THE GOODS FROM Le Vieux Pin

Oliver, BC | With past reviews giving the Èquinoxe Syrah and Cabernet Franc 90 points plus, this year’s highly anticipated release of both wines has the Le Vieux Pin team very excited. For the Èquinoxe Syrah, most of fruit grown was grown from a single vineyard in North Oliver on an extension of the Black Sage Bench. This flagship wine captures the unique characteristics of the South Okanagan, with the heat of the desert days marrying the cold of desert nights. It’s an intensely aromatic wine with a refined elegance. The Èquinoxe Cabernet Franc was produced from just one row in the Feuille D’Or vineyard, resulting in a single barrel. More vines have been planted but won’t be included until they reach the same levels of maturity and flavour profile as the already established old vines. Le Vieux Pin will release these wines on September 20th to their wine society members first, before it is available to the public. However, all pre-release orders are now being accepted at sales [at] levieuxpin.ca. Learn more about the wine after the jump…

The 2011 Èquinoxe Syrah received some great accolades:

Julian Hitner (@Torontowineguy) | Hitnerwine.com on Èquinoxe Syrah 2011:
“The 2011 Équinoxe will provide considerable pleasure over the next six years. Dark ruby in colour, the wine reveals truly splendid aromas of peppery currants, plums, wild game, pipe tobacco, and a hint of dried blue fruits and spice. Complex, containing delicious fruit, firm tannins, balanced acidity, and an elegant, expressive hint of peppery currants, tobacco, and wild game on the finish. Great character, body, and class.” Now-2019

Past vintage reviews for the Èquinoxe Cabernet Franc:

John Schreiner on Le Vieux Pin Équinoxe Cabernet Franc 2008:
“This is one barrel of wine from a single row in the winery’s Feuille D’Or vineyard south of Oliver, cropped very low and aged 22 months in new French oak. The berries were destemmed entirely by hand before fermentation, a treatment some would think over the top but effective in making a top wine. The result is a wine with 15.1% alcohol and with the power of Amarone. It begins with a dramatic aroma of figs, black currants, liquorice and spice. On the big rich palate, there are flavours of blackberries, prosciutto, leather, cedar, finishing with layers of red fruit.” 93 points

For more details regarding the LaStella and Le Vieux Pin wineries, the newsletter, and cellar tours, visit the new websites: www.lastella.ca and www.levieuxpin.ca.

8123-148th Avenue, Osoyoos, BC V0H 1V0 | MAP
Tel: 250-495-8180 | Fax: 250-495-8160
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.lastella.ca | Twitter

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The People That Make It Happen

Viticulturalist: Severine Pinte
Vineyard Manager: Jody Subotin
General Manager: Rasoul Salehi

About LaStella

LaStella was created to capture our vision of la dolce vita: fine food, wonderful wine, great music, and the good things in life. At LaStella, we celebrate the sun that ripens our grapes and brings warmth to our life, and we share that with everyone who visits us.

LaStella is situated at Osoyoos Lake in the sunny South Okanagan valley of beautiful British Columbia. Here our vineyards produce great fruit and we craft them into such proprietary wines as Allegretto, Vivace and Maestoso. Each wine has its own story — and to convey this unique story we name our wines after Italian musical motifs.

LaStella has assembled an all-star cast to lead the production of BC’s best wines. Head winemaker and viticulturist Severine Pinte, Vineyard Manager Jody Subotin and General Manager Rasoul Salehi work tirelessly to deliver award winning wines vintage after vintage.

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.lastella.ca on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lastellawinery and twitter at twitter.com/lastella_winery.

The History

LaStella was created to be the embodiment of the Tuscan way of life. For us, we are making more than wine. We are making our own fun. We are making something different yet reassuringly familiar.

LaStella is situated at Osoyoos Lake in the South Okanagan valley of beautiful British Columbia. The winery opened its doors in May 2007 with its first vintage of 2006. This included Vivace Pinot Grigio, Lastellina Rosato, Allegretto Merlot (Pie Franco) and the very low yield, highly complex Maestoso Merlot.

In 2008, 4 clones of Brunello (Sangiovese Grosso) have come to production. Soon the super Tuscan expression from the Okanagan will come to life.

In the Vineyard

Fortunately for us (and you), the Okanagan valley happens to be one of the best wine regions with its unique climate and variety of latitudes and soils. There is a perceptible difference in temperature and greenery, 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 northern most desert in the world; Sonora Desert. Summers are generally very hot with July and August being warmer than Napa Valley, but the evenings are markedly cooler. Osoyoos has 1450 growing degree days and 8 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.

In the vineyards we do a blend of organic and biodynamic practices, which we call ‘non-interventionism’. Along with our sister winery; Le Vieux Pin, we have around 50 acres of small parcel, prime vineyards in Oliver’s Golden Mile and Black Sage Bench as well as vineyards at Osoyoos lake. We have very distinct soil composition in our vineyards that result in very unique and distinctive wines. We also contract grapes from quality minded growers who grow organically and sustainably. We practice low input viticulture and employ dry farming. As a result our yields are very low and help concentrate the flavours and complexities in the fruit. Our average yield is 2 tons per acre and for some of our wines as low as 1 ton per acre, compared to the widely accepted 4-8 tons per acre yields used with quantity focused producers.

In addition to the above, the underpinning of our success is passion, friendship, dedication and commitment to excellence.

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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Gallery

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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