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This is the second in our BC Harvest 2022 series.  To read about the winemaker’s comments in our first article see Winemaker’s thoughts on BC Harvest 2022. 2022 will be an excellent BC vintage.

“The fall weather has enabled full ripeness in terms of sugars and tannins, with incredible acidity and flavours.“

Rob Hammersley – Black Market Wine Co.

The 2022 vintage will be remembered for its great quality, larger yields and intense flavours.

Mark Hopley- Hester Creek Estate Winery

Many thanks to all the winemakers that have contributed to these articles:

• Horseshoe Found Winery
• Township 7
• Vasanti Estate Winery
• Ciao Bella Winery
• Black Market Wine Co.
• Sunnybrae Vineyards & Winery
• Hester Creek Estate Winery

Similkameen Valley

Pavel & Michaela Horak| Horak Horseshoe Found Winery

A wet, cold spring lasting until June (nothing like we remember before), started a four-week delay for the season. We noticed the early growth in red grapes – Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon was significantly delayed. We had to be quick on our feet, as the dampness and coldness changed fast into a prolonged humid and warm period bringing on a mildew challenge on the Gewurztraminer block.

As an organically treated vineyard, the solutions for the disease are limited and not as effective as conventional growers have. Fortunately, we caught up and the weather stabilized. Now we entered an intensely warm, sunny and dry period which helped ripen the grapes nicely until late October. Unprecedented warmth. We would say those white varieties, which would have ripened earlier, and would be harvested earlier in other years, ripened later and close to early ripening red varieties. So there was no time to relax.

We picked Gewurztraminer late in the last days of September and the first days of October, compared to last year when we picked in the first half of September. Right after we went on to pick Pinot Noir grapes, as the parameters were good. We had to make room, as our space is limited, for fermenting in stainless steel tanks. Overall we were happy with how Pinot Noir turned out. Nice full clusters and good ripeness. The Gewurztraminer turned fine, but the clusters were smaller in size than last year. 

Here is the link to purchase Horseshoe Found wine and more information on the winery – Horseshoe Found Winery in the Similkameen

Naramata

Mary McDermott | Township 7

It has been quite an intense harvest this year. It seems that everything is now ready all at once.

I believe the quality of the fruit is good and we are also getting much better yields than we have in the previous 3 years.

The beautiful weather of August, September and October has helped the grapes ripen. We were initially concerned that we were behind with the cool and wet spring resulting in late flowering and fruit set but, in the end, the weather in these last few months saved the year for us.

Sugars are good and not too high as they can be some years and acids have been nicely maintained. We have achieved full tannin ripeness on our Blue Terrace Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

We had a particularly good harvest in Langley with higher yields and beautiful fruit for making our seven stars, Sirius.

It almost seemed like 2 harvests for us this year, a sparkling harvest and then the rest all at once. This has resulted in lots of long, intense hours. Nonetheless, I am pleased with the quality this year and we managed to avoid much of the disease pressure that was present in some areas at the beginning of the season.

Here is the link to purchase Township 7 wines and more information on the latest releases – More vibrant 2022 Releases from Township 7 and A trio of seven stars sparklers from Township 7

West Kelowna

Roberto P. Fiume | Ciao Bella Winery

Every year is interesting and unique in its own way and this year didn’t disappoint!

What started out as a rainy cool spring (resulting in a smaller yield) turned into a gorgeous summer, hot but not extreme, followed by an amazing fall that allowed our fruit to ripen and develop wonderfully with colour and flavours that are turning into a great vintage! Antonio and I are busy in the Cantina (cellar) and enjoy working with these amazing grapes. 

Here is the link to purchase Ciao Bella Wine.

Oliver and Osoyoos

Davinder Sidhu| Vasanti Estate Winery

2022 was a very interesting year that had some ups and downs like a rollercoaster. The season started around 2-3 weeks behind regular due to the delayed bud-break. Our team was quite worried when this was followed by more rain than usual in May and June. We also didn’t see the typical warm temperatures during those months which didn’t help things catch up during the summer months. Luckily, things were warmer and dry afterwards.

We made the decision to be slightly more aggressive than usual for the crop thinning this season, especially in our premium red blocks in Osoyoos. This was our focus in case the temperature cools down quickly again in September and October. The last thing we wanted was grapes that aren’t ripening to the levels we expect to make a high-quality wine. Fortunately, we were hit with a warm September and October which every grower we know is thankful for! These lead to some amazing quality grapes that exceeded Brix expectations and were comparable to our historical numbers!

We were able to harvest our Pinot Gris and Gamay Noir at the Paradise Block in Oliver at the end of September. We were pleased that the Brix levels were normal but the harvest was about 7-10 days behind the norm. Our Merlot at this location took about 10-14 days longer than usual to reach our desired Brix level for harvest. The Gamay noir vines are younger so we do have some concerns as the vines are shutting down for dormancy much later than the usual growing year. We are hoping that the temperatures don’t drop too quickly and that the vines can shut down beforehand. Overall, we are quite pleased that all the varieties were able to meet and exceed expectations based on the start of this growing season!

For our West Bench block in Osoyoos, BC, we harvested some of our Cabernet Sauvignon for rosé in early October. The remaining Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested about 2 weeks later. The grapes were able to ripen above-expected Brix levels with a favourable flavour profile as well. We have done some tank tastings which were exceptional. We CAN’T WAIT to see the final products.

We are still anticipating the harvest of our East Bench block which plays host to our premium Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The Brix levels are close to historical levels and we expect to pick some time in the next 7-10 days. This block was able to catch up quicker than the rest of our blocks due to the high level of growing degree days here. We are excited to see how a warmer than usual September and October will influence the flavour profile of the wines. Stay tuned for these releases!

Our longtime friend, Jason Parkes, has been along our side since we first planted these vineyards. His experience with our vineyards has been vital in making exceptional wines. 

Overall, Jason and our team are very pleased that this year turned out to be exceptional due to the warm Fall weather. We can’t wait to share these wines in the Spring of 2023! Visit our website (www.vasantiwines) or social media (@Vasantiwines) to make sure you don’t miss out on the first releases of our wines.

Kaleden
Rob Hammersley | Black Market Wine Co.

We saw both sides of Mother Nature this year!

After a couple of challenging vintages in the valley, 2022 wasn’t off to a great start either. Extreme cold in the winter caused some varied bud damage throughout the valley. The cool and wet spring led to delayed bud break and an overall lag of about 3 weeks compared to a “normal” season. Although the summer was beautiful…hot and dry…we entered September concerned about sufficient time to ripen some of the red varieties. 

Then the most amazing weather for September and October came our way, and it literally saved the vintage! We started our harvest in early October with our estate Bacchus and will pick our last batch of Syrah in early November. The fall weather has enabled full ripeness in terms of sugars and tannins, with incredible acidity and flavours. We’re really excited to see what comes from the 2022 vintage. 

Here is the link to purchase Black Market Wine and more information on the winery – Black Market Wine Co. releases 2019 Reds & Bubbles

Shuswap

James Clark | Sunnybrae Vineyards & Winery

Like most in the province a late start to the season with bud break occurring around 10-12 days later than average. A harsh winter spell in December bringing some bud damage to our whites led to reactionary pruning and consequently a lot of shoots thinning in the summer – it was a very busy season!

The delayed summer followed through into veraison so whites remained on the vine a lot longer than usual. We were very thankful for 2 beautiful weeks of sun and warmth through the beginning of October so although harvest kicked off late, things had a chance to catch up.

Harvest began at the very end of September (a week or so later than most years), oddly followed up by Marechal Foch in mid-October, which tends to come in 4^th or 5^th (of 5 varieties). From there the end-of-season deadline and the threat of “bad” weather lead to a flurry of harvesting with Ortega coming in the 19^th/20^th, our Pinot on the 21^st and finally our Kerner on the 26^th/27^th.

All in all a rather compressed harvest season! Clean fruit, some great yields and an interesting mix of sugar and acidity levels across our varieties. Smaller berry size across the board though and some lovely flavours developing in the wines. I particularly look forward to blending with the whites this year!

Here is the link to purchase Sunnybrae wines and more information on the winery – Sunnybrae Vineyards & Winery for Redneck Red.

Oliver Golden Mile

Mark Hopley|Hester Creek Estate Winery

The 2022 Harvest is shaping up to be one of the longest in recent memory. Following back-to-back smaller harvests in 2020 and 2021, the vineyards this season are yielding great quality and plenty of quantity. Harvest in the south Okanagan was slow to start, with low pHs and low sugars early on in September. The extremely warm, dry fall came along at just the right time for our grapes to reach phenolic ripeness and intense flavours. The whites show good aromatics and the reds have a nice intensity of colour and mouth weight. Late in the season, the weather turned cold and the remaining grapes concentrated with impressive flavours.

We started harvest on September 9^th with components for our Ti Amo Prosecco style sparkling wine and will likely continue late into November with some remaining Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The 2022 vintage will be remembered for its great quality, larger yields and intense flavours.

Here is the link to purchase Hester Creek Wine and more information on the latest releases – Fall Wines from Hester Creek