The vinAmité Post
It’s hard to believe that we’re already well into August given the busy year we’ve experienced so far at vinAmité. Our 2014 release earlier this Spring is only our second vintage which numbered three times the amount of cases from our inaugural year of 2013 wines. That first vintage convinced us that the quality of our grapes and our tasty terroir could now deliver a line of fine wines offered in the same style of clean, fruit-forward and balanced wines, both whites and reds.
This season, we surpassed last year’s total case sales by the start of July. We’re now very close to sold out of our 2014 Chardonnay, 2014 Gamay Noir and 2014’s limited quantity of Hidden Corner. Our 2014 Compass is selling briskly, partly because of our Silver award recognition earlier in the year and mostly because it is just a great wine.
I can almost guarantee that our 2015 releases next year will be even more interesting, plus two new exciting additions, one quite rare, to be announced later. And then there’s our old-fashioned port style in five barrels, but that’s another story some four years away before first edition bottling, only one barrel a year.
We’re able to offer such a diversity of interesting boutique wines because of the small quantities that we offer our wine club members and customers. All our wines are handmade from small vineyard blocks where personal care is given to each plant. Our 18 year old vineyard, plant by plant, is slowly pruned by hand and followed through its growth cycle, each estate varietal different from the other here at Coulombe Vineyard. This a process that large wineries are incapable of managing by hand, given their large vineyards, motorized equipment and diverse crews of varying experience that are required.
Because our winery facilities are situated right at the foot of our vineyard, our grapes begin to turn to wine minutes after harvest, and their slow progress from juice to fermentation to resting place evolves in the barrel room deep under our tasting room. There, our wines await estate bottling at a later date on our crush pad.
But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself as this excellent growing season also continues to bring us wine lovers from as far as Nova Scotia in Canada and New York in the U.S., and far-flung enthusiasts from around the world who learn about our South Okanagan Wine Country and its bounty, now increasingly internationally recognized by wine cognoscenti, easy-going, discerning wine fans and foodies alike.
That’s why I like to say: Taste B.C. It’s supernaturally delicious.