Rollingdale’s new look

Just in case you haven’t seen it, Rollingdale will be bottled with a new streamlined design on its labels.

Terroir Okanagan Style

This is a really good visual way to demonstrate how different parcels of land can produce fruit that is different from other areas. Yes, soil, slope, aspect, and all that other stuff contribute too. But getting direct sunlight until 8:30pm while the many of the other vineyards are in shadow has to contribute something special.

This isn’t the only area where there is light late into the evening (we covered a little about this in an early podcast about the Black Sage/Golden Mile), but Naramata was one of the first areas to really declare itself different from other places and here is one of those reasons.

The time on the phone is 8:29pm July 20, 2010.

Direct sunlight on vineyards along the Naramata Bench.

At the same time, most of the vineyards across the lake in Summerland were in shadow. But of course they get sun earlier in the morning, so which one produces better wine and does it matter? Could there be a difference in taste between the east and west sides of the lake? Maybe, maybe not. But it’s little events like this that make everybody’s wines different and interesting. Do you prefer wines from the western side or eastern side of the valley? Where are you favorite wineries located?

Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Interesting or not interesting? Taste a difference?

OK Falls fire

Some photos of the recent fire near Okanagan Falls BC. Fires like this are a part of life here in the Okanagan and everyone still recalls the fires in 2003 that were so devastating to the whole valley. The closest wineries to this fire were Blasted Church (who’s vineyards you can see in one of the photos) and Meyer Family Vineyards, who are located on the other side of the small mountain where the fire was burning. Thanks to Calli for these photos.

5:53pm July 22, 2010 View from north of the fire and slightly north of Blasted Church's home vineyard. The fire was reported only hours earlier.

9:15am July 23, 2010 Fire was still burning the next morning but is noticeably less smokey. Blasted Church's home vineyard is on the left mid-ground. Eastside road is centre-bottom. (Click to enlarge)

9:15am July 23, 2010 Closeup of smoking hillside. Blasted Church's home vineyard is on the left foreground. (Click to enlarge)

July 2010 – It’s easy being green

Things are way greener now as the summer has finally kicked into gear. The summertime sunlight and heat are now helping those vines to grow greener and wilder. The grapes are starting to get bigger and are developping slowly. My 5 year-old son came along with me and helped take some photos in the middle of the second week of July. First stop, Rustico Farm Cellars at the south end of the Golden Mile.

Rows of vines at Rustico Farm Cellars.

Clusters of small grapes at Rustico.

Guest photographer - from my son's camera

My son's photo of Rustico owner, Bruce Fuller and myself.

We checked out a little of what has become of the Testalinden mudslide that happened in June. It passes fairly quickly on the highway but you can still see quite a bit of damaged buildings and dried mud. If you haven’t already, please consider donating to the mudslide victims. Information is available here.

Off we went to Road 13 for a quick visit and to see how the vines were coming along from last months installment. I didn’t want to use the same vines again from month to month because I thought it would be more interesting to show difference places. Each vineyard is unique and each vigneron’s methods equally so. But there were a couple of different things happening here that I thought were interesting to show.

Like at Rustico, these vines haven't been tucked into their wires yet. One major job in the vineyards at this time of year is tucking the shoots into the wires of the trellis and trimming off the tops of the vines.

These rows have been tucked and have a much neater appearance. Tucking controls the leaf canopy and allows each row of vines to get equal amounts of sunlight.

Cutting the tops of the shoots stops their growth and forces the vine to put more energy into the grapes rather than growing more shoots.

Trucker hats are a necessity in the vineyard and wine shop. (photo by my son, who also photographed every single item in the entire wineshop, including most of the photos on the digital photo frame. This one was the best and most in focus.)

Podcast #42 – WBC 2010, Sustainability and Inniskillin’s Ice Wine Tour

To make a donation to the victims of the Oliver Mudslide, please click here for more information from the RDOS on how you can make a donation.

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Audrey from Inniskillin Okanagan

A little recap: I attended the Wine Bloggers’ Conference in Walla Walla, Washington at the end of June and though I consider myself a podcaster rather than a blogger, Wine Country BC is technically a blog and therefore I felt justified in going. Plus they served us tons of wine and if I have to be a blogger on that occassion, then I’ll take one for the team. Count me in.

Lots happening in this week’s podcast, including a special interview with Audrey Silbernagel from Inniksillin Okanagan Estate Winery. They have a special tour at their winery on the Golden Mile bench that is very exciting, particularly if you are a lover of icewine. She’ll tell us all about it in this exclusive interview recorded at the winery.

But first, we start at the end with a short clip of Jeanette, Linsday and I returning from WBC2010. Then it’s on to more clips – interviews of winery owners and bloggers in attendance at the conference. And as if that wasn’t enough, there’s also a BIG announcement about the future of Wine Country BC’s Podcasts. Take a listen, click and be merry.

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Links to people, places, and blogs in this podcast

(in no particular order)

Kaz and Randy – Wine Biz Radio (@winebizradio)

John Clerides - Marquis Wine Cellars

Jeff Weissler – Conscious Wines.com

Lindsey and Jeanette (Okanagan Writing Services)- drivers extrordinaire

Sean and Graham - Vinifico.com

Karen Gurney – The Wine Bard

Kathleen Rake  – Between the Vines

Allison Markin - All She Wrote

Lori Lynn Pike – No Boundaries

Crystal Froese – Dunham and Froese Winery

Some of the fabulous wineries whose wines we tasted while in Walla Walla

Parducci Cellars

Concannon Vineyards

Rotie Cellars

Chateau Rollat Winery

Canoe Ridge Vineyard

Otis Kenyon

Buty

Leonetti Cellars

Photos from the weekend

Wine tasting on the first day (aka fino sherry at 10am is ok because it's 8pm in Spain.)

Steve Heimoff, wine writer and blogger, giving a great keynote.

Dinner on Friday in the pub. l-r Kathleen, Lindsay, Jeanette, Allison, and Tracy

Allison (@okanagantaste) and Karen (@winebard) before the show started.

Le show avec le band - Big John Bates and the Voodoo Dollz!

Le bass playeuse

Walla Walla from the foothills of the Blue Mountains. (Click to see a larger version)

One of the barrel caves at Leonetti Cellars.

Bottle library at Leonetti Cellars.

Jeanette trying (and failing) to contain herself in the library of Leonetti Cellars.

Andrea Robinson, Master Sommelier, wine writer, and Andreawine.com