The 2022 season began with a cool, extended spring, resulting in later-than-average bud break and flowering. The good harvest news is that the fall weather was amazing with record-breaking temperatures. In general, the yields are finally back to normal after several down years. The grapes have ripened to an absolute classic level and the wines have amazing acidity and flavour.
Many thanks to the winemakers and wineries that provided input for our first 2022 harvest article:
- Four Shadows Vineyard & Winery
- 1 Mill Road Winery
- Summerhill Pyramid Winery
- Spearhead Winery
- TIME Family of Wines
- Osoyoos Larose
- Blue Grouse Estate Winery
- Howling Bluff Winery
- Blasted Church Winery
- Deep Cove Winery
Naramata
Wilbert Borren|Four Shadows Vineyard & Winery
Another really interesting year! The 2022 season began with a cool, extended spring, resulting in later-than-average bud break and flowering. This put our season about 2-3 weeks behind schedule, but fortunately, the weather this fall has been nothing short of amazing, allowing proper ripening throughout our vineyard.
We have seen a return to average fruit yield after a couple of years of lower-yielding crops. Irrigation this year was a bit of a challenge with the prolonged dry weather well into the fall. The fruit on our vines this season is just gorgeous- we’re seeing very clean, beautiful clusters. Brix levels are generally lower than those of our 2021 fruit, but our season will be wrapping up very shortly if the weather continues to hold.
We are scratching our heads over a few curiosities as we begin to harvest. Typically, we can count on Chardonnay to be the first of our six varietals to ripen, and every year since 2011 we have concluded harvest with our latest-ripening red, Merlot. However, this year’s harvest began on October 13th with Merlot, and Chardonnay was on the vine until October 17th.
Similarly, the two different blocks of Riesling ripened opposite to what we usually anticipate. The steep upper slope of our property is planted with about 4 acres of Riesling. We also have a small planting of Riesling at the bottom of our vineyard, just along Upper Bench Road. Most years, the Riesling up top is harvested first, often 4-5 days prior to the lower vineyard. While it is all still currently on the vine as of today (October 17 th ) we will be harvesting the lower block of Riesling later this week, followed by the upper block.
Our vineyard crew is certainly enjoying the beautiful mild temperatures, and we are thankful and blessed for another beautiful crop. This year, we are putting to use our brand-new crush pad, and have started crushing and pressing our own fruit for the first time. By doing this on-site for ourselves, we have greater flexibility to harvest exactly what and when we want. This year we will be keeping a limited amount of our Pinot Blanc fruit for the first time. Stay tuned for more on that.
It has been a great year and we look forward to the rest of our harvest!
Here is the link to purchase Four Shadows wines and more information on the winery – Four Shadows 2022 Releases
Ben Bryant | 1 Mill Road Winery
A very cool and slow start to the 2022 growing season presented below-average temperatures, causing some concern about the anticipation of this year’s vintage. Thankfully, this slow start was overshadowed by a spectacular August to mid-October, with above-average degree days and abundant sunshine.
The reward for us has been Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with amazing acidity and flavour. We’re very excited about the prospect of what we have in the winery.
Here is the link to purchase 1 Mill Road wine and more information on the winery
Luke Smith | Howling Bluff Winery
With another hard winter and after two somewhat challenging and lower crop harvests the long cool spring and late start to summer had us skeptical even in August. We were thinking of low-sugar and high-acid wines.
Our nerves eased through September and harvest finally started later than usual and have now been completed in a short window by the end of October. The more than perfect conditions this last month helped the grapes ripen to an absolute classic level. We’re very excited to share these wines starting with our whites and rosé next spring.
Here is the link to purchase Howling Bluff wines and more information on the winery – Howling Bluff Estate Winery for Pinot Noir
Penticton / Okanagan Falls
Lynzee Schatz |TIME Family of Wines
There was a bit of uncertainty in the growing season but we made it there; the Okanagan is called a wine region for a reason!
It was wet and cold at the beginning of September which again cast a bit of doubt, but the above-average September and October weather pulled us through to ripen this 2022 crop. Yields are back where they should be and the quality of flavours is on point.
My crew has been keen to get going and while last year we finished harvest Oct 14th, this year that’s mainly when it all started – aside from bubbles.
Whites and reds started flying in from October 15th onwards and likely last for the next 2-3 weeks as we will be fighting colder weather by the end of October!
Vineyards are resilient and are looking great considering the year they’ve been given.
Here is the link to purchase the Time Family of Wines – Chronos, Evolve Cellars, McWatters Collection and TIME Wines.
Evan Saunders | Blasted Church Vineyards
The 2022 growing season got off to a slow start.
