Dirty Laundry Vineyard introduces the 2022 BC White vintage.
I have been fortunate to have enjoyed Dirty laundry wines since 2016 and I can confirm the consistent quality of this vintage. Dirty Laundry Vineyards is one of our go-to wineries when we have friends or family visiting the Okanagan Valley. Can’t wait for summer, relaxing on the patio and enjoying the wines and the view of the vineyard and the Kettle Valley railroad.
Before we go to the new wines, here are the winemaker’s notes on the 2022 season and harvest.
2022 Harvest
“The growing season in 2022 was slow to start, as April and May were colder and wetter than normal; this was followed by a very hot and dry July and August. Most of the time, when we have a slow start in the spring, we are able to catch up quickly with good weather in the summer. This was not the case in 2022, however, as when we went out into the vineyards in September, we were still 2 weeks behind. This made the whole winemaking team quite nervous. Thankfully, in the end, Mother Nature helped us out with one of the nicest fall seasons we have ever seen in the Okanagan. This warm and beautiful autumn saved the harvest and helped us make some extraordinary wines. They are very balanced and are highlighted by their fresh fruit profiles and amazing acidity.”
Mason Spink – Winemaker
Dirty Laundry Hush White 2022 ($19.99)
This blend has quickly become a fan favourite and the second wine to join the Hush family. This wine is meant to be fun, interesting and flavourful. All portions are fermented separately and the final blend is carefully chosen; all grapes are sourced from the estate Summerland Vineyards. A balanced blend of Gewürztraminer, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc makes up this very approachable, easy-drinking wine.
12.5% Alcohol / pH 3.35 / TA 6.5 / RS 4.1
The light and fruity summer sipper has a lovely aroma of apricot, Meyer lemon, honeycomb and floral notes from the Gew.
What first greets your tongue is an exciting effervescence followed by flavours of Key lime, Anjou pear, honey and orchard fruit. The 2022 blend is a touch drier than the previous vintage. 90 Points.
The suggested food pairing is soft creamy cheese, oysters or cream-based pasta with fresh seafood.
Dirty Laundry Sauvignon Blanc 2022 ($20.99)
100% Summerland Sauvignon Blanc picked in late September. The fruit was from two vineyards and the grapes were fermented separately with different yeasts to give blending options later. The fruit was de-stemmed and crushed and soaked on skins for 2 hours under C02 in the press before gently pressing off skins into stainless tanks.
Lees stirring in the stainless tanks was performed once daily during fermentation to build complexity and body. Fermentation temperatures were kept low to preserve the delicate aromatics of Sauvignon Blanc.
Alcohol 12%, pH 3.4, TA 6.9 gm/L, RS 2.23 gm/ L
A very pale lemon colour. A medium-bodied white with airy aromas of tropical fruit and citrus. The mouthfeel is crisp, fresh and fruity. Perfectly balanced acidity with flavours of pineapple, lemon, lime, mandarin orange, passion fruit and a touch of gooseberry. 91 Points.
Dirty Laundry Pinot Gris 2022
“100% Pinot Gris from several of the estate vineyards in Summerland. Our Pinot Gris gets very dark in colour during the ripening phase of our growing season, so to retain the crispness & have minimal colour, we press the juice off the skins right away & cold settle everything in tank for a few days before initiating fermentation. Usually showing notes of pear & grapefruit, we keep the fermentation temperatures relatively low to bring out interesting fruity esters & retain acidity. This is a well rounded representation of the most planted varietal in the Okanagan.”
Mason Spink
Alcohol 12% / pH 3.27 / TA 6.95 gm/L / RS 4.95 gm/ L
Light aromas of ripe apple and pear. Flavours of pineapple, golden apple, Anjou pear, nectarine and honeydew melon. A crisp lively Pinot Gris with a light creamy texture. 91 Points
Dirty Laundry Hush Rosé 2022
“The Hush Rosé is comprised of several varieties, primarily Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon. The juices are processed separately, and also at different times of our harvest season, to provide complexity and flexibility with the style. In previous vintages we have used skin-contact Pinot Gris to provide most of the colour in our Hush Rosé. In this vintage, with the use of only red grapes, all varietals were pressed with minimal skin contact, resulting in a pink blush colour. We ferment the juices at relatively cool temperatures, preserving aromatics, and then we rack off into stainless steel, where the wine settles until we blend. Blending is key to our wildly popular Rosé, and is definitely the highlight of cellar work each year.”
Mason Spink – Winemaker
An easy-drinking Rosé with aromas of strawberry and rhubarb. The palate is concentrated and fruity with flavours of strawberry, apricot, ripe red peach, watermelon, and balanced acidity on the finish. Perfect for a summer day on the patio. 90 Points
Dirty Laundry Pinot Noir 2021 ($28.99)
“With this years vintage of Pinot Noir we did very minimal amounts of cap management as we wanted to gently extract tannin, colour and flavour from the delicate Summerland fruit. What this means is that we turn the cap with forced air rather than doing punch downs during fermentation. Juice was pressed off skins after 2 weeks of initial fermentation.
We aged this Pinot Noir for 13 months in 25% new French oak and 75% neutral French oak. We then racked it out of barrel and finished it off in tank.”
Mason Spink
Alcohol 13.21% / pH 3.68 / TA 5.8 gm/L / RS 2.43 gm/ L
An easy drinking and fruit-forward pinot noir. Medium garnet in colour. Aromas of cherries, raspberries and a hint of clove and cedar. On the palate, black cherries, ripe raspberries, and plum with a hint of herbs. Silky smooth tannins lead to a lingering finish. 91 Points.
Dirty Laundry Kay Syrah 2020 ($29.99)
95% Syrah, 5% Viognier with award-winning Syrah fruit from Oliver. Co-fermented with Viognier skins that have already had the juice pressed off. This technique echoes Syrah and Viognier’s heritage in the Rhone Valley in France. The co-ferment with Viognier helps to develop certain flavours and characteristics of the Syrah grape. The final blend goes through malolactic fermentation before ageing in French and American Oak barrels for 18 months.
14% Alcohol / pH 3.59 / TA 6.5 / RS 2.3
Aromas of violet, black cherry, cloves and nutmeg. On the palate, the full-bodied wine shows more black cherry, plum and dark chocolate with a hint of cracked black pepper. Silky smooth tannins, a round mouthfeel with a sensual peppery finish. Will age a further 5 years+. 91 points.
To order these outstanding BC wines go to the Dirty Laundry Vineyard site.
Here are the links to the tasting notes for previous releases – 2021, 2020, 2018, 2017 and 2016.