It was another busy crush season this fall at Clos du Soleil winery in Keremeos. So busy, in fact, they hadn’t realized how much their hard work had paid off. Just as the 2013 harvest was underway so were the BC Wine Awards. With the crew being so busy with harvest, no one from the winery was able to attend the award ceremonies and it wasn’t until an excited new customer called to order the ‘Best White Wine in BC’ that the winery team had realized their Capella had just won the esteemed title at the BC Wine Awards. “After a long week at crush it was great to receive such good news, we’re very appreciative of the title” says Spencer Massie, co-proprietor of Clos du Soleil.
Their ultra-premium red, Signature, 2011 vintage, will be released first of December. Aromas of cassis, mint, blackberry and a touch of exotic spice with mouth-filling flavours of plum, cassis, blackberry and coffee – in bottles up to six litres, it would certainly make a nice Christmas gift. As would receiving a membership to their Soleil 160 Wine Club (each member adopts one of the vineyard’s 160 rows).
More great wine is on the way from Clos du Soleil as Massie deemed this year “a brilliant harvest”.
Throughout the winter the winery is open for private tastings by appointment. For more information please visit the winery’s website closdusoleil.ca
Capella 2011 $24.90
90% Sauvignon Blanc and 10% Semillon.
Clos du Soleil’s ultimate expression of Sauvignon Blanc, Capella is a mouth-watering wine at once both elegant and rich. The complex nose presents an array of ripe fruit aromas including grapefruit, lemon zest, and pineapple, with remarkable minerality. In the mouth the wine presents lush flavours of passionfruit, grapefruit, and sun-ripened citrus, leaving an impression of richness despite the racy acidity. Delicious now, yet the complexity of this wine will only continue to develop with age.
~ Natasha Chudyk