For my last post of the year, I will leave you with a Sparkling Chenin Blanc from Road 13 Vineyards in Oliver, British Columbia.
Road 13 Vineyards has not always been Road 13. The property on which it now stands was purchased in 1970 by Peter and Helga Serwo. Peter and Helga immigrated to the Okanagan from Germany in 1966. For a decade they grew peaches on their property, but in 1980 they decided to replant their land with grapes. Peter and Helga were amongst the first growers in BC to plant premium vinifera grapes.
The Serwos built themselves a winery to accompany their vines. Peter, a builder by trade, designed and built the winery, modeled after a 17th century Bavarian castle. The winery was named Golden Mile Cellars, as it was located on the Golden Mile Bench.
Golden Mile Cellars sold most of their grapes to other producers, only making about 1000-1500 cases of wine of their own each year. Peter and Helga’s daughter travelled to Germany to study winemaking with the intention of returning to work for the family business. Plans changed however, and when their daughter decided to stay in Germany, the Serwo’s put their property up for sale. Enter Mick and Pam Luckhurst.
Mick was born and raised in Port Alberni. He had a marketing diploma from BCIT and had worked as a lumber broker, a real estate developer and operated a building supply business. Mick’s wife Pam was born in Manchester and, when Mick first met her, she was a flight attendant. Over the years the two partnered in various business ventures together.
In 2003, after spending three winters building houses in Edmonton, the Luckhursts moved to Osoyoos Lake for a bit of a reprieve. They spent that summer entertaining friends, touring through wineries and inadvertently falling in love with the wine business.
The couple wasted no time acting on their new dream. They purchased Golden Mile Cellars from Peter and Helga Serwo in October 2003.
In 2008, Golden Mile Cellars rebranded, changing their name to Road 13 Vineyards. As mentioned earlier, Golden Mile Cellars was located on the Golden Mile Bench. The Golden Mile Bench is located at the foot of Mount Kobau, which is known for its calcium and mineral rich soil, produced by glacial deposits, creating a distinct terroir.
By rebranding, Golden Mile Cellars was giving “Golden Mile” back to the area. A press release at the time stated “As Golden Mile Cellars [we] would never be able to present the region to the world by ourselves. Thus it is important that all of our wineries in this area own the term, to be able to make and market its wines and to be able to tell the story of them. So now Golden Mile belongs to the area rather than to one winery.”[1] The Golden Mile Bench was named British Columbia’s first sub-appellation in 2015.
In 2018 Mick and Pam decided it was time to retire. In November of that year it was announced that Road 13 Vineyards had been purchased by Anthony von Mandl, owner of several Okanagan wineries, including Mission Hill Family Estate.
[1] Gothe, J.
2017 Sparkling Chenin Blanc $39.99
The 2017 Sparkling Chenin Blanc from Road 13 Vineyards is made from 100% Chenin Blanc. The grapes were hand harvested, sorted and gently, whole-cluster pressed. The primary fermentation was slow and cool, occurring in stainless steel tanks and aged on light lees for six months. The wine was bottled en triage for its second fermentation in the bottle. The wine was aged on its lees for three years before disgorging.
This sparking wine has a shy nose of blossom, apple, pear, grapefruit and biscuit. This is a dry wine with medium+ acidity. The crisp palate offers apples, hints of brown sugar, grapefruit and biscuit with a medium finish.
I would love to pair this wine with delicate seafood or sushi over the holidays.
References
Gothe, J. (October 22, 2008). Golden Mile Cellars Turns into Road 13 Vineyards. Retrieved from: https://www.straight.com/article-167077/winery-turns-road-13
Schreiner, J. (November 30, 2018). Road 13 Purchased by Anthony von Mandl. Retrieved from: http://johnschreiner.blogspot.com/2018/11/road-13-purchased-by-anthony-von-mandl.html
Schriener, J. The Wineries of British Columbia. Whitecap Books, 2004, North Vancouver.