Black Hills Estate Winery announces release of 2014 Nota Bene
Black Hills Estate Winery is pleased to announce that it will release its sought-after flagship wine, the 2014 Nota Bene, on June 7, 2016, exclusively to wine club members and long-term customers. This limited-release Bordeaux-style wine will then be available to the trade and public across BC on September 1st. This year’s release date is a full six months after the wine is normally available for purchase due to a change in winemaking. With extended quality enhancements, including additional time in barrel, the winemaking team is confident that wine lovers’ patience will be richly rewarded.
All Good Things:
After years of careful consideration and meticulous trials for the Black Hills winemaking team, extended aging in premium oak barrels was found to soften the tannins and elevate the depth and complexity of the estate-produced wine, while preserving the integrity of its fruit character. The result is that from the 2014 vintage forward, Nota Bene will now enjoy longer barrel aging, allowing the wine to offer even more full and integrated flavours than in the past. This will also ensure that the wine will be both approachable upon release and be able to age gracefully in bottle for 10 years or longer. This change follows the ongoing commitment of the winery to its philosophy of “continual quality evolution“.
Indeed, for the past years, the winery has initiated numerous qualitative improvements that have included upgrading into a custom-built, temperature-controlled winery; updated and environmentally-friendly irrigation systems; the purchase of a state-of-the-art sorting line, conveyor and crusher-destemmer, ensuring only the best grapes make their way into the wine; and the development of a 2000-square-foot fermentation room allowing for select smaller-batch fermentations. In 2012, the winery introduced the Cellar Hand second label, sourced from the same estate vineyards, which enabled barrel selections to take place so that Black Hills could ensure only the wine from the best barrels made its way into Nota Bene.
About Black Hills Estate Winery:
Founded in 1999, Black Hills Estate Winery produces wine exclusively from its estate vineyard on the Black Sage Bench, north of Osoyoos, British Columbia. The vineyard microclimate is one of the hottest, driest, and sunniest sites in the South Okanagan, allowing the vines to yield flavourful grapes of balanced intensity. Using environmentally-friendly viticultural techniques and thoughtful winemaking practices, the winery is well-known for its two signature blends: Nota Bene, an age-worthy Bordeaux-style red, produced in limited-quantities from select barrels of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, and Alibi (Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon). Black Hills also produces varietally-labelled Viognier, Chardonnay, Syrah, and Carménère. A second label, Cellar Hand, was introduced in 2012, allowing the winemaking team freedom to experiment with select barrels from the estate.
Surrounded by panoramic vineyard views, the Black Hills team welcomes wine lovers to visit their Wine Experience Center in Oliver. The new facility can provide a unique, sit-down wine tasting experience guided by highly trained wine professionals. Annual summer events held at the facility are bold, exciting and fun. Members of the Black Hills Wine Club enjoy access to limited-release wines not available to the public.
To learn more, visit blackhillswinery.com and follow the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
