Tucked away off the beaten trail lies a little vineyard where vines grow to the vibrations of classical music.
Wine and music make excellent companions, and at Lunessence combining these bacchanalian elements in the vineyard and the winery was a natural conclusion. Harmony and rhythm is a vital component of music, each note playing with and off the other, just as the notes of a fine wine should work together without discord.
And just as in classical music the study of harmony involves the correct placing of chords in relation to each other, maintaining the health of a vineyard requires maintaining the ecological balance. Balance and harmony are necessary components in supporting a healthy terroir to ensure vitality and long-term sustainability. And harmony and balance are equally important when it comes to taking the grape from the vine to the bottle.
It is harmony that guides the philosophy of Lunessence: harmony with land and seasons, with the vines and wines. With the belief that all life energy can be affected by subtle influences, the vines in the vineyard are treated with as much sensitivity as the wines in the winery.
Visitors to the winery may be welcomed to the sounds of Rossini or Ruggero; it depends on which wine is being made, since each wine requires a different technique, different music and feeling.
The notes of Verdi, Mascagni or Mozart reverberate throughout the vineyard and the winery, bringing a sense of peace and well being to Lunessence where traditional old school wine making methods are combined with integrating farming practices to maintain a sustainable relationship with the land. The goal at Lunessence is to minimize loss of natural habitat while contributing to sustainable wine production.
“The more we are listening and respecting the vineyard, the more nature is giving it back to us a thousand times.”
Ecological balance is of the utmost importance to winemaker Michael Mosny and wife and vintner Martina. On Lunessence lie two wetlands, a sanctuary for wildlife and quite a unique location for a vineyard.
Wetlands are extremely sensitive areas where the delicate balance must be maintained in order to provide the necessary breeding ground for the highly sensitive salamanders, insects, and birds. In the dry Okanagan, wetlands provide much needed refuge for the native flora and fauna.
Michal and Martina take stewardship of this land as seriously as growing the vines and making the wines. They are committed to maintaining sustainable and environmentally sensitive viticulture practices that respect the vineyard as a living and varied ecosystem.
This is a labor of love and dedication, by carefully watching and listening to the health of the vineyard; Martina and Michal make daily decisions that are focused on protecting the land.
The vineyard offers views of yellow mustard, crimson and white clover growing amongst the vines to help fertilize the soil, dry farming is used to conserve moisture during the long dry Okanagan summers, and since too much water during growing season can dilute the quality of the grapes, the practices at Lunessence prove that protection and product can work symbiotically when guided by the right hands.
It is well known that a fine wine is the product of the terroir, and with such dedication to maintaining the harmony and health of the land, the wines of Lunesssence are sure to be an expression of the earth that gave life to the vines.
~ Henrietta Poirier