The GOODS from Summerhill Pyramid Winery

Kelowna, BC | Summerhill Pyramid Winery, a progressive BC winery, has added three new sparkling wines to its portfolio, following a recent preview tasting at Vancouver’s Hawksworth Restaurant with an intimate group of industry leaders. Each wine was tasted alongside benchmark wines from Champagne, the Loire Valley and California. Led by wine educator and journalist DJ Kearney, a spirited discussion took place regarding the past, present and future of sparkling wine in British Columbia, with Summerhill acknowledged to be an industry leader and champion of change.

The first new wine to be showcased was the Cipes Blanc de Blanc 2010 (Sku: 661637, $35 sug. retail). Produced from 100% organic Chardonnay grapes from a select block of exceptional Okanagan Valley terroir. It is dry with extended sur lie and bottle aging, showcasing notes of citrus and bright minerality. It was poured alongside the Pierre Péters Grand Cru Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne.

Next up was the Cipes Blanc de Franc 2011 (Sku: 502773, $35 sug. retail), a Canadian first, produced in very limited quantities from 100% organic Cabernet Franc. The 2011 vintage produced a low sugar but high acid crop that was perfectly suited to sparkling wine production. This dry and savoury, but fruity and aromatic rosé is enhanced with storage on its lees. It was poured with the Château Moncontour Touraine Sparkling Rosé from the Loire Valley.

The third flight featured the Cipes Traditional Cuvée 1996 (Sku: 707356, $88 sug. retail), which was handmade from Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier grown organically at Summerhill Vineyard in Kelowna. Winemaker Eric von Krosigk suggested it was a “wine to muse over”. Nearly two decades in bottle, it has developed into a full, rich style that overdelivers for its price point. This wine will only be available at select restaurants and winery-direct. With a nod to Summerhill’s origins, it was poured alongside the 2009 Blanc de Blancs from Schramsberg in California.

Known by many as ‘America’s House of Sparkling Wine’, it was Jack Davies, the late owner of Schramsberg that famously inspired Summerhill founder Stephen Cipes to produce his first sparkling wine cuvées in 1991. Davies correctly identified that Okanagan terroir was perfect for the production of premium sparkling wine.

Other sparkling wines, including the Cipes Blanc de Noirs 2008 and Cipes Ariel 1998 are available now through Renaissance Wine Merchants Ltd. Retail and restaurant orders can be placed at (604) 709-8017 or toll free at 1 (800) 818 9644.

Quotes:

“The first lesson of Champagne is that place matters and less is more. Regarding BC sparkling wine, uniqueness is more important than perfection and our strength as a wine region is to remind people that small is beautiful.” – David Scholefield, noted BC wine expert.

“BC sparkling wine needs more elegant and restrained, with more resources needed to produce wines with more purity, finnesse, less sugar and more food friendly. We are close on so many levels, but as an industry, we need to keep benchmarking in order to get better.” – Anthony Gismondi, wine journalist.

“We have limestone in sneaky ways, in a dissolved form that beautifully showcases our specific terroir, allowing BC to compete with the other great sparkling wine regions of the world.” – DJ Kearney, wine educator and journalist.

Top photo: Kuna Lu

DETAILS

4870 Chute Lake Road | Kelowna, BC | V1W 4M3
Telephone: 250-764-8000 | 1-800-667-3538
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.summerhill.bc.ca | Facebook | Twitter

GALLERY

THE PEOPLE

Ezra Cipes: CEO
Eric von Krosigk: winemaker/viticulturist
Jesse Croy: winery chef
Gabe Cipes: biodynamics/permaculture
Stephen Cipes: founder/proprietor

ABOUT SUMMERHILL PYRAMID WINERY

Summerhill Pyramid Winery is a pioneering Okanagan Valley winery established in 1991. Owned and operated by the Cipes family, the winery has been a leader in organics, converting their own vineyard holdings to organic status shortly after the property was acquired in 1986, and helping to convert over 200 acres of Okanagan vineyards to certified organic status since then. The home vineyard in Kelowna is, as of 2012, BC’s first Demeter certified biodyamic vineyard. Summerhill considers their plots to be ‘vineyard ecosystems’ rather than viewing them as industrial farms. The philosophy of winemaking is that organic and biodynamic grapes, grown in harmony with the ecosystem, is the starting point for authentic, expressive, terroir driven wines. The portfolio of Summerhill wines has earned Summerhill the title of ‘Canadian Wine Producer of the Year’ from the IWSC in London, England (2009).

Summerhill has also been at the forefront of sparkling wine production in the Okanagan. The winery was founded with the production of Cipes Brut, a traditional method cuvee based on Riesling and Chardonnay, and has gone on to garner international acclaim for sparkling wines, including a gold medal from France (Chardonnay du Monde, 2000) and a trophy from England (IWSC, 2010), both for the estate grown Cipes Gabriel Blanc de Blanc sparkling wine.

The winery is also home to the Sunset Organic Bistro, featuring seasonal Okanagan wine paired cuisine in a rustic, relaxed atmosphere. Executive Chef Jesse Croy draws from the bounty of regional organic farmers, including an onsite half-acre biodynamic vegetable patch.