“In this series we bring you our #FavouriteThings Holiday Gift Suggestions which we personally recommend”
Stag’s Hollow have sent us a list of some of their wines that will make great gifts, just be sure to save some for yourself. First up a Chardonnay that has won 5 medals! An amazing Malbec that is winemaker Keira’s first and hopefully won’t be the last. No one makes a Dolcetto qute like this one, a fun wine with a big following of fans. Next up a wine that made the 50 best wines of 2024 at the BC Wine Awards. Last but not least, everyone’s favourite Tempranillo, Stag’s most sought after red that is perfect for a special occasion. Plus a Riesling, the first since 2017!
2022 Chardonnay
Herrera Vineyard, Similkameen Valley
Long gone are the days of “anything but Chardonnay,” and we couldn’t be happier. This wine is one we’re confident will please even the most skeptical of palates. Fruit-driven, mineral and deliciously textural, our Classic Chardonnay is the perfect every-day white and will pair with just about anything. Long live the Queen of white grapes! Chardonnay is here to stay.
Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
Medium lemon in colour, with an enticing nose of ripe peach, honey and yogurt. The charm of this wine is in its approachability; it’s a Chardonnay for everyone. On the palate, the stone fruit character carries through, and is complemented by fresh herbs, vanilla and almond. Bright, cleansing acidty washes over the palate, and finishes with a zestiness that keeps you coming back for more.
Awards
5-TIME AWARD WINNER! Gold: 2024 Great Northwest Invitational Silver: 2024 Chardonnay du Monde, 2024 IWSC Competition, 2024 WineAlign National Wine Awards & 2024 Cascadia International Wine Competition
Production Notes
A small lot of hand-picked and hand-sorted Chardonnay was destemmed and pressed into stainless steel to settle for 24 hours. From there, it was racked into a combination of French oak (10% new) and stainless steel for fermentation with selected yeast strains. All lots underwent 100% malolactic fermentation with periodic lees stirring. It is set to be racked out of barrel after 9 months on lees, and blended in July 2023, with filtration and bottling to follow in August.
Winemaker Notes
With this wine, we wanted to create something that could appeal to even the staunchest of Chardonnay haters. It’s creamy and welcoming, without being overbearing, and has a brightness that can’t help but bring a smile to your face. The comparison of this, with our Renaissance Chardonnay, really exemplifies the versatility of the grape.
Food Pairing Notes
Classic: lobster, roast chicken with tarragon, grilled salmon, a range of seafood (mussels, clams, prawns, squid, etc), green salads, dishes with creamy sauces (particularly with Dijon), risotto, semi-soft aged cheeses, truffle popcorn. Adventurous: Indian chicken curries, sushi bowls, mexican street corn, tacos al pastor.
Other Notes
435 cases produced
Gold: 2024 Great Northwest Invitational
Silver: 2024 Chardonnay du Monde, 2024 IWSC Competition, 2024 WineAlign National Wine Awards & 2024 Cascadia International Wine Competition
$29.99 available online or at the winery
2023 Riesling
Maple Creek Vineyard, Okanagan Falls Sub-Gi
A grape that needs no introduction. With its noble heritage, versatility and age-worthiness, Riesling and its myriad styles has captivated wine lovers the world over, and feels right at home here in the Okanagan Valley. Grown at our Maple Vineyard, in the heart of Okanagan Falls, our interpretation steers towards an old world approach, with an Okanagan fruit profile: dry and textural, with laser acidity and classic aromatics.
The nose starts off fruity, citrus (lemon, lime and orange) and floral notes and then savory, yeasty notes with time. The palate has upfront white fruit and peach but the acid certainly makes its presence known. Although it’s very much fruit-forward, there’s a compelling textural element to this Riesling, as well as a creamy, leesy character. Generously mouth-filling and textural, with bright acidity and a long finish. A joy to drink on its own or as a versatile food pairing wine.
Classic Riesling varietal expression from our newly acquired Maple Vineyard. The first harvest of Riesling from our Maple vineyard, and the first one we’ve made since 2017. The fruit was hand-harvested, destemmed and pressed into a stainless steel tank for cold settling. After 48 hours, the clarified juice was racked into a variety of vessels: concrete, stainless steel tank, stainless steel barrels, and neutral French oak barrels. The variety of vessels allowed us to experiment with different flavours and textures in our first Riesling in some time. After 6 months ageing on full lees, the wine was racked, blended, stabilized and bottled.
2022 Malbec
Introducing our inaugural Malbec 2022!
Only 60 cases in stock! This limited-edition wine is only available while quantities last.
Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
This fruit-forward Malbec is ruby-purple in colour, with notes of blueberry, blackberry, raspberry and plum that immediately jump out of the glass. These dominant fruit characters are supported by a background of dried sage, mint and a hint of black pepper. Juicy and bright on the palate, the flavours pivot ever so slightly towards savoury, without losing the beautiful core of fruit. Cocoa, sweet tobacco and black pepper carry through to the finish, which goes on and on. The perfect summer red: juicy, velvety soft and bursting with fruit.
Vineyard Notes
Barcelo Vineyard, Similkameen Valley
Production Notes
This block of Malbec was allowed to hang until we just couldn’t wait any longer. With the cooler and larger-yielding 2022 vintage, we wanted to give this fruit every opportunity to ripen fully, which it was able to do. The fruit was painstakingly hand-sorted in freezing temperatures, and destemmed into open-top 1-ton fermenters. It was allowed to cold-soak outside for 3 days, after which it was brought inside to warm. It was inoculated with a selected yeast strain, and fermented to dryness before being pressed off into a combination of neutral and new (25%) French oak barriques. We had every intention of using this lot in our Heritage Block blend, but as we followed its maturation, we were really excited about the flavours and decided it deserved a label of its own. After 9 months in barrel, we blended all the pieces, stabilized the wine and bottled it as a single varietal.
Winemaker Notes
Born in France, made iconic in Argentina, and loved the world-over, Malbec is a wine whose style is undoubtedly determined in the vineyard. Picked at the peak of ripeness, this limited-release wine makes the argument for freshness over boldness. A lighter, juicier, fruit-forward take on an old favourite.
Food Pairing Notes
Classic: earthy mushrooms, roasted vegetables, cured meats (think Jamón Iberico), tomato-based sauce dishes, game meats, steak and sausage. Lovely with blue cheeses, Manchego and Asiago. Adventurous: chimichurri, hamburgers, savoury Indian dishes, and Cajun dishes.
2022 Dolcetto
Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
A vibrant and unapologetic wine. Electric purple in colour, with a nose that tiptoes between vibrant fruit and earthy notes. Bright flavours of sour cherries, Italian prune plums, blueberry pie and bramble mingle with more masculine notes of earth, dark licorice, spice, and savoury botanicals. This fruit-forward profile carries through to the palate and is enhanced by fine, dusty tannins, and complemented by its youthful, juicy acidity.
Vineyard Notes
Shuttleworth Creek Vineyard, Okanagan Falls (Gravels, glacial till & silty loam)
Production Notes
Hand-harvested fruit from our Shuttleworth Creek vineyard was sorted, destemmed, lightly crushed and fermented in 1-ton open-topped fermenters, using selected yeast strains. The ferment was punched-down by hand 2-4 times daily, and then at the peak of fermentation, delestaged daily. The ferments were pressed off into concrete and stainless steel tanks, where they completed alcoholic fermentation, and then malolactic conversion. The wine aged here for 12 months, when it was finally blended together.
Winemaker Notes
Dolcetto is a grape that consistently inspires excitement with every new vintage. In 2022, we added to our delestage protocol (a two-step “rack-and-return” process in which fermenting red wine juice is separated from the grape solids by racking and then returned to the fermenting vat to re-soak the solids) from 2021, which resulted in a wine with soft tannins, and vibrantly expressive grape character. This time, we decided to press the wine off about 3 days prior to full dryness (just after the peak of fermentation), which allowed us to further soften the tannins and bring out more fruit on the palate.
Food Pairing Notes
Classic: pizza, charcuterie, mushroom & sausage pasta, spaghetti & meatballs, tomato-based zucchini “zoodle” dishes, game, duck, lamb, roasted root vegetables. Adventurous: paella, cheese-based pastas, beef & pork empanadas, burgers, jambalaya.
Production
Hand-harvested fruit from our Shuttleworth Creek vineyard was sorted, destemmed, lightly crushed and fermented in 1-ton open-topped fermenters, using selected yeast strains. The ferment was punched-down by hand 2-4 times daily, and then at the peak of fermentation, delestaged daily. The ferments were pressed off into concrete and stainless steel tanks, where they completed alcoholic fermentation, and then malolactic conversion. The wine aged here for 12 months, when it was finally blended together. The wine was bottled in June 2023, after being stabilized and lightly filtered.
2020 Renaissance Merlot
89.2% Merlot, 10.8% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
This wine has a dark ruby core with a brighter ruby rim colour. The nose shows an abundance of ripe fruit: Italian plums, blackberries, red & dark cherries. While the fruit is certainly the star, these notes are balanced by notes of dried herbs, cocoa, liquorice, leather & toasty French oak. The palate is tight and youthful, yet plush and elegant, and with air exposure, it opens up generously. The finish is long with lingering ripe, dusty tannins and lively acidity.
