Meyer Family Vineyards is at the top of their game. We’re talking elite athlete level performance here. Racking up recognition the globe over, Meyer is proving that they can successfully compete in the big leagues. And like any top competitor worth their salt, Meyer Family Vineyards has reached these heights with time, training, skill, stamina, and risk.
“You’ve got to stick your neck out,” says winery proprietor, Jak Meyer. They have done just that—and the world is noticing. In April 2016, the UK’s Decanter Magazine released an article entitled “Best Pinot Noirs in the World Outside Burgundy”, in which Meyer’s 2013 McLean Creek Pinot Noir rated as ‘highly recommended’. This praise comes after being judged alongside 80 other fine international Pinots. Of those, only 30 wines made the cut—and Meyer stands among them. Meyer Family Vineyards has worked relentlessly to create “buzz” by getting the product into the mouths of those who need to objectively taste the wine and discover the superior quality of their product. Meyer’s Chardonnay has also twice been rated the Best in Canada in the National Wine Awards, Canada’s largest wine competition.
Subscribing to the wise notion of producing wines from varietals that are best suited to the growing conditions at the physical location of the vineyard, Meyer Family Vineyards focuses on “cooler climate” Burgundian wines grown primarily on their 1.62 hectare vineyard on the Naramata Bench, and the 6.9 hectare property in Okanagan Falls.
The Okanagan Falls location is the site of Meyer’s production facilities, wine shop, tasting room, and beautifully terraced gardens. Hidden amongst the vines in a tiny, green fruit-bowl valley, the winery reveals itself as you pass the unassuming bi-level family home at the entrance to the property. Visitors will experience a quietly refined and unabashedly humble “family” feel – at Meyer, guests always sense as though they’re visiting wine country cousins or old friends who just happen to have amazing property.
While their portfolio of five distinct Pinot Noir and five Chardonnay are the flagship wines, they also produce beautiful Gewürztraminer and Riesling, and are releasing a NV Brut Methode Traditionale this summer. The delicate (yet robust) Brut promises intensely active bubbles with gorgeous strawberry and shortcake flavours with a touch of yeast on the nose.
You’re encouraged to subscribe to the Meyer Family Vineyards Wine Club, as some wines are only available to members. Sign up for their summer Cabana Tasting events—a one-hour experience that will surely leave you with gold medal aspirations of your own.
(pictured: Proprietor Jak Meyer with new NV Brut)
~ Kris Johnson