The Goods From Poplar Grove

Vancouver, BC | Poplar Grove Winery is offering a Spring Wine Bundle to celebrate the release of the new vintages of Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, and Blanc de Noirs. If you live in BC, order before May 14th and receive free shipping exclusively on the Spring Wine Bundle. Order online: http://tinyurl.com/zvdt3cj.

Details

425 Middle Bench Road North | Penticton, BC V2A 8S5
Telephone: 250-493-9643
Web: www.poplargrove.ca | Facebook | Twitter

Gallery

The People of Poplar Grove Winery

Owner: Tony Holler
Winemaker: Stefan Arnason
Assistant Winemaker: Nadine Allander
Winery Administrator: Jacquie Carlson
Sales & Marketing Director: Laurie Barnes
Wine Club Manager: Naomi Burt

About Poplar Grove Winery

Great wines are born from the courage to see what is possible.

Over the past 19 years, the team at Poplar Grove has worked with the vineyards to nurture their potential into each bottle.

Poplar Grove’s vision has remained the same: to make world-class wines that reflect the spirit of the Okanagan Valley. Each year, the wine making team handcrafts the Poplar Grove wines with care, being true to their mandate to guide the winemaking process with little or no interruption of the natural process.

One of the original 5 wineries on the Naramata Bench just outside Pentiction, Poplar Grove was founded in 1993. The first vintage was released in the fall of 1995, with the Poplar Grove Cabernet Franc receiving top honours at the Okanagan International Wine Festival.

Tony Holler purchased the winery in 2007 and has been Owner and President of Poplar Grove ever since. The Holler family brought with them 110 acres of prime vineyard sites located throughout the Southern Okanagan Valley, appropriately named Holler Estate Vineyards.

The addition of the new vineyards allows Poplar Grove wines to be made from 100% estate grown fruit. The viticulture team supports the estate vineyards by practicing a sustainable farming program that works with the complexity and variability of the individual vineyards resulting in grapes that are the optimum expression of the Okanagan Valley.

When asked to share his vision for the Okanagan Valley, Tony Holler replied, “The Valley has attracted so much talent, all with an incredible amount of commitment to the land and to continuous improvement to the winemaking processes. I see a growing integration of culinary knowhow into the wine experience; nothing beats taking in the valley view while sipping an outstanding Okanagan wine paired with a locally sourced culinary creation.”

In 2008, Stefan Arnason took on the position of Winemaker and in 2011, Nadine Allander was named Assistant Winemaker. Together the wine making team hand-crafts wines from the quality fruit harvested from each of the estate vineyards with the goal of guiding the process to allow the true expression of the fruit to shine through.

Poplar Grove is focused on six core wines: Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and a signature blend called The Legacy.

To make truly great wines, every aspect of the Poplar Grove estate vineyards must be nurtured. It takes a courageous team to make the right choices in the vineyards and collective patience to wait for nature to fully develop the grapes. The grapes are hand picked and hand sorted to guarantee that only the finest fruit makes it into the ferment.

Poplar Grove white wines are released the year following harvest to preserve the primary fruit flavours. The red wines are kept in the cellar for at least 3 years before being released to ensure they are ready to drink.

Each year, in addition to the 6 core wines, Poplar Grove’s wine making team makes a small amount of exclusive wine crafted for Poplar Grove’s Wine Club members, and for diners at The Vanilla Pod Restaurant. These exclusive wines include the CSM (a Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot blend), the Syrah-Viognier, a Reserve Chardonnay, the Munson Mountain Pinot Gris and a Poplar Grove Blanc de Noirs Rose. The limited release wines offer the wine making team an opportunity to create single vineyard and small lot wines that exhibit the vibrant characteristics of the vintage.

July 2010 was an exciting month for Poplar Grove as it marked the official launch of the Poplar Grove Wine Club. The spirit behind the wine club is to ensure that fans receive a guaranteed selection of Poplar Grove’s most sought after wines each year.

Members receive the benefit of access to Poplar Grove’s limited release & member’s only wines, a 10% discount off all Poplar Grove wines purchased direct from the winery, early access to new release & library wines, and inspired wine recipes with each shipment.

The doors to Poplar Grove’s beautiful new, 9500 sq.ft. winery opened on July 1st, 2011. Designed to appreciate the natural landscape and topography, the new winery space is home to a working winery, a showcase barrel hall, and an expansive tasting room.

