Gold Hill Estate Winery is the featured winery on Wine Club Canada this month so it seemed an ideal time to share with you Reflections on Winemaker Val Tait. But just before we get into that, just in case you don’t read right to the end, here is a link to Wine Club Canada if you want to check them out. Please note that this month you can use Valerie10 to receive a 10% discount on subscriptions.
This link gives you all the details about which Gold Hill wines are available to order from wineclub.ca
Going back to sometime after 2013 when MyVanCity had launched and I was invited to a meet the winemaker brunch held during the Vancouver International Wine Festival.
When Tait arrived at the restaurant it was like who is that rock star? Tait was quickly surrounded by adoring fans, all vying for her attention. She was a dynamo with a beaming smile and a welcoming persona.
Val Tait is personable, and approachable, someone who makes you feel comfortable immediately. Soft spoken and far too modest given her accomplishments.
Tait really helped put Bench 1775 on the map. Yet at the same time Val Tait is someone who seems to prefer working in the background. If I had to sum up Val Tait’s winemaking skills in one word it would have to be “quality”.
The Icewine harvest in BC is a rarity, but in 2017 and 2018, conditions were ideal. Here again Tait’s skill and experience were at the forefront.
“There are few opportunities here in BC where temperatures get cold enough to harvest for Icewine,” says Val Tait, viticulturist and winemaker at Bench 1775 Winery on the Naramata Bench. “We track weather systems for early warnings of cold weather and have crews at the ready to pick so we don’t miss that early window. When we get the right conditions, the results are usually spectacular. It’s not common to have a warm enough growing season to develop beautiful fruit flavours and in that same season reach cold enough temperatures to make Icewine. BC Icewine is very rare and special indeed.” Tait produces Icewine for their Paradise Ranch and Whistler brands.
Fast forward to 2022 and an Okanagan road trip that included Gold Hill Winery where I had the pleasure of joining Val Tait for a wine tasting of both the Charisma line of Gold Hill and the Gold Hill Winery latest releases.
It is always a treat to be able to sit down with the winemaker and experience a wine tasting. Tait’s extensive knowledge of the wine industry, as a whole, and her experience making wine, is something she enjoys sharing.
The Gold Hill wines are quite unique due to the fact that they are aged before being released. This results in a wine that is ready to drink when you buy it but, due to the quality of the wine, also one that lends itself to further cellaring. That unique quality is thanks to the expert hands of Val Tait.
We also tasted wines from the Charisma line. These are quality wines that have a good value price. As Tait explained, based on her own experience with younger wine drinkers, like member of her own family, many young people have grown up in a family that has an appreciation for wine. Dinners, special occasions are all times when good, quality wines were served and many young people have developed a slightly sophisticated palate.
This leads to Tait’s quest to produce wines that have the pleasurably characteristics of BC wines, like freshness, fruit forward, that younger wine drinkers often prefer, and a the same time make a wine of quality, and also make it affordable.
That’s kind of like walking a tight rope, not a lot of margin for error. Tait has successfully made a quality wine that evokes the characteristics of a more refined BC wine and somehow kept it under $25.00.
That says a lot about a winemaker who thinks that deeply about the people that drink and enjoy her wines.
If Tait puts that much thought and effort into her second level wines it isn’t too much of a stretch to realize her top quality wines are going to be something very special.
Tait’s experience in viticulture came to the fore in 2024 when at a BC Wine Swirl seminar titled The School of Hard Crops. Tait joined a panel of other winemakers to discuss the direction that wineries would be taking after such a devastating year of harsh weather. Many vineyards suffered considerable damage, and Gold Hill was one of them.
Tait patiently explained in detail exactly the extent of the damage to the Gold Hill vines. By applying a very careful exploration of the vines and root systems she was able to conclude that the damage was extensive but there was some hope that there would be recovery in 2025.
Based on her studies and conclusions Tait, along with Gold Hill owners, made the decision to forgo the 2024 wine making process rather than import grapes. A commendable decision that further emphasizes Tait’s commitment to quality.
Here, in part, is what was posted to the Gold Hill Winery Facebook page in September of 2024.
Despite these losses, we are 100% committed to BC wine grapes. First and foremost we are winegrowers, and as a small family operation, this loss will be hard to take. But we will rebuild our vineyards. In 2026 we will harvest our first crop from the replanted vineyard.
We will weather this crop loss by stretching our wines in our barrel and bottle aging program, so the missing vintages of our Gold Hill wines will not significantly affect our commitment to providing premium wines in our tasting room and to our wine club members.
We will not be purchasing fruit from Washington or any other region to make up the shortfall, because we are wine growers first and foremost and our roots are in our BC vineyards.
