Amphora Chenin Blanc 2022

Wine Profile

Chenin Blanc makes up less than 1% of the white varieties grown in BC. It ripens mid season and is generally associated with cool climate wine growing regions. This fruit comes from a single block at McIntyre Vineyard in OK Falls.

Tasting Notes

Our inaugural release of Chenin Blanc has aromas of honeycomb, nectarine, and kiwi with puff pastry notes on the finish. The palate is an explosion of fruit, with lemon and lime leading the way, ahead of white raspberry and peach. Pair the bright and juicy flavors of this wine with fish tacos or pan-seared red snapper.

Winemaking notes

The grapes for this small lot were whole cluster pressed and fermented using wild yeast in a single clay Amphora. The long and slow fermentation allowed for lots of lees stirring and a partial malolactic fermentation to occur. The wine was aged sur lie in the Amphora a further 2 months before bottling.

Vintage notes

The 2022 season kicked off late with a cool start to the season and finished with an amazingly warm and dry fall. The microclimates within the vineyards played a large role in the ripening of different varietals as the right slope and aspect can help collect warmth on the cooler days. Bud break and flowering was delayed by about two weeks with the cool weather, but August and September came through with higher-than-average temperatures which luckily lasted through most of October as well, ensuring that our late-ripening reds matured.

We harvested our first fruit on September 21st for our traditional method sparkling wine, Chardonnay from our Thomas Ranch vineyard in OK Falls. The vines produced close to average yields despite our extra crop thinning efforts to ripen the fruit in what we thought could be a shorter window. The hot and dry weather in October was invaluable, resulting in more intense aromatics in our late ripening whites and reds with concentration and finesse. Expect to see wines with more natural acidity and balance this vintage.

Vineyards

Sourced from a single block at McIntyre Vineyard in Ok Falls