Spierhead Winery in Southeast Kelowna is giving wine aficionados plenty of reasons to visit this spring, including the long-awaited release of two of their most popular wines.
Proprietor Marina Knutson says that last year Spierhead sold out of their 2012 Pinot Gris and 2012 Rosé by mid-summer, and with good reason. Both were award-winning wines.
“Last fall, the 2012 Pinot Gris won Double Gold and the 2012 Rosé took home a Gold medal at the Wine Press Northwest Best of the Best 2013 Platinum Awards in Washington State. To enter the competition, the wine has to have won Gold in another competition,” she explained.
With the soaring popularity of the 2012 vintage, it is no wonder that Knutson is looking forward to the release of their 2013 wines. The newest releases will be bottled in March and will be available in early April.
“We did a tank tasting and they were fabulous,” says Knutson. “We are producing quite a bit more this year…about 700 cases of Rosé and 500 cases of the Pinot Gris.”
Along with the release of new wines, Spierhead Winery is expanding their vineyard in spring 2014. The current phase, Gentleman Farmer, is about 6.5 acres and already growing primarily Pinot Noir grapes, as well as Chardonnay and Riesling. The new phase includes about 5 additional acres, which will grow 2 clones of Pinot Noir exclusively.
Framed by grapevines and apples, Spierhead offers the perfect picnic spot, which is now being expanded. Guests are encouraged to bring their own picnic and they can buy Spierhead wines on site to sip while they snack.
Watch for Spierhead and their four neighbouring wineries, who collectively make up the Fab Five, at this year’s spring Okanagan Wine Festival. The winery will open weekends starting at Easter and daily from June 1st through to the fall.
~ Deanna Merrick