There is nothing quite like a spur-of-the-moment Winery lunch when you live in wine country. It was a cloudy day on our first visit, but this didn’t stop our enthusiasm for a wine tasting at Arrowleaf Cellars.
The Lake Country winery is in a picturesque spot with stunning grounds for summer picnics. It offers a fantastic view of the vineyards leading down to Lake Okanagan.
Arrowleaf gets its name from the yellow-blossomed Okanagan sunflower. Ninety percent of the winery’s grapes come from Lake Country.
Margrit Zuppiger owns the winery with her winemaker son, Manuel. The Zuppigers came to Canada from Switzerland in 1986. Eleven years later, they bought a vineyard in Lake Country, where they opened their winery in 2003.
Arrowleaf now has 16 acres at our estate vineyard and oversees another 30 acres in the area. The Arrowleaf wine portfolio has almost quadrupled since the beginning, producing more than a dozen wines annually and approximately 16,000 cases.
The Wines
The Pinot Gris grapes grow in Lake Country, nestled between Wood Lake, Kalamalka Lake and the northern part of Okanagan Lake. The lakes moderate the often extreme summer temperatures, making this area especially suitable for the pinot varieties. The growing season stays frost-free until late fall, allowing the grapes to ripen slowly and produce subtle flavours while retaining plenty of natural acidities. The wine is aged in stainless steel to create a crisp, fruit-forward Pinot Gris.
The Bacchus grape was officially classified in 1972 at the German research station of Geilweilerhof, where the variety was created by mating a Riesling/Sylvaner cross with Müller-Thurgau. Only 50 acres of Bacchus grow in BC. The result is a cool-climate grape that ripens early with good sugar, an exotic fragrance, good acidity and a dominant peach flavour.
Gewürztraminer has always been one of Arrowleaf’s specialities. It is well suited to Lake Country vineyards, where a cool climate and a long growing season bring out the best in this complex variety. The wine is richly aromatic and full-bodied with a bouquet of grapefruit, passion fruit and rose petal. The off-dry wine went exceptionally well with the Farm House Charcuterie plate we shared.
The food was excellent, and a visit to Helmut’s Sausage Kitchen in Kelowna, the meat source for the Charcuterie, is a must. The Boerenkaas cheese from Natural Pastures Cheese Co, in Courtenay, was also first-class. Arrowleaf also specializes in French-style pastries, primarily cream puffs made with quality ingredients. The cream puff flavours change often and may include Black Forest, Hazelnut Chocolate Praline, and Passionfruit Vanilla.
Arrowleaf Pinot Gris 2023
The Pinot Gris for the 2023 vintage was grown in Okanagan Valley vineyards:
- 31% Savard Vines, Summerland,
- 31% Arrowleaf Estate, Lake Country,
- 24% Wendell Vineyard, Lake Country,
- 14% Ritchie Vineyard, Lake Country,
Technical Spec: Alcohol 13.7%/ TA 5.3 g/l / RS 4.4 g/l
Subtle aromas of peach skin, red apple, lemon, honeysuckle and white tea. Smooth textured mouthfeel with flavours of red apple and ripe peach. Pleasant level of minerality on the finish. 91 Points
Arrowleaf Field Collection 2020
This wine is a blend of Auxerrois, Riesling and Gewürztraminer grown in Lake Country, BC. These Germanic/Alsatian grape varieties thrive in the cooler parts of the Okanagan and in many of the province’s emerging wine regions. They are widely planted in Lake Country and produce crisp, fragrant wines.
This white blend opens with ripe melon, quince and floral aromas and is crisp and aromatic.
Flavours of green apple, white peach and grapefruit with a touch of salt on the finish. 88 Points
It is ideal on its own, as an aperitif or alongside light summer meals.
Arrowleaf Archive Pinot Noir 2020
The premium Pinot Noir is blended from the best vintage grapes and aged in the finest oak.
2020 was a year of ups and downs in the vineyard. A hot stretch of winter weather started the year off pleasantly until an arctic cold front moved in, damaging many of the fruitful buds on the vines. This resulted in a 40% reduction in overall yield. The silver lining, of course, is that with reduced yield generally comes exceptional quality. It turned out that the vines needed a light load this vintage as the summer and fall were more fabulous than normal, causing the fruit to ripen late. All in all, 2020 is a stellar but scarce vintage.
The grapes were harvested in multiple batches in mid-October at a ripeness level suited to the production of elegant Pinot Noir. The grapes were destemmed, partially crushed and fermented with a low dose of yeast to allow wild yeast naturally present on the grapes to co-exist in the early part of fermentation. After primary fermentation, the wine was moved to premium French oak barrels for malo-lactic fermentation and aging. It was bottled in late 2021 and aged another nine months before release.
A rich example of Pinot Noir with aromas of black cherry, raspberry, rose petal and well-integrated oak components. Flavours of ripe cherry with earthy undertones and silky tannins that will age gracefully. 91 Points.
Check out Arrowleaf Cellars the next time you are in Lake Country.
Here is the link to purchase wineries directly.
Note: The original 2015 article was updated when we visited the winery for a summer picnic in 2024.