With so much wine available to us in BC, it can, at times, be overwhelming to deduce the great offerings from those that are a bit more mediocre on the market. Every so often we’ll stumble across a few that are standouts and worth noting (and consequently, investing in). One such noteworthy producer comes straight from the Okanagan’s Golden Mile and Black Sage Bench regions…we’re talking about Le Vieux Pin and sister winery La Stella.
Yesterday, we had the opportunity to partake in an intimate, special release wine tasting courtesy of these two top-notch BC wineries – and let’s just say our palates were more than impressed. We were greeted by the friendly Hawksworth PR team upon arrival and handed a glass so the tasting tour could begin.
Rasoul Salehi, General Manager for Le Vieux Pin and sister winery LaStella (a young professional himself) helped us ‘tour’ the latest vintage of reