“In the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.”
Lord Tennyson
This may be true but for BC Wine lovers we are much more interested in the new releases from our favourite wineries. So this is the first of the new release features that I know you will be looking forward to learning more about and tasting the wines for yourself.
Township 7
We have a singular focus. It’s about quality wine and nothing else.
The Benchmark Series is our standard for evaluating quality. Through meticulous winemaking, sustainable viticultural practices and deliberate vineyard site selection, we create distinctive wines echoing their unique terroir.
2019 seven stars Polaris
To sparkle: to be brilliant, lively or vivacious
TASTING NOTES
In honour of the North Star so prominent and bright in our sky, which has guided ships at sea for centuries, Polaris is the basis for our sparkling program, guiding the other members of the seven stars collection. Crafted in the traditional Méthode Champenoise style, the wine undergoes a secondary
fermentation or prise de mousse, where we literally “capture the sparkle” in the bottle. This time-honoured process contributes aromas of fresh baked biscuits, and enhances the bright fruit scents already
present in the wine of Granny Smith apple, peach and lime. The creamy mousse imparts a lovely full-bodied character, that is well-balanced with a crisp, clean finish.
STYLISTIC NOTES
Radiant and elegant, seven stars Polaris is a Blanc de Blancs Brut made from 100% unoaked Chardonnay. The grapes are handpicked with high natural acidity, which is maintained throughout extended time in bottle. Crafted with fruit from two premium south Okanagan vineyards, Hidden Terrace in north Oliver delivers Chardonnay with excellent phenolic ripeness early on, and our Naramata Bench estate provides ideal acidity and freshness to the finished wine. The wine was en tirage for 21 months to ensure the development of autolytic characters. After riddling, we disgorged and added our proprietary dosage for a beautifully complex sparkling wine with a depth of flavour. The wine was bottle aged for 9 months prior to release.
FOOD PAIRING
Polaris is ideal for celebrations as well as sipping with hors d’oeuvres and seafood. Try crab cakes, ceviche, calamari fritters, or grilled sea bass. It is also delicious with a vegetable terrine or Parmesan bread sticks.
VINTAGE REPORT
The winter of 2018/2019 started with an unseasonably warm January, followed by a cold February with some isolated vine and bud damage lowering the overall yield. A cool April brought a slow start to the season, however it warmed up by month’s end. May and June were the second hottest of the last two decades and resulted in average timing for budbreak and flowering, with standard vigour levels in the
spring. The vintage continued to be moderate with a smoke-free summer in July and August seeing average temperatures, with no heat spikes that would temporarily shut down vine growth. Extra vineyard management was required, as the peculiar winter conditions lead to primary, secondary and tertiary buds experiencing budbreak at different times. This produced variation in growth stages resulting in significant green harvesting and canopy management. On the flip side, the smoke-free year delivered bright sunlight with vines in good condition, progressing as normal.
September started warm and dry with many of the earlier ripening varieties harvested right on schedule for expected harvest dates. The second week of September had a weather change, becoming cooler with increased rainfall slowing ripening and drawing out the harvest for later ripening grape varieties. This resulted in slightly lower grape sugar levels, but allowed plenty of time for the tannins to develop. The
start of October saw the return to more typical dry conditions and moderate temperatures, with continued ripening until Thanksgiving weekend. An early frost affected many of the vineyards, with vines losing their leaves. Fortunately most of our sites avoided the frost, allowing the grapes to hang into late October.
The 2019 season was similar to recent years in growing degree days (GDD) but felt cooler as many of the GDD came earlier in the year. Overall, 2019 was a moderately cool vintage with wines showing juicy and vibrant fruit, crisp acidity, moderate alcohol levels and ripe tannins in the red wines.
Join the club and experience the sparkle!
2021 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc
TASTING NOTES
Our premium, single vineyard Reserve Sauvignon Blanc is bright and aromatic with vibrant aromas of passion fruit, honey, and boxwood. The palate follows through with gooseberry and citrus flavours, accented by a subtle toasted oak. The finish displays a roundness enhanced by the lees contact.
STYLISTIC NOTES
This vintage is crafted with fruit from our estate Blue Terrace Vineyard in north Oliver. Its stony soils retain heat throughout the cool September evenings allowing the fruit to thoroughly ripen and provides a distinct minerality to the grapes. This 100% barrel fermented, and aged (7 months) Sauvignon Blanc is fermented in 15% new and 85% neutral French oak barrels all coming from the Bordeaux region. Lees stirring occurred weekly during fermentation on both batches contributing to the full mouthfeel and balancing the crisp acidity.
FOOD PAIRING
Wonderfully structured, this Reserve Sauvignon Blanc is excellent as an apéritif or enjoy with fresh shellfish with a citrus mignonette, balsamic braised Brussel sprouts or Risotto and bitter greens.
VINTAGE REPORT
The 2021 vintage is considered one of the most challenging growing seasons we have seen in the British Columbia wine industry. The warm spring led to an extremely hot and dry summer. Record temperatures were set across the province and challenged us to keep the vines cool and watered. The heat dome struck the province just as the berries set and bunches were swelling, shutting the growth down. This resulted in much lower crop levels, varying by location, from 10-50% down. The lower yields meant earlier ripening and we started harvesting Chardonnay for sparkling August 24th and completed our reds harvest October 14th, well ahead of usual.
We also had challenges with local smoke in certain south Okanagan regions. Most growers were unscathed, however a few vineyards in Okanagan Falls and Osoyoos were affected by smoke taint, as they were extremely close to the fires.
Overall, despite the challenges from Mother Nature the quality of the wine is great. We have maintained excellent acidity and balance within the wines. Yields were low but quality was certainly high.
Wine Club Exclusive
Receive 3 Annual Shipments Of 8 Bottles
Join clubSEVEN and receive 3 annual shipments of 8 bottles chosen by our winemaker. You pick from three different packages: big reds, aromatic whites or a mixed selection.
Choose from 2 membership rewards:
Pick up your shipment and receive 15% off the cost of your wines or
Free shipping right to your door anywhere in Canada
Each shipment includes limited edition wines available only to clubSEVEN members.
Other perks include special members-only pricing (10% off) on all wine purchases outside of clubSEVEN shipments, invites and VIP treatment at our special events and two clubSEVEN parties a year.
No membership fees only membership rewards.
Wine profiles provided by Lori Pike-Raffin, Township 7. Images: MyVanCity. I received complimentary wine to facilitate this feature.
