When you’ve succeeded as long as Stag’s Hollow Winery, established in 1995 when BC had just over 30 wineries, you have the luxury of building on your strengths. From day one, owners Larry Gerelus and Linda Pruegger balanced Old and New World sensibilities to create a unique style. When Winemaker Dwight Sick arrived in 2008, he mirrored their passion in every aspect of the vineyard and winemaking, and shared their commitment to continuous learning and wise approach to the idiom, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” As Dwight says, “Breathe in. Breathe out.” With the flexibility of the Okanagan’s diverse microclimates, Stag’s Hollow experiments with a wide range of grape varieties. The Riesling was a one-off in 2011 as a single vineyard trial, so successful that the search was on and plantswas sourced from the Amalia Vineyard, Osoyoos. With lots of stonefruit on the palate, Riesling 2014 ishighly textural with layers of McIntosh apple on the nose and thanks to Muscat, honey and floral notes – a prime example of how the Okanagan terroir can offer a distinct yet elegant rendition. Pinot Noir is “taken very seriously as something to embrace as a focal point of the region”. Larry and Dwight attendthe intensive Steamboat Pinot Noir Conference annually to dig deep into every aspect of growing it, study styles and techniques of winemaking and tasting and comparing Pinots from around the world. Taste what they’ve learned in the delicious 2012 Pinot Noir, complex and textured with red berries andspice.
~ Roslyne Buchanan