As you might already be aware, the Okanagan Valley has faced two devastating winters back-to-back, and these severe cold snaps have wreaked havoc in the vineyards. A lot of vines sustained damage, some irreversible, and wineries have had to make very tough decisions about how they will move ahead. Solvero Wines, located in Garnet Valley, Summerland is no exception.
The team at Solvero realized that due to the damage, they could not harvest grapes from their vineyards this year. Thus, in July their General Manager and Winemaker, Alison Moyes, traveled to Washington and Oregon in search of premium grapes.
In the short term, Solvero has decided to source grapes from the US to make wines for the 2024 vintage. Additionally the winery has back vintages to offer to their customers and wine club members until the vines recover. In the meantime, the team has been working hard to repair their vineyards and they hope that the vines will be back in production for 2025.
The team are able to repair the vines as many are pushing-up new shoots from the ground. These new shoots are being used to replace the damaged trunks and they will grow from the existing, established root stock. This process is called “retrunking” and, once the new shoot is established, the old trunk can be removed. Retrunking means that fruit will likely grow the next year, unlike planting new vines, which can take 2-3 years to produce grapes that are mature enough for winemaking.
With limited production in 2024, Solvero anticipates selling out of some of their wines quickly. In the meantime though, they have a good selection of wines available for purchase. This includes these three picks, which are an ideal trio to have on hand for the holiday season.
(For more on Solvero Wines click here.)
2023 Solvero Pinot Gris $25.00
Grapes were harvested from Kozuki Family Vineyards and Happy Valley Vineyard over four picks throughout the month of September. Each pick was processed individually and the whole clusters were gently pressed. Fermentation was cool and mostly spontaneous, lasting three-to-four weeks. The wine was aged in a mixture of stainless steel and neutral French oak barrels for three months before bottling.
Aromas of crushed gravel, honey suckle, pear, grapefruit rind and bitter almond. This is a dry, medium bodied wine with medium acidity. The juicy palate offers notes of peach, pear, lemon and honey, all underscored by a sense of minerality, with a medium+ finish.
2023 Solvero Rosé $25.00
This Rosé is made from 100% Pinot Noir harvested from Kozuki Family Vineyards and Garnet Valley Vineyard. The grapes were hand harvested in early September and gently destemmed, keeping the grapes from the two vineyards separate. Maceration lasted for approximately three hours before the juice being pressed-off the skins. The wine was then cool-fermented in stainless steel.
Aromas of grapefruit pith, sea salt, crushed gravel, raspberries and underripe strawberries. This is a dry, medium bodied wine with medium+ acidity. The palate offers grapefruit pith, notes of strawberry-rhubarb pie and whip cream with a medium+, mineral and saline finish.
2020 Solvero Pinot Noir $35.00
Grapes for this wine hail from Garnet Valley Vineyard and consist of clones 115, 667, 777, 828, 943, Pommard and Swan. Each block and clone of Pinot Noir were processed independently. Grapes were gently destemmed. Whole berries underwent fermentation before carefully pressing off the wine, which aged in French oak (33% new) for 12 months.
Aromas of a pine forest floor, cherry, black plum and lavender with a hint of baking spice. This wine is a dry wine, medium- in body, with medium acidity and medium- tannins. The palate offers notes of sour cherry pie, earthy forest floor, cola, vanilla and baking spice with a medium+ finish.