One evening, Sean and Saeedeh Salem found themselves at a restaurant in the company of good friends, eating incredible food and enjoying wonderful wines, when someone commented, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could make our own wines, right at home, and have them with beautiful dinners like this one?”[1] Over a decade later, husband and wife team Sean and Saeedeh, made this dream a reality. Their love for both French and Italian food, wine and culture led them to open not just one, but two wineries in the South Okanagan. Their first winery, Le Vieux Pin, is named after the old pine tree that stands as a sentinel at the estate vineyard on the Black Sage Bench. Their Second winery, LaStella, is named for the incredible, starry night skies that blanket Osoyoos when the sky is clear.
Since the first vintages at Le Vieux Pin and LaStella, in 2005 and 2006 respectively, each winery has emerged with a distinct wine portfolio. Le Vieux Pin has become known for their elegant, Rhône inspired wines, while LaStella is producing more robust wines with a Tuscan flair. To make this happen, the Salems have assembled a talented team which includes Severine Pinte, Jody Subotin and Rasoul Salehi.
Severine Pinte is the winemaker for both Le Vieux Pin and LaStella. She was born in France and earned a Masters in Viticulture and Oenology, as well as a National Dipolma of Oenology, from the esteemed École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Montpellier (ENSAM). One of her first jobs was actually working as the assistant winemaker at Domaine de Chaberton (now Chaberton Estate Winery) in the Fraser Valley. In 1999 Severine moved back to France to work in Bordeaux. She then spent 9 years working as head winemaker at Le Vignoble des 2 Terres. In 2010 Severine moved to the Okanagan and she was hired by the Salems to be the winemaker at both of their wineries. Severine has a very hands-off approach to winemaking as she believes that good winemaking begins in the vineyard. One of her favourite quotes is from Alsatian wine producer, Jean Hugel, who said, “100% of the quality of a true wine is already in the grape, not in the cellars where you can only lose quality.”
Jody Subotin is the vineyard manager at Le Vieux Pin and LaStella. He has over twenty years of experience working in Okanagan vineyards, including those at Osoyoos Larose where he learned time-honoured vineyard practices from Bordeaux. Jody manages the estate vineyards as well as the vineyards with whom they have long term contracts with for grapes. All of the vineyards are located in the South Okanagan, including the Black Sage Bench and the Golden Mile. In the vineyard, the focus is on quality and low input viticulture. There is an emphasis on lower yields, creating grapes that are fully ripe, with good acidity and concentrated flavour.
In December I had the opportunity to sit down with Rasoul Salehi, Director of Sales and Marketing at Le Vieux Pin and LaStella. Rasoul lead me through a tasting of several barrel samples from their upcoming 2016 vintage as well as a few of their library wines. Part of Rasoul’s job is to share the wines of Le Vieux Pin and LaStella with the world and he does this with exuberant passion and a wealth of knowledge.
Rasoul explains that Le Vieux Pin and LaStella are not trying to copy wines from Rhône or Tuscany, instead they are producing wines that “model themselves on wines from other regions but in fact are completely expressive of the specific place they are grown and made.”[2] He feels that Syrah is a varietal that can express the terroir in the South Okanagan. He says that Syrah “fully captures the nuances of the growing season [and] the specific features of the vineyard site: top soil, sub soil, elevation, exposure, etcetera and translates it into the finished wine.”[3]
The historical home for Syrah is in Southern France, but it is the Syrah wines from Northern Rhône that act as a benchmark for all other Syrah wines.[4] Syrah grapes are small with thick, black skins and they produce wines that are usually deep in colour and sometimes have a purplish hue. Tannins in Syrah are usually medium-to-high and acidity is usually moderate. Syrah can have notes of cured meat and pepper along with notes of black fruit and liquorice.
Le Vieux Pin makes three different expressions of Syrah; below are my tasting notes for each.
2015 Syrah “Cuvée Violette” $29.99
2015 was a very hot year in the Okanagan, which made it challenging to pick the grapes at the perfect ripeness while maintaining adequate acidity. The team at Le Vieux Pin rose to the challenge though and produced wines with good balance.
The 2015 Syrah “Cuvée Violette” was made using grapes from vineyards in the Osoyoos Lake District, the Golden Mile Bench and the Black Sage Bench; these vineyards were cropped low at 3.35 tons per acre. This wine is 99% Syrah and 1% Roussanne, aged in French Oak (8% new) for 14 months.
