Shana Miller, who was born and raised in Nova Scotia, is one of the founders of Upper Bench Winery and Creamery. At the age of 25 she found herself working in a stressful accounting job in Quebec. Motivated to make a change, Shana moved to the Okanagan in 1995. At the time, Shanna also had four cats, therefore she had to find a special kind of person who would rent to her. Fate brought her together with Ian and Gitta Sutherland, the original owners of Poplar Grove; they had plenty of room for both Shana and her cats. That same year another fortuitous event would take place: an Englishman named Gavin Miller arrived in the Okanagan on holiday. Shana and Gavin met and, as they say, the rest is history.
The couple would move to England for a year before returning, in 1997, to live in the Okanagan. Gavin started working as a sign maker, but he was only there for a year when his employer suddenly went into receivership. Fortunately Hillside Winery, who was one of Gavin’s clients, hired him on as a carpenter. Surrounded by wine, Gavin eventually went back to school to study viticulture at Okanagan University.
Gavin first worked in the vineyard at Lake Breeze, then the cellars at Hawthorne Mountain and the tasting room at Sumac Ridge, before becoming assistant winemaker at Red Rooster. In due course, Gavin became the assistant winemaker at Poplar Grove prior to becoming their winemaker from 2004 to 2008. In 2008 Gavin worked as the winemaker at Painted Rock where his wines won four Lieutenant Governor Awards before he left in 2010.
In February 2011, during a bankruptcy court auction, Gavin and Shana Miller, together with silent partners, Wayne and Margareta Nystrom, purchased what is now Upper Bench Winery. They would spend the next year renovating both the vineyard and the winery.
The 7-acre estate vineyard at Upper Bench was originally planted in 1998. Two of the seven acres were planted with Zweigelt and the Millers grafted half of the Zweigelt to Cabernet Sauvignon. Today, the other five acres of the estate vineyard consist of Merlot, Pinot Noir, Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc.
The winery itself was overhauled with new winemaking equipment and half of the building was converted into a creamery for cheesemaking. Shana had learned artisanal cheesemaking from Sandra Chalmers, the original cheesemaker at Poplar Grove. Shana worked as head cheesemaker at Poplar Grove from 2002 until 2006. Her skills and passion for cheesemaking allowed the Millers to craft wonderful cheeses to sell alongside their wine when they opened their doors in May 2012.
All the cheeses at Upper Bench are gluten and additive free and, if you visit Upper Bench, your wine tasting will be paired with a selection of their cheeses. You can also sign-up for their “Curds and Corks Club” which provides members with quarterly shipments of both wine and cheese; it doesn’t get much better than that! If you happen to visit the winery during the warmer months, make sure you leave enough time to enjoy a meal on their patio. They have a beautiful, wood pizza oven serving-up delicious creations made by Chef Christopher Royal. Royal comes to Upper Bench from Vancouver Restaurants, Nook and Tavola.
I am impressed by what Upper Bench is doing with their small lot, single vineyard wines. The grapes are grown at the sustainably farmed estate vineyard where the vines are hand tended and the grapes are hand harvested. For the 2014 vintage the Merlot was cropped low at 3.21 tons per acre and the Cabernet Sauvignon was cropped even lower, at 1.8 tons per acre. These wines are terroir driven and they are made with little intervention. Here are my notes from a recent tasting.
2014 Estate Merlot $38
After about an hour in the decanter this Merlot has aromas of black cherries, blackberries, cedar, black liquorice and hints of coffee. The palate shows juicy acidity and lovely, plush and velvety tannins. There are concentrated flavours of fresh black cherries, vanilla, blueberries and clove, with dried cherries on the medium finish.
2014 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon $38
Pinot Noir is often referred to as the “heart-break grape” because it is so finicky to grow. Gavin Miller, however, believes that Cabernet Sauvignon is the true heartbreak grape of the Okanagan. Cabernet Sauvignon requires a long growing season to fully ripen, something that is difficult to achieve even in the hottest parts of the Okanagan. Gavin feels that “when done properly and cropped correctly, [Cabernet Sauvignon from the Okanagan] can be stunning.”[1]
After an hour in the decanter there are aromas of cassis, plum, blackberries, eucalyptus and black liquorice. On the palate, bramble, black cherries, dark cocoa and plums lead to a lingering finish. This wine is a refreshing and elegant expression of Cabernet Sauvignon with bright acidity and very fine, medium tannins. I look forward to seeing how this wine evolves with careful cellaring.
Upper Bench Winery and Creamery
170 Upper Bench Road South
Penticton, BC, Canada
V2A 8T1
www.upperbench.ca
Footnote
[1] Schreiner, John. (March 13, 2015). Upper Bench Impresses BC Wine Appreciation Society.
Sources
Buchanan, R. (July 12, 2017). Pizza on the Patio at Upper Bench. Retrieved from http://www.winetrails.ca/2017/07/pizza-on-the-patio-at-upper-bench/
McIver, S. (April 29, 2016). We’re the Millers: Award-Winning Wine and Cheese Makers. Retrieved from http://www.pentictonherald.ca/opinion/article_9cceddc8-0da3-11e6-a87f-af0105e03a2f.html
Schreiner, J. (June 27, 2012). Upper Bench Offers One-Stop Shopping. Retrieved from http://johnschreiner.blogspot.ca/2012/06/upper-bench-offers-one-stop-shopping.html
Schreiner, J. (July 22, 2014). Upper Bench Releases Block Buster Reds. Retrieved from http://johnschreiner.blogspot.ca/2014/07/upper-bench-releases-blockbuster-reds.html
Schreiner, J. (March 13, 2015). Upper Bench Impresses BC Wine Appreciation Society. Retrieved from http://johnschreiner.blogspot.ca/2015/03/upper-bench-impresses-bc-wine.html
Schreiner, J. (February 22, 2016). Upper Bench’s Yard Wine and Friends. Retrieved from http://johnschreiner.blogspot.ca/2016/02/upper-benchs-yard-wine-and-friends.html
Smith, C. (April 1, 2015). Naramata Bench: Upper Bench Estate Winery and Creamery Marries its Passions. Retrieved from https://www.straight.com/food/421361/naramata-bench-upper-bench-estate-winery-creamery-marries-its-passions