The GOODS from Le Vieux Pin

Vancouver, BC | With spring coming quickly to a close and summer right around the corner our tasting room is now open every day. Much of the spring vineyard work is now completed including some new plantings down in our South Osoyoos vineyard we call Stag. Winemaker Severine Pinte explains some of the spring work this year: “Spring and frost free nights have finally arrived in the South Okanagan. This year’s project for the Le Vieux Pin winery team was to interplant our Stag vineyard in Osoyoos. A small secondary project was to switch the irrigation system on a tiny block of the vineyard from overhead sprinkler to drip irrigation. We choose the Syrah clone 174 for the elegance and velvety tannins it brings to the wine, especially when planted on the very sandy soils of this site. Why is drip irrigation important? We talk a lot about sustainability and part of this process is to better manage our water input. The sandy soil structure, high temperature and low rainfall, combined with the young vines we are planting are three critical reasons to water the plants in a very manageable and controllable way. Drip irrigation has an efficiency rate of 90 % versus 50% for the overhead. The small patch of vineyard we converted this spring was the last remaining piece of overhead irrigation among our estate vineyards. This transformation was managed by our vineyard manager Jody Subotin and his crew. They got the job done right on time and the young vines got water to start establishing their roots!”

As always you can read this and more in our Le Vieux Pin Newsletters.

Details

34070-73th Street Oliver, BC
Phone: 250-498-8388 | Fax: 250-498-8399
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.levieuxpin.ca | Facebook | Twitter

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The People Who Make It Happen

Winemaker: Severine Pinte

About Le Vieux Pin

The best wines come from the best vineyard sites; this is “terroir.” Fortunately for us (and you!), the Okanagan Valley happens to be one of the best wine regions anywhere with its unique climate and variety of latitudes and soils. There is a perceptible difference in temperature and greenery around the valley, from the lushness of the north to the sage ridden desert in the South. According to WineBC, the area between Oliver and Osoyoos is the northernmost tip of the northernmost desert in the world; the Sonora Desert. The summers are very hot; it is hotter in July and August than Napa Valley, but the evenings are markedly cooler. Osoyoos has 1450 growing degree days and a mere eight inches of average annual rainfall (WineBC.com). Low rainfall, high heat units and a dry environment allow us to farm in a sustainable manner with all the respect the land deserves.

Our vineyard management strategy is based on Old World techniques with a dusting of New World modernism added on top. Our focus is to make wine that is representative of its terroir. Non-interventionist and low-input viticulture is the method we use to get there. Deficit irrigation, on-site composting, high-density plantings and extremely low yields allow the vines to show us who they really are, deep down to their roots.

We have very distinct soil composition between our vineyards: some sites are very high in white silica sand while others are quite gravelly and rocky. Some sites show traces of schist and shale deposited by volcanic activities in the area. Along with our sister winery Lastella we own and cultivate 50 acres of vineyards scattered throughout the South Okanagan. We also source some grapes from a select group of growers who have certified organic vineyards or grow with sustainability in mind.

Passion, friendship, dedication and commitment are the recipe for our success.

Please visit the winery when you visit the Okanagan and join our email newsletter for the latest news from wine country. Visit us online at www.levieuxpin.ca on Facebook at www.facebook.com/levieuxpin and twitter at twitter.com/levieuxpin.

Á votre santé!

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