What do you get when you put a winemaker, a broadcaster and a Hollywood actor in the same room together? If it’s winemaker, Michal Mosny, broadcaster, Terry David Mulligan and Hollywood actor, Jason Priestley, you get a beautiful Bordeaux blend from the Okanagan.
I first wrote about Michal Mosny in 2020. Michal is the proprietor and winemaker at Winemaker’s Cut and, as you may recall, he plays classical music in both the vineyard and in the cellar. Michal Mosny was born in Slovakia where he and his wife, Martina, operated a 500-case-per-year, boutique winery.
Their first glimpse of the Okanagan was through a television show, entitled Hollywood & Vines, hosted by none other than Terry David Mulligan and Jason Priestley. After further investigation, Michal and Martina immigrated to the Okanagan in 2011, where Michal setup a vineyard management company called GAGW (Good Attitude, Good Wine) Solutions. In addition to consulting for numerous Okanagan wineries, Michal spent five years working as general manager and winemaker at Lunessence Winery & Vineyard.
In 2013 Michal met Colin Stevens, owner of Deadman Lake Vineyard. The Stevens family had been growing fruit trees on their property since the early 1920’s. Between 2000 and 2005 they converted part of their land to vineyards. It had always been their intention to start their own winery, but it had never come to fruition.
Michal ended up leasing the Deadman Lake Vineyard from the Stevens family and he began making wines for Winemaker’s Cut with the harvest in 2015.
Eventually Michal and Martina took two more vineyards into their fold: the Chahal Vineyard in Oliver and the Slow Vineyard, located in Naramata.
Enter Terry David Mulligan. If you don’t already know, Terry hosts a regular radio show entitled Tasting Room Radio. He was in Victoria conducting interviews for Tasting Room Radio and Michal Mosny was there representing Winemaker’s Cut. Terry was impressed by this relatively new winery that had appeared on wine store shelves virtually overnight and they instantly became friends.
During this meeting, Michal told Terry the story of how he and his wife Martina came to settle in the Okanagan. He explained how Terry and his cohost, Jason Priestley, had introduced them to the Okanagan through Hollywood & Vines, thus setting everything into motion.
In 2020 Michal was walking the Quails Wayside Vineyard in Oliver, a vineyard that Winemaker’s Cut had just signed a contract with for long term use. Michal had no plans yet for the grapes, he just knew that he was excited to work with them; he put the wine into barrels and waited. Eventually Michal reached out to Terry and told him that he had the makings of a Bordeaux blend in barrel, and suggested that they make a wine together. Terry called their good friend, Jason Priestley, and he was equally excited about the proposition. The three partners were founded and the inaugural wine from Q&A was born.
“Two years ago, we decided to put this beautiful story in a bottle. We started by questioning everything – the smallest decision, the most trivial detail – to try to create a wine that has every answer. Now you can hear what it has to say.
– Q&A
It’s a wine that has a lot to say. But it does so elegantly, almost quietly. It doesn’t demand your attention. It earns it.”
2020 Q&A $50.00
Hailing from a great vintage in the Okanagan, this wine is a blend of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. The grapes were sourced from two vineyards in Oliver, Quails Wayside Vineyard and Chahal Vineyard. The wine was aged in oak for 11 months (50% neutral oak, 20% second-fill French oak, 16% new Slovakian oak and 14% new French oak). Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
After three hours in the decanter there are aromas of blackcurrants, olives, blackberry, bramble, salty, black liquorice, clove, vanilla and a hint of mocha. This wine is dry, medium+ in body, with medium+ acidity and medium+, fine tannins. The palate offers blackcurrants, savoury herbs and salinity, followed by black cherries dipped in dark chocolate, prunes and clove, with a long finish.
Approachable now, but those with patience will be rewarded. It can be savoured on its own, or paired with a ribeye steak or a prime rib dinner with all the trimmings.
This wine can be ordered online from qa.wine
And stay tuned for a 2021 Q&A white blend which includes Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier, coming soon.
References
www.winemakerscut.ca
Schell, J. (August 14, 2019). Why this Okanagan Winemaker has 13 speakers in the vineyard. Retrieved from: https://infotel.ca/inwine/why-this-okanagan-wine-maker-has-13-speakers-in-the-vineyard/it64823
Schreiner, J. The Okanagan Wine Tour Guide. Vancouver, BC: Whitecap, 2020.
Tasting Room Radio (January 7, 2023). Episode 238: A Q&A With Q&A. Retrieved from: https://www.mulliganstew.ca/2023/01/07/january-7th-2023-qa-with-new-wine-called-qa/