More recently Tait took part in another panel for Swirl 2025. Business of BC Wine in the Global Context..
This session turned out to be rather unique – the moderator, Barb Philip and all four members of the panel were women, namely, Stephanie Stanley, Winemaker O’Rourke Family Vineyards; Stephanie Mosley, Marketing and Communications Manager at Tantalus Vineyards; Val Tait, General Manager and Winemaker for Gold Hill Winery; and Lauren Skinner Buksevics, Director of Sales and Marketing at Painted Rock Winery.
Each winery presented two wines and these are the wines from Gold Hill that were tasted.
Gold Hill Winery 2022 Cabernet Franc Rosé Okanagan Valley VQA Estate Vineyard, Oliver
Made from two separate Cabernet Franc juice lots. The first wine lot was made with direct pressed fruit, immediately after harvest. The second wine lot was made from juice with 18 hours skin contact, this Rosé was steel fermented and aged. The resulting wine is textured and complex, with red fruit flavours and herbal aromas. Enjoy paired with charcuteries, tomato-based pastas and vegetable tapas.
Oliver, British Columbia, Canada – 100% Cabernet Franc
Gold Hill Winery 2020 Cabernet Franc Okanagan Valley BC VQA
The resulting wine has abundant notes of floral violet, sage, vanilla, blackberry. On the palate, this medium-bodied juicy red, has flavours of raspberry, lambert cherry, and java followed by a lengthy finish of soft, fine tannins, tobacco leaf and mellow acidity. With the warmer than normal year, this Cabernet Franc is definitely a richer, bigger, bolder expression of our normal Cabernet Franc.
Gold Hill Cabernet Franc is ideal to pair with food: grilled duck, game, beef or lamb, eggplant, roast tomatoes or roast vegetables, and creamy soft cheeses which pair well with the soft tannins.
Cabernet Franc 100%
Oxbow Vineyard
Note: wine notes for the 2020 were unavailable on the winery website, the notes above are from 2019.
Val Tait, General Manager and Winemaker, Gold Hill Winery
As a practicing hands-on viticulturist and winemaker in the Okanagan wine industry for 3 decades, Valeria Tait brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to her role as General Manager and Winemaker for Gold Hill Winery. Her analytical focus started with undergraduate training in Molecular Genetics and Plant Biochemistry at SFU and then she went on to earn an Enology and Viticulture degree from University of California, Davis, Napa. Involved with several of the iconic wine producers in the valley, including Poplar Grove, Painted Rock and Bench 1775 Winery, Tait brings her experience to an artisanal approach to wine-growing, focusing her skills as she comes full circle to now create small lot, hand crafted wines from fruit grown at the exceptional Gold Hill Estate Vineyard
Courtesy of Wines of British Columbia
Here is a bit of background from a feature from MyVanCity.ca published in 2020 announcing the appointment of Tait to Gold Hill Winery.
Gold Hill Winery Owners and brothers Gurbachan and Sant Gill are excited to announce that Val Tait, Co-owner of 2house Winery, will be joining their team as Winemaker and Viticulturalist. Together they will continue to raise the bar in British Columbia’s premium wine scene.
The Gill family has been farming in the Okanagan Valley for almost 40 years providing the highest quality varietals to BC’s top wineries. Recognized in the industry as among the best growers in the province, they took the next logical step when 10 years ago they began their own small wine production. Since then Gold Hill Winery has matured into the award-winning producer that it is today. With production of 3500 cases, a new winemaking facility, and a growing loyal following, the timing couldn’t be better to enlist viticulture and winemaking expert Val Tait.
Val and Navi
Val comments, “I’ve been working with the Gill brothers for over fifteen years. I helped plant their first vineyards and have been consulting on clone selection and vineyard best-practices ever since. Working with them has given me the highest respect for their integrity. They have expanded now to 75 acres, producing, in my opinion, some of the best fruit in Canada.” She continues, “I look forward to joining their team to work together to take the vineyards and wines to the next level of a premium brand. I am very pleased to be working with them in this capacity.”
For almost two decades Tait worked with and purchased fruit from the Gill vineyards for clients, giving her an intimate knowledge of the vineyard blocks.
Tait trained in Molecular Genetics and Plant Biochemistry at SFU and then went on to earn a degree in Enology and Viticulture from UC Davis, Napa, California. She has been a hands-on viticulturist in the Okanagan Valley for 3 decades and winemaker for 2 decades.
Here is a link to Wine Club Canada if you want to check them out. Please note that this month you can use Valerie10 to receive a 10% discount on subscriptions.
This link gives you all the details about which Gold Hill wines are available to order from wineclub.ca