2010 Harvest

As of last Tuesday Nov. 23 the 2010 harvest is now officially completed here at Foxtrot Vineyards.  All of the Chardonnay and Pinot Noirs are now in barrel and undergoing their malo lactic fermentations.  The growing season, although delayed by the cool spring weather, was ideal for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.  September brought large amounts of rain and cool weather increasing the risk of rot.  However, the hard work we put into our vineyard along with our growers throughout the season paid off and we escaped the month with no rot.  Our patience in September paid off and October brought warm temperature and by Oct. 16th the first Chardonnay grapes were ready to be picked.  Not long after we began bringing in Pinot Noir from our Naramata Bench Growers and our home Foxtrot Vineyard.  The warm summer and cool fall produced grapes with fantastic acidity and vibrant flavours without excessive sugars.  Although we are still early in the winemaking process, with the wines still undergoing Malo Lactic fermentation, I beleive this year has produced some outstanding Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays that should age well for many years to come.  The last two fermenters were pressed off inside the wine cave, as temperatures outside had dipped to -10C, and meant I had to bucket the skins into the press by hand the old fashioned way.  It will be interesting to see how the wines develop from the different vineyards.  Our plan as we increase production using grapes from other vineyards is to keep these separate and bottle them as vineyard designate wines.  As the winemaking process is kept virtually the same for each vineyard the expression of each site will come through in each wine.  The first of these, the 2008 Erickson Vineyard Pinot Noir, will be released this Spring of 2011.  The vineyard is located approximately 0.8km north of the Foxtrot Vineyard and its vines were planted a couple years before Foxtrot’s.  Look for more details this spring as we announce the release date.

Other News

During harvest Foxtrot Vineyards was pleased to be part of the Gold Medal Plates event held at the Sheraton Wall Centre in Vancouver.  The event, which helps raise funds to support Canada’s high performance athletes, saw some of BC’s top chefs compete for Gold, Silver, and Bronze and the chance to compete at the 2011 Canadian Culinary Championships.  Congratulations to Neil Taylor of Cibo Trattoria on taking the bronze.  From James Chatto’s report on the event:  “He made spectacular use of local, seasonal ingredients with a carpaccio of wild venison, tender and smoky, dressed with slices of superb pine mushrooms (the best in the world). A tangy, earthy black truffle and celeriac aioli, smooth as a Jim Cuddy lyric, grounded the dish while paper-thin shavings of red-wine-soaked pecorino pushed the flavours skyward. Wild watercress added the “green” to the flavour and colour spectrum of the dish. The wine pairing, with Foxtrot Vineyards awesome 2007 Pinot Noir from the Okanagan vineyards, was the most precise and seductive of the night.”

New Years Winemakers Dinner

In December Foxtrot Vineyards will also be having a winemakers dinner with Painted Rock Winery on New Years Eve at the Galiano Inn and Spa.  Look for more details shortly.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *