“In this series we bring you our #FavouriteThings Holiday Gift Suggestions
which we personally recommend”
Hester Creek has suggested some of their faves for holiday entertaining. These wines also make gifts, including excellent hostess/host gifts. The Hester Creek bubbly is one I especially enjoy over the holidays, perfect for brunch or just to get your festivites underway, and of course ideal for New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Can I share a secret with you? I’ve received additional wine from Hester Creek, it is currently incognito but as soon as the winery gives the okay I will be sharing all about this exciting new wine, so hold tight details coming soonish.
Here are the three recommended wines:
2024 ROSÉ CABERNET FRANC
WINE PROFILE
Tasting Notes
This vintage displays a brilliant profile with luscious aromas of pink grapefruit, cherry and stewed strawberry. On the palate, these characteristics are mirrored with ripe cherry, strawberry and an added touch of rhubarb and cream soda. A delicious wine to enjoy on its own, or pair with a gourmet spread of spicy salami and strong cheeses.
Vineyard Notes
The 2024 vintage from Hester Creek was sourced from just south of the border in the Columbia Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA). This AVA and its sub-AVAs were chosen for the proximity and similarities to the South Okanagan with respect to terroir, varietals and viticultural history. We chose the vineyard blocks based on our quality standards and all the winemaking was done in-house by our winemaking team. Across the sub-AVAs, bud break began in late March with a cool spring. By July, temperatures climbed to above average and balanced out the Growing Degree Days. The season produced large grape clusters with small berry sizes, leading to great quality fruit for winemaking. Each cluster of grapes for Hester Creek was hand harvested, starting with our Sauvignon Blanc on September 2, and ending with Cabernet Sauvignon on October 11. The grapes were brought to our crush pad in recyclable containers and hand sorted by our team before continuing the winemaking process
Winemaker Notes
To craft our signature Rosé, we sourced 100% Cabernet Franc grapes from the Columbia Valley AVA, with the majority of the grapes coming from Red Mountain AVA and Horse Heaven Hills AVA. Each cluster was hand harvested before being transported to Hester Creek’s crush pad in temperature-controlled trucks. The grapes were hand sorted by our team, destemmed and cold soaked on the skins for three days to extract the vibrant ruby tone. The wine underwent 21 days of fermentation before being racked, cross blended and aged for four months in stainless steel tanks. We bottled the 2024 vintage on January 23, 2025.
Even the colour is holiday festive!
2024 MERITAGE
WINE PROFILE
Tasting Notes
The nose hints of ripe blackberry and lapin cherry with vanilla notes followed by a palate filled with cassis, blackberry and hints of cedar and vanilla. The finish is long with a full tannin structure. Pair this full-bodied wine with BBQ striploin and seasoned vegetable skewers.
Vineyard Notes
The 2024 vintage from Hester Creek was sourced from just south of the border in the Columbia Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA). This AVA and its sub-AVAs were chosen for the proximity and similarities to the South Okanagan with respect to terroir, varietals and viticultural history. We chose the vineyard blocks based on our quality standards and all the winemaking was done in-house by our winemaking team. Across the sub-AVAs, bud break began in late March with a cool spring. By July, temperatures climbed to above average and balanced out the Growing Degree Days. The season produced large grape clusters with small berry sizes, leading to great quality fruit for winemaking. Each cluster of grapes for Hester Creek was hand harvested, starting with our Sauvignon Blanc on September 2, and ending with Cabernet Sauvignon on October 11. The grapes were brought to our crush pad in recyclable containers and hand sorted by our team before continuing the winemaking process.
Winemaker Notes
A blend of Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, the grapes were all hand harvested from the Red Mountain AVA. The Cabernet Franc and Malbec were the first to be harvested on October 4, 2025 and were cold soaked for two days prior to being co-fermented for 10 days. The Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested on October 3 and 5, cold soaked for one day before a 14-day fermentation. All lots went through a malolactic fermentation before being pressed off and cross blended to age for eight months in American and French oak. The final wine was racked blended and bottled on July 10, 2025.
2021 OLD VINE BRUT
WINE PROFILE
Tasting Notes
Defined and delicate beads sparkle up to the nose with full notes of citrus and toasty brioche. Fresh lemon zest embraces the palate with a light touch of stone fruit and a toasty mouthfeel that comes from 24 months en tirage. This is a classic wine to enjoy on milestone occasions paired with aged cheddar or smoked mussel, dill and Havarti quesadillas.
Vineyard Notes
The 2021 growing season in the South Okanagan was one for the history books as the driest on record, due in large part to the “Heat Dome” and its record-breaking high temperatures. It was also one of the warmest years, seeing the most growing degree days GDD (1758) since 2015. Following flowering, we experienced an extremely dry and hot June during fruit set. The heat led to a lighter fruit set and smaller berry size than usual. While there was less fruit per vine and the yield was light in volume, on the upside the smaller berries in the clusters resulted in more concentrated flavours and colours on the red varietals. Similarly, for the white varietals there are intense flavours and vibrant aromatics. With the warm dry season, the grapes reached phenolic ripeness earlier than usual with harvest commencing and finishing early. We began picking the whites on August 27th for our Ti Amo (Prosecco-style sparkling wine). We started picking our first reds in mid-September with our Block 10 Merlot on September 14th at our historic Golden Mile Bench estate vineyard. We finished our last estate reds pick with Cabernet Sauvignon from Block 8 of our Golden Mile Bench vineyard on October 28, 2021. Overall, the 2021 harvest produced wines of outstanding quality and varietal character. We expect to see some intense, fruit driven wines, with excellent depth of flavour.
Winemaker Notes
Our 2021 Old Vine Brut was crafted in a blanc de blanc style using 100% Pinot Blanc grapes from our historic Golden Mile Bench estate vineyard. The grapes were hand sorted and whole cluster pressed to retain the natural brightness of the fruit and to allow this wine to age gracefully over time. The primary fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks and was followed by a secondary fermentation done in the traditional method with 24 months en tirage. Fermented to absolute dryness, disgorgement took place in February of 2024 with a small dosage of the current 2023 Pinot Blanc to give this elegant sparkling the Brut designation.
Wine profiles courtesy of the winery. Images: MyVanCity. I received complimentary wine samples to facilitate this feature.