eroded the volcano and shaped today’s Mount Boucherie. The mountain takes its name from an early rancher and pioneer to the region, Isadore Boucherie. He settled the area in the late 1880s and the land behind the mountain is still known as Boucherie Ranch. You can access the stunning valley views and various trails around and the summit of Mount Boucherie from Eain Lamont Community Park.

The Vineyards

Mt. Boucherie Estate Vineyard – West Kelowna

The West Kelowna vineyard, located on the eastern shadow of the former volcano Mount Boucherie, is home to the wine shop and winery production facility. The Pinot Noir, Gewürztraminer and Zweigelt grapes thrive in the sandy loam, clay and limestone soils rich with mineral deposits and volcanic rock. The summers are hot and provide long daylight hours.

Lost Horn Vineyard – Okanagan Falls

Okanagan Falls is a magical wine farming area and the second official sub-appellation in British Columbia. This narrow part of the valley gets a lot of heat from the bright southern Okanagan sunshine, while the cool nights here retain the acidity in the grapes helping to accentuate fruit flavours and freshness. The soil is comprised of mounds of glacially deposited rock and includes stony gravel, clay, and sandy loam. The grapes farmed include Semillon, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Syrah, Riesling and Pinot Noir.

Lazy River Vineyard – South Cawston

The Similkameen Valley vineyards lie just north of the US border and west of the southern Okanagan Valley. Due to the high mountains on both sides of the valley, and the reflective action of the rock, the heat is held long after the sunsets. The vines thrive in the stony, gravelly and silty loams from the glacial rock formation. This is a rugged wine country that produces wines that are completely distinct from the neighbouring Okanagan Valley. The varieties include Pinot Gris, Riesling, Chardonnay, Gamay Noir, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Zinfandel.

South Rock Vineyard – Golden Mile Bench

Located on the western slope south of Oliver, the Golden Mile Bench offers a unique climate and soil type, and was the first officially recognized sub-appellation in British Columbia. Its southerly latitude provides a warm climate, but its location on the west side brings morning rather than afternoon sunshine, making it cooler than its eastern neighbour. The soil is well-drained with gravel, clay, sand and is littered with large rocks from the eroding mountains to the west. Grapes grown are Gewürztraminer, Merlot, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon.

The Winemaker – Jeff Hundertmark

An award-winning Winemaker and Sommelier, Jeff relocated to British Columbia in 2017 after an illustrious career in Ontario, including Marynissen Estate Winery and Stoney Ridge Estate Winery, where he was able to produce Estate wines as well as the successful celebrity brand for the Tragically Hip and his own label 100Marks.

The winemaking philosophy behind each bottle is something he takes very seriously. Jeff believes there is a place for wines to be cherished for years; as big age-worthy collectables, but also as important, there is a place for fresh wines ready for early consumption.

Harvest and Vintage 2021

“2021 was a vintage to challenge even the most skilled Farmers and Winemakers.

Early in the growth cycle, we were clobbered with a heatwave, the so-called Heat Dome, with temperatures hitting the 45-50° C mark, up and down the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys. This caused the vines to shut down and delayed cluster development. The result was smaller tight clusters with tons of everything good! Sugar % was higher, acid % was higher and tannins were higher. The only problem was very low yields. The accountants are not going to be happy this year!

Another yearly event was the wildfires. Normally, smoke from wildfires doesn’t affect the taste
in grapes if the smoke happens in June or July but, like this year, we had smoke present in some areas of the Okanagan valley well into veraison, which is not good. For the viticulturalists, the sunshine had a hard time reaching the clusters to aid in flavour development and ripeness, so they had to open the canopy a little (leaf removal), but not too much so as to expose the grapes to intense heat and not allowing the inevitable ash from settling on the clusters instead of the leaves. Harvesting at just the right phenolic ripeness and Brix levels was key too which is explained in the cellar by winemaking decisions.

In the Cellar, on the crush pad and in the laboratories, we were all frantically getting samples of grapes to labs to determine levels of guaiacol and 4-methyl guaiacol and creosol (the phenolic components which create “smoke taint”). Those precursor tests, helped us to determine the course of action in winemaking. For the most part, we were fortunately spared bad news, and in the cases of moderate exposure, we were able to easily treat the fermentations by employing Carbonic Maceration, to reduce the contact of juice to skins during fermentation. We also limited grape maceration periods and often went direct to press with the grapes so that we didn’t extract any of the phenols into the resulting wine. Overall, we feel confident that these pre-emptive techniques saved us from having to do any drastic measures down the road, such as reverse osmosis.”

Jeff Hundertmark – Director of Winemaking, Mt. Boucherie Estate Winery

The Modest Butcher

It was a cool January day when we visited The Modest Butcher for lunch. This restaurant is located within a very modern architecture style building with marvellous views of the surrounding vineyards and lake.

Chef Dan Carkner leads his team into culinary success with verve, creativity and modesty. The Modest Butcher features classic wines from around the world to complement the Mt Boucherie winery’s award-winning portfolio.

The meats are sourced from within a reasonable radius and we support Okanagan producers as best we can. Sometimes something great might come from somewhere else, so we serve that – ‘cause it’s great!

Dan Carkner

The restaurant is known for its steaks, but for lunch, we decided to explore other parts of the menu. The duck and chicken dishes were elegantly prepared and tasted mouthwatering.

• DUCK CONFIT A L’ORANGE – Cassoulet-style beluga lentils, double smoked bacon, herbes du Provence, roasted heirloom carrots, hardy greens, spiced orange gastrique.
• CRISPY CHICKEN SANDWICH – Marinated chicken doused in Butcher’s spice, roast garlic mayo, house pickles, classic slaw, grilled black sesame seed bun. With freedom fries and truffle mayo.

Here is the link to The Modest Butcher Menu and to book a reservation.

The Wines

Mt. Boucherie Rosé 2021 ($24.99)

This is a field blend of Zweigelt, Gewürztraminer and Pinot Noir from the estate in West Kelowna. The skins were cold-soaked for 18 hours and the wine fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeast.

The bone-dry wine has the aromas of strawberry and watermelon. There is a hint of spice on the palate along with flavours of Mandarin orange and strawberry. 90 Points.

Mt. Boucherie Mt.Bubbles  ($24.99)

This 100% Chardonnay comes from our Lost Horn vineyard in Okanagan Falls. This unique site, with its cooler climate and rocky soils, gives this bubbly its necessary verve.

11.5% Alcohol. A dry style of sparkling made “Frizzante” style. This wine is full of vibrant acidity, with citrus and green apple aromas. Flavours of crisp green apple, Meyer lemon and hints of white peach with vibrant acidity and minerality. 90 Points

Perfect as an aperitif or with light, clean dishes, summer salads with goat cheese, shellfish and oysters.

Mt. Boucherie Reserve Merlot 2019 ($34.99)

The 2019 Reserve Merlot was farmed at Lost Horn Vineyard in Okanagan Falls, South Rock Vineyard on the Golden Mile Bench, and Lazy River Vineyard in South Cawston. These vineyards were planted in 1990, 1993, and 1998 respectively. 

The full-bodied wine has vibrant aromas of black fruit and a hint of mint and tobacco leaf. On the palate blackberry, blueberry, cigar and dark chocolate with smooth tannins and a lengthy finish. 92 Points

The wine pairs well with Steak and Duck L’Orange.

Here is the link to purchase Mt. Boucherie wines.

Future Plans

Comments by Jeff Hundertmark

References

1. B.C. wine exports to China holding their own, Globe and Mail, June 19, 2019