We were a couple of weeks behind straight out of the gate. Months of steady, warm, dry weather had us all feeling like we closed the gap a bit, but with the first picks pushed back towards late September, it quickly became clear that we hadn’t caught up at all!
Thankfully, an amazing stretch of warm, dry days through September and into mid-October has pushed the fruit through and we are seeing some amazing quality across the board.
The wines of the 2022 vintage will have vibrant acidity, a beautiful fruit profile, and a strong potential for ageing. It will be a very distinct vintage that should yield some exceptional wines.
Here is the link to purchase Blasted Church wines.
Kelowna
Michael Alexander | Summerhill Pyramid Winery
After a difficult cold wet spring, the weather improved so the 2022 vintage should be better than most with the grapes having high acidity. This should deliver crisp fruity white wines and as the warm fall weather lasted well into October the reds will be age-worthy.
Here is the link to purchase Summerhill Pyramid wine.
Jennifer Tocher|Spearhead Winery
During autumn each year we extend the invitation to our club members to participate in our grape harvest. Spending time with our Vineyard Manager, Lisa Janzen in the field for about an hour of labour, followed by a tour of the winery observing the winemaking process with Winemaker, Grant Stanley. Following this, their efforts are rewarded with an educational tasting of some of our limited-production wines. This is a complimentary event and is wine club exclusive (RSVPs necessary).
Typically this event happens on Thanksgiving weekend and the rows picked by our members are usually the last few rows of our East Kelowna harvest. We proceeded with the event over the Thanksgiving weekend this year and for a change, those grapes were the first grapes to come into the winery. With our spring being cool and damp the vines were delayed by about 3-4 weeks overall. The extended warmth and sunshine in September and October have allowed us to reach our desired level of Brix on our home estate as well as on the vineyards we source from. Due to winter damage in January 2022, our crop yield is well below normal, but the fruit that we are getting is beautiful (ripe tannins and great pulp-to-skin ratio).
The effect on our crop this year does mean lower bottlings of our favourite wines next year, so the public will want to buy these promptly to avoid disappointment.
Here is the link to purchase Spearhead wine and more information on the winery – SpearHead for Cool-Climate Pinot Noir
Osoyoos
Michael Kullman | Osoyoos Larose Winery
The coldest and wettest spring in 15 years pushed back bud burst by roughly 10 days to 2 weeks. Budburst at Osoyoos Larose is usually around the 25th of April in the Merlot, but this year it came at the end of the first week of May.
The cool May and June continued to slow the growth of the vine. Good weather over flowering in the Merlot meant we had a great fruit set. However, rain over flowering in the Cabernets means we have a lighter Cabernet crop.
A hot and dry July produced small berries and loose bunches. August was the hottest on record and caused the vines to slow down.
A cool start to September meant we were very nervous about ripening the Cabernet. However, the warm and dry end of September and beginning of October mean we have a beautiful crop with fantastic flavours and great balance. Picking started 2 weeks later than 2021 but like 2020 and 2019.
We started picking the Merlot on the 28th of September and the Cabernet started on the 19th of October. The first Merlot tanks have finished fermentation. An elegant vintage with lovely fresh fruit and ripe tannins.
Vancouver Island
Bailey Williamson | Blue Grouse Estate Winery
2022: without the beautiful autumn we would have been screwed, it was the only thing that saved us from not harvesting.
The physiology of grapes is finite and no amount of heat dome or anything will compensate for a very late start to their development. Those without the ability to irrigate for the last 3 months will have unhappy plants, just as our bodies need water so do plants.
The late autumn smoke did not have an impact as it was too high in the atmosphere and did not come to the Island like perhaps in other areas. Now that rain is in the forecast, we are trying to get everything in.
Based on what we see, it will be a delicate vintage, with low alcohols and nuanced aromas.
Here is the link to purchase Blue Grouse Estate wines and more information on the latest releases – Blue Grouse Estate Winery and Quill new releases
Elyse Ramadan | Deep Cove Winery
From the non-stop rain of spring to the late blooming of our vineyard, staffing shortage to the sudden onset of harvest, 2022 quickly reigned its flag as a new contender for a stressful year to manage. However, there was a significant balance when mother nature decided to provide us with record-breaking September and October heat. We were fortunate enough to let our fruit hang just a bit longer to offset the late spring start and balance our grape profiles.
Now that all the wines are in the tank and happily fermenting away, we are excited to hurry up and wait to see what 2022 has produced. It was a challenging year in the vineyard with constant demands and strategy meetings but it was worth it at harvest.
Here is the link to purchase Deep Cove wines.