Production Notes
All fruit was hand-harvested, bunch-sorted, destemmed and gravity transferred to 1 T fermenters. Approximately 50% of the berries were left whole and uncrushed. After a 4-day cold soak, the must was warmed and inoculated with selected yeasts. The cap was punched down by hand 3 times daily, and at the ideal tannin extraction, the must was drained of free run juice and the skins were lightly pressed. The wine continued its fermentation in French oak barriques (40% new) through to dryness and then through Malolactic conversion. It was left to mature undisturbed for 18 months before being blended, and is set to be bottled without fining or filtration in August 2023.
Winemaker Notes
Our Estate Merlot block has ideal terroir for Okanagan Merlot: a free-draining gravel soil profile and a southwest facing slope to gather the intense afternoon heat. Having tended our Merlot for over 25 years, we feel we have learned how to grow exceptional Merlot on this site, even in the most difficult of years. With the age of the vines in this block, nature has gradually self-limited the cropping levels so that we are now given an intensely concentrated and naturally balanced yield. Once in the cellar, this Merlot is handled with ‘white gloves’ before being transferred to age in the finest French oak barrels available.
Food Pairing Notes
Classic: grilled meat (steak, sausage, etc.), charcuterie, roast beef, game pies, burgers, turkey dinner, lamb, stews, chilli con carne. Adventurous: Japanese-style beef dishes, Chinese crispy duck, macaroni & cheese, bacon & eggs.
2021 Tempranillo
95.5% Tempranillo, 4.5% Syrah
Tempranillo combines distinctive rustic aromas with savoury, mouth-watering flavours that are unlike any other. We believe our interpretation remains true to its Spanish heritage, while maintaining its Okanagan lineage.
Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
Our 202 Tempranillo is all about ripe dark fruit, lifted aromatics and structure. Blackberry, black cherry, plum, violets and cassis are complimented with dark, brooding aromas of leather, earth, coffee, liquorice, and sweet baking spices. Medium bodied in weight, with rich flavours of blackberry jam and cherry fruit, mingling with cedar oak, dried herbs, dark chocolate, dusty tannins and a refreshingly bright pomegranate-like acidity.
Vineyard Notes
Shuttleworth Creek Vineyard, Okanagan Falls Sub-GI Stag’s Hollow Vineyard, Okanagan Falls Sub-GI
Production Notes
Hand-picked and hand-sorted, lots of Tempranillo were destemmed, lightly crushed and fermented in small 1 ton open-topped fermenters, using selected yeast strains. The ferments were punched down by hand 2-3 times daily, and were pressed into a combination of French (51%) and American (49%) oak (11% new Zebra barrels). After malolactic fermentation, the wine was aged for an additional 20 months on fine lees before being racked, blended with a small amount of Syrah, and then bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Winemaker Notes
The majority of the fruit for this wine came from our Shuttleworth Creek vineyard, which is really starting to come into its own, and cementing itself as a premium vineyard. The bright fruit core and lifted aromatics that make this wine so compelling are characters that are quickly becoming synonymous with all of the fruit being grown at Shuttleworth Creek. We chose to blend a small amount of Syrah into this year’s Tempranillo, as we felt it enhanced the spice quality to the wine, but make no mistake, the Tempranillo varietal character is certainly the star here.
Food Pairing Notes
Classic: earthy flavours, roasted vegetables, cured meats (think Jamón Iberico), tomato- based sauce dishes, barbeque grilled-meats, smoky dishes, roast lamb, steak. Adventurous: Mexican food (meat or bean based), hamburgers, savoury Indian dishes, and Cajun dishes.
$35.00 available online and at the winery
Stag’s Hollow Winery
Stag’s Hollow, a family-owned winery in Okanagan Falls, is a highly-awarded boutique winery producing not only exceptional Merlots, Pinot Noirs and red blends, but rare and interesting wines including Albariño, Dolcetto, Teroldego and Tempranillo. Innovative, with a spirit to be unique and push the limits of both grape growing and winemaking in the Okanagan, Stag’s Hollow chose these grapes, both new and old, that have proven to be well-suited to the area soils and microclimate in the newly-designated sub-GI of Okanagan Falls. Stag’s Hollow is certified Salmon Safe and achieved certification from Sustainable Winegrowing British Columbia in 2021. The winery continues to focus on sustainable practices to minimize its operational impact on the environment. Stag’s Hollow Winery
Overview
Founded in 1995 by Larry Gerelus and Linda Pruegger, Stag’s Hollow Winery was one of the first 30 wineries in British Columbia. A focus on sustainable practices was important from day one, and runs through all operations, from organic vineyard management to geothermal building systems and the solar panels that shade our patio. The natural kettle-hole ‘hollow’ of our home vineyard is a defining element of the Okanagan Falls sub-Geographical Indication (sub-GI) and a key factor in showcasing our terroir through our minimal intervention wines. Linda & Larry retired from the winery in April of 2021. The winery is preparing to celebrate 30 years in 2025.
Fact Sheet History: Stag’s Hollow started with an existing 10 acre vineyard in 1992. The winery was later constructed in 1995 after the first official crush.
Proprietor: Eric Liu (since April 2019)
Winemaker & Director of Operations: Keira LeFranc (2016 Renaissance wines, 2017 reds, and all wines from 2018 vintage onwards)
Vineyard Manager: Vilem Blazek
Site: Located in Okanagan Falls, the second sub-GI in BC, in the South Okanagan. Sub-GI: Established in July 2018 as the Okanagan Valley’s second official sub-geographical indication, Okanagan Falls sub-GI extends from Peach Cliff (north) to Vaseux Lake (south) with two landscape elements: the alluvial floodplain around Shuttleworth Creek (25%) and the glaciofluvial soils and kettles in the southern area (75%). The total area is 800ha (150ha planted) ranging from 400m to 500m in elevation with 330mm of annual precipitation and 1400 average growing degree days. All three of our estate vineyards are within this small but mighty sub-GI.
Winery: Features a wine shop, outdoor tasting deck and picnic area (subject to PHOs).
Production: The facility features a tank room, barrel cellar and crush pad. Average case production is 8,000.
Winemaking: Stag’s Hollow Winery is focused on low intervention winemaking that reflects the different sites of its three vineyards – Stag’s Hollow Estate, Shuttleworth Creek and Maple Vineyard – within the Okanagan Falls sub-GI terroir. Grapes are hand harvested and sorted, with all grapes or wine moving from sorting table to press to tank or barrel by gravity. We highlight more unusual varieties such as Albariño, Tempranillo, Dolcetto, Teroldego and Vidal. Pinot Noir is our largest-producing variety, which is key within the Okanagan Falls sub-GI.
Vineyards: Stag’s Hollow Vineyard, planted 1987, 10 acres (7.7 planted) Soils: The vast majority of soils have formed on glaciofluvial parent materials, featuring “kettled” terrain. The soil profile is composed of a sandy textured surface layer overlying a gravelly subsoil. The “kettles” were formed by large pieces of glacial ice becoming buried under the glaciofluvial outwash and subsequently melting, creating depressions in the outwash surface. The Hollow in the Stag’s Hollow Vineyard is one such kettle. Grape Varieties: Vidal, Pinot Noir (3 clones), Merlot, Tempranillo, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscat Ottonel, Chardonnay (planted May 2023).
Shuttleworth Creek Vineyard, planted 2011, 18 acres (15 planted) Soils: The soils on the floodplain of Shuttleworth Creek belong to the Rye soil series, more recent soils with little weathering profile and subject to a fluctuating water table at depth in the profile. Grape Varieties: Vidal, Pinot Noir (7 clones), Gamay, Albariño, Tempranillo, Dolcetto, Teroldego, Orange Muscat, Syrah.
Maple Vineyard (acquired in 2023), planted 2019, 5 acres (3 planted) Soils: The Maple soil exhibits a sandy loam or loamy sand texture, with a granular or crumb structure in the topsoil, promoting good root penetration and microbial activity and suitable for various agricultural uses. Grape Varieties: Chardonnay, Riesling (Riesling Weiss 21).
Sustainability: Sustainability for us includes everything from land conservation and pest management to responsible water usage, efficient energy use and social equity through business planning, our employees and relationship with our community. We use only organic products in our vineyards, trellis with a Geneva Double Curtain method, harvest by hand, and have natural buffer zones. Our buildings are geothermal, from air temperature to tanks, and all packaging is with recycled or recyclable materials. We are certified through Sustainable Winegrowers BC and Salmon Safe.
Availability: The wines are available through the wine shop, online sales at stagshollowwinery.com, wine club, BC Liquor Stores, Grocery, BC VQA stores, private liquor stores and restaurants in BC and Alberta. Visiting Us: The wine shop is open Friday to Sunday in the Fall. We recommend reservations for tastings (on our website or by phone), although we will accommodate walk-ins when possible.