As soon as the cork was popped, this wine was drinking well. Aromas of strawberry jam, bramble, blackberry, cherry and pepper jumped from the glass. This is a full bodied Syrah with medium acidity and tannins. On the palate I found raspberries, black cherries, strawberries and pepper with dried figs towards the medium finish. With more time in the glass a savouriness emerged in the wine.
2015 Syrah “Cuvée Classique” $44.99
This Syrah is also made using grapes from the Osoyoos Lake District, the Black Sage Bench and the Golden Mile. The vines were cropped even lower at 3.3 tons per acre. This wine is 100% Syrah, aged for 14 months in French oak (20% new) and it is unfined and unfiltered.
The nose has a touch of earthiness to it, then aromas of fresh blackberries, blackberry jam, leather, violet and black plum with hints of pepper, vanilla and toast. This is a full bodied Syrah with medium tannins and acidity. The palate offers layers of bramble, blackberries, black cherries and black plums, with hints of vanilla and pepper, and a long finish.
2009 Équinoxe Syrah $89.99
2009 was another hot year in the Okanagan. The growing season started early and was ended abruptly by freezing weather over the Thanksgiving weekend. The 2009 vintage was made by the previous winemaker at Le Vieux Pin, James Cambridge, who is now the winemaker at Backyard Vineyards.
This wine was made using fruit from the Osoyoos Lake District, and the Black Sage Bench. It was aged in French Oak (72% new) for 18 months and it is unfined and unfiltered.
For me this wine was best left to open-up in the glass. From the glass there were aromas of pepper, blackberry, black plum, vanilla and new leather. This is a big, warm, full bodied wine at 14.8% alcohol. The acidity is moderate and the tannins are medium and velvety. The palate has a bit of an earthy quality (perhaps leather or damp leaves) with dark cherry, blackberry, pepper and dried fig with a lingering finish.
Le Vieux Pin
5496 Black Sage Road
Oliver, BC V0H 1T0
www.levieuxpin.ca
LaStella
8123 148 Avenue
Osoyoos, BC V0H 1V2
www.lastealla.ca
Foot Notes
[1] Tobler, J. (May 29, 2013). The Okanagan Valley’s Le Vieux Pin and La Stella Wineries: Old Meets New. Retrieved from http://nuvomagazine.com/magazine/summer-2013/the-okanagan-valleys-le-vieux-pin-and-la-stella-wineries
[2] ibid
[3] Salehi, R. Syrah and the South Okanagan. Essay supplied by Author.
[4] Puckette, M. (January 8, 2016). Northern Rhône Wine Region: The Land of French Syrah. Retrieved from http://winefolly.com/review/northern-rhone-wine-french-syrah/
References
Enotecca Winery and Resorts www.enotecca.ca
Le Vieux Pin www.levieuxpin.ca
LaStella www.lastella.ca
Puckette, M. (January 8, 2016). Northern Rhône Wine Region: The Land of French Syrah. Retrieved from http://winefolly.com/review/northern-rhone-wine-french-syrah/
Salehi, R. Syrah and the South Okanagan. Essay provided by the author.
Schreiner, J. (April 11, 2016). LaStella and Le Vieux Pin’s New Releases. Retrieved from http://johnschreiner.blogspot.ca/2016/04/lastella-and-le-vieux-pins-new-releases.html
Schreiner, J. (January 7, 2014). A Vintage Tour with Le Vieux Pin and LaStella. Retrieved from http://johnschreiner.blogspot.ca/2014/01/a-vintage-tour-with-le-vieux-pin-and.html
Schreiner, J. (March 21, 2011). LaStella and Le Vieux Pin’s New Releases. Retrieved from http://johnschreiner.blogspot.ca/2011/03/lastella-and-le-vieux-pins-new-releases.html
Schreiner, J. (January 5, 2010). Le Vieux Pin and LaStella Achieve Their Focus. Retrieved from http://johnschreiner.blogspot.ca/2010/01/le-vieux-pin-and-lastella-achieve-their.html
Tobler, J. (May 29, 2013). The Okanagan Valley’s Le Vieux Pin and La Stella Wineries: Old Meets New. Retrieved from http://nuvomagazine.com/magazine/summer-2013/the-okanagan-valleys-le-vieux-pin-and-la-stella-wineries
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