The winery’s contemporary design features wall-to-wall panoramic windows that create a tasting room experience where visitors have the chance to sip award wining wines while enjoying one of the finest views the Okanagan Valley has to offer.

Poplar trees, lavender, iris and Russian sage have been planted on the property to incorporate the local flora into the winery landscaping. Within the new Munson Mountain estate vineyard, Poplar Grove included foundation plants to harmonize with sustainable faming principals, including hard fescue, red clover and bluegrass. The vineyard edges are lined with crested wheatgrass, wild mustard and annual rye.

Vanilla Pod Restaurant

June 21, 2012 marked the official re-opening of The Vanilla Pod Restaurant. Originally based in Summerland, the owners decided to make it a year-round destination restaurant at Poplar Grove Winery that features cuisine inspired by fresh and seasonal local ingredients and, of course, Poplar Grove’s award winning wines. Key ingredients include fresh herbs which in the summer months are picked by Executive Chef Bruno Terroso from the herb garden next to the restaurant.

Bruno Terroso brings both a passion for the local cuisine and a natural creativity in the preparation of innovative spectacular dishes. Tapas style dishes of international and Mediterranean flavours combined with fresh Okanagan ingredients make for a delightful exploration of contemporary cuisine. Visual presentation is as important as innovation in flavour with judicious use of spices and other seasonings being cent to the dishes created by Executive Chef Bruno Terroso.

Restaurant owners, Paul and Sheila Jones, have been doing business together for seven years – with clearly defined roles. Originally from London, Paul, who has long been a restaurateur, loves the excitement of meeting new people and ensuring their dining experience exceeds their expectations while Sheila focuses on the behind the scenes aspect of the Vanilla Pod.

Paul and Sheila look forward to welcoming guests to enjoy an inspired meal while taking in one of the most breathtaking views in the Okanagan Valley.

The future…

Over the years, Poplar Grove winery has gained a reputation for producing quality, award-winning wines. Poplar Grove’s Syrah 2008 was the only Canadian wine awarded a Gold medal at the 2011 Decanter World Wine Awards. The Cabernet Franc 2007 won the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Excellence in British Columbia Wines, and the Poplar Grove Merlot 2006 won Double Gold at the All Canadian Wine Championships. The Cabernet Franc 2009 was awarded a Silver (Outstanding) Medal at the 2012 Decanter World Wine Awards. Most recently, the Poplar Grove Syrah 2010 was on the podium at the 2013 Decanter Awards show with a Silver Medal.

Poplar Grove’s star is on the rise. With the new state-of-the-art winery & signature restaurant, 100% premium estate grown fruit, and a clear vision for the future, Poplar Grove Winery looks forward to welcoming wine lovers to their corner of the wine world.

For more information on Poplar Grove Winery, visit the website at www.poplargrove.ca.

Recent Reviews & Awards

GOLD medal Decanter World Wine Awards – Poplar Grove Syrah 2008

BRONZE medal Decanter World Wine Awards – Poplar Grove Cab Franc 2008

Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Excellence in British Columbia Wines – Poplar Grove Syrah 2007

DOUBLE GOLD medal All Canadian Wine Championships – Poplar Grove Merlot 2006

90/100 Poplar Grove Cabernet Franc 2007
Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada

When BC red wine is clean it usually has all the rest of the ingredients to jumps up my quality chart. Take this cabernet franc for instance. Love the ripe tobacco, cherry jam, vanilla, violet aromas and the similarly ripe, round, rich, dry palate. The tannins are present but fine-grained with savoury, soft varietal-ly correct franc black fruit and sage flavours that go long with finesse. Bravo. You can drink now or keep this for another two years for perfection. T-bone steaks anyone? – Tony Gismondi

89/100 Poplar Grove Merlot 2006
Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada

Expect a lovely rich version of merlot here with plenty of sweet oak and bright fruit with a savoury dried herbs undercurrent. Big and form with a slightly lean undercarriage. Try now with roasted meats or wait three years to full maturity. All this needs is a bit more finesse. Well done. – Tony Gismondi

89/100 Poplar Grove Reserve Chardonnay 2010
Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada

Much better style in the reserve with its butter, light lees, pineapple fruit and underlying richness. Love the baked apple entry and the French oak, both of which are still interacting. Dry long buttery tarte tatin notes with nutty, oily pineapple fruit and ripe red apples. This wine needs another three years to settle down and work with the likes of halibut and fresh fruit salsa, abalone or lobster.