With so many Sheltering in Place over the past few months and unable to enjoy the Hester Creek experience in person, we have launched a series of fun and informative videos of what is happening at our estate, which we are continuing throughout the coming year.
FROM OUR CELLAR TO YOURS
– VIRTUAL TASTINGS WITH THE WINEMAKING TEAM! –
Looking for a great wine for a Wednesday night, or pretty much any other night? Join our winemakers for background and tips on our recent releases in this series of short videos that discusses how the wines were made.
SYRAH VIOGNIER VIRTUAL WINE TASTING WITH WINEMAKERS MARK HOPLEY AND REBECCA RUGGERI
Join our winemakers Mark Hopley and Rebecca Ruggeri as they discuss why this co-fermented blend of 83% Syrah and 17% Viognier is such a pretty match with earthy, spicy, and peppery meeting floral richness. Crafted with fruit from our Golden Mile Bench estate and a longtime grower on the Black Sage Bench, this northern Rhone inspired classic has found its place in the New World. Aged predominately in American barrels, we love the smoky, bacon and vanilla characteristics that American oak imparts. Incredibly versatile, try with a bbq or for a vegetarian dish with mushrooms or eggplant. À votre santé!
2018 SYRAH-VIOGNIER
New label – same fabulous wine!
Vineyard Notes
The 2018 growing season was one of the most tumultuous in the last 20 years, with Growing Degree Days (GDD) totaling 1575, essentially at the 10 year average, however the year was anything but average. The season started slowly with cool spring temperatures delaying our typical budbreak. This was followed by rapid, record setting heat in late April and May with growth going into overdrive and thus flowering occurring earlier than usual. Dry conditions during flowering brought an excellent fruit set with heavy, though well-balanced, bunch development. The early summer months were quite typical for the Okanagan – warm and dry. However, a cool, early fall slowed ripening down. The cooler than normal autumn temperatures allowed grape maturity to finish with elegant acidity, great complexity and fantastic flavour development. With conditions varying considerably throughout the year, viticulturalists needed to adapt management practices quickly, to ensure 2018 would be an exceptional year.
THE JUDGE VIRTUAL WINE TASTING WITH WINEMAKERS MARK HOPLEY AND REBECCA RUGGERI
Uncork a bottle of our flagship Bordeaux style wine with winemakers Mark Hopley and Rebecca Ruggeri. A classic blend of almost equal parts Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, the Judge is a powerful red made with handpicked grapes from our historic Golden Mile Bench vineyard. Crafted with fruit from some of our original 1968 plantings, the more concentrated flavours of these old vines sees it’s way into the best lots in our cellar. Mark and Rebecca judge from among our best barrels of the 2017 vintage for our iconic red. Aged in primarily French oak and built to cellar gracefully, the wine can also be enjoyed now. They recommend pairing with char-grilled steak, roasted portobello mushrooms, or try for a rich and decadent chocolate mousse cake. Sweet!
2017 THE JUDGE
Tasting Notes
A classic blend of almost equal parts Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, the Judge is a powerful, yet elegant Bordeaux style red that is built to age gracefully. Aromas of anise, cedar, dark cherry and blackberry greet the nose. Youthful tannins show initially on the palate, followed by dark chocolate, Italian plum, and Negronne fig, with a lengthy finish. If enjoying young, decanting is recommended. Pair with a slow roasted leg of lamb and morel mushrooms jus.
Vineyard Notes
The 2017 growing season was one of marked contrasts, overall however it was an outstanding year. The season commenced with above normal precipitation, resulting in rapid early vine growth, which necessitated increased grapevine canopy management in late spring. The wet spring was followed by a classic Okanagan summer of hot, dry weather. This provided ideal growing conditions for superior vine growth and berry development and ensured the grapes reached full phenolic ripeness. Growing Degree Days continued their above average trend totaling 1422 (GDDs) for 2017, well above the 13 year average of 1054 for the Oliver area. Harvest commenced in late September for our whites. The red varieties were harvested in October where the warm days and crisp, cool nights assisted in fully developing grape flavours, while also retaining their acidity. All grapes were harvested by hand to maximize fruit intensity.Winemaker Notes
Handpicked from our Golden Mile Bench estate vineyard, the fruit for this vintage comes from some of our original 1968 plantings. The grapes were destemmed leaving berries intact and the small lots were then fermented in our Ganimede Italian fermenters in separate batches. These unique tanks gently extract colour, tannin and aromatics. Following an extended fermentation, the resulting wine is pressed, the juice fractions are separated, and the best lots are judged. The wine was aged in medium to medium plus toast oak barrels for 12 months and then cross blended and allowed to harmoniously age another year prior to bottling. The Judge is a bold red, which beautifully displays the historic terroir on which it is grown.
RESERVE MERLOT VIRTUAL WINE TASTING WITH WINEMAKERS MARK HOPLEY AND REBECCA RUGGERI
A wine that pays hommage to its place, the grapes for our premium Merlot are handpicked from our Golden Mile Bench estate and then hand-sorted, destemmed and whole berry fermented. Winemakers Mark Hopley and Rebecca Ruggeri discuss the TLC behind making this wine and the benefits of a slow fermentation in our unique Italian Ganimede fermenters, with its ability for naturally softer fruit, colour and tannin extraction. Aged mostly in French oak barrels, imparts a pleasing subtleness to the oak integration, allowing the beautifully ripe fruit to show through. They suggest trying the versatile and food friendly 2018 vintage with roast duck, vegetarian lasagna or grilled zucchini.
2018 RESERVE MERLOT
Tasting Notes
A Merlot that is worthy of our Reserve tier, with lifted aromas of sagebrush, roasted fennel, bright cherry and light toast. The palate coalesces around cocoa, ripe cherry, and clove. Beautifully structured, with round tannins and a lengthy finish. An attractive and versatile wine that pairs well with a marbled ribeye or try a vegetarian roasted butternut squash and fennel soup with fried sage.
Ratings
90 points ~ Rick VanSickle, winesinniagara.com, 91 points ~ John Schreiner
Vineyard Notes
The 2018 growing season was one of the most tumultuous in the last 20 years, with Growing Degree Days (GDD) totaling 1575, essentially at the 10 year average, however the year was anything but average. The season started slowly with cool spring temperatures delaying our typical budbreak. This was followed by rapid, record setting heat in late April and May with growth going into overdrive and thus flowering occurring earlier than usual. Dry conditions during flowering brought an excellent fruit set with heavy, though well-balanced, bunch development. The early summer months were quite typical for the Okanagan – warm and dry. However, a cool, early fall slowed ripening down. The cooler than normal autumn temperatures allowed grape maturity to finish with elegant acidity, great complexity and fantastic flavour development. With conditions varying considerably throughout the year, viticulturalists needed to adapt management practices quickly, to ensure 2018 would be an exceptional year.
Winemaker Notes
The grapes for this vintage were hand-harvested from Block 2 on our Golden Mile Bench estate vineyard. The Block is almost 25 years old, planted with vines that are Pomerol clone 181 and clone 184, and are truly coming into their own. The fruit was destemmed and left whole to gently ferment in our Italian Ganimede fermenters. After the desired aromas, colour and flavour extraction, we pressed and then encouraged malolactic fermentation. Aged for 16 months mostly in French barrels, the wine shows a harmonious integration of the fruit and oak.
View past YouTube Hester Creek Winemaker videos here.
Information, videos, and images courtesy of the winery.
