In 1982, after the death of their Father in India, twins Jessie and Randy Toor immigrated to Canada with their mother, Sukhminder, and their brother, Dave.
The Toors divided their time between family in Winnipeg, Manitoba and the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. During their time in the Okanagan, the Toor brothers spent several summers working at vineyards on the Black Sage Bench.
In 1988, the Toor family purchased their own apple orchard on the Black Sage Bench. The sandy soils were not ideal for apples, so they tried other orchard fruit with not much success.
When their neighbour replanted their vineyard, the Toors decided they would follow suit if they could find a buyer for their grapes. At the suggestion of Richard Cleave, the Toors secured Domaine de Chaberton in Langley as a buyer.
In 1995 the Toors began the three-year process of converting their orchard to vine, and by 2000 they were ready to sell their grapes to Domaine de Chaberton. Impressed by the quality of their grapes, Elias Phiniotis (winemaker at Domaine de Chaberton) stated, “Whatever they grow, we take.”
In 2003, Randy and Jessie decided to open their own winery and Elias Phiniotis came to work with them as their winemaker. In 2015 Anthony Buchanan replaced Elias as winemaker, and Randy’s son Rajen worked alongside Anthony as assistant winemaker.
Today the Toors own five vineyards and a total of 85 acres, producing 12,000 cases per year under the Desert Hills label. The winery is currently operated solely by Jessie Toor, and Rajen is now the head winemaker at Desert Hills with Ryan Grifone as Assistant Winemaker.
2015 Desert Hills Mirage $39.90
The 2015 Mirage is a blend of 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Cabernet Franc, 9% Malbec and 3% Petit Verdot. Grapes were picked and sorted by hand. Whole berries and free-run juice were transferred to tanks where they were cold-soaked for three days with delicate, daily pump-overs. Fermentation was with indigenous and cultured yeasts. The wine was aged in French oak (27% new) for 24 months prior to bottling.
After two and a half hours in the decanter this wine offers concentrated aromas of black fruit. There is blackcurrant, prune and black cherry, with notes of cedar, lavender and hints of sweet spice. This is a dry, full-bodied wine with medium+ acidity and medium tannins. The palate offers blackcurrant, salted blackberries, black plum and black cherries, with hints of black pepper and sweet spice. The medium+ finish is savoury, with notes of dried herbs and leather.
References:
Schreiner, J. (April 29, 2019) Desert Hills Releases Fine 2018 Wines. Retrieved from: http://johnschreiner.blogspot.com/2019/04/desert-hills-releases-fine-2018-wines.html
Schreiner, John. The Wineries of British Columbia. North Vancouver, White Cap Books, 2004.
Trudeau, S. (August 14, 2013). A Visit to Desert Hills. Retrieved from: https://www.pentictonherald.ca/news/local_news/article_72be5f37-c032-5891-b788-acf37dc4e4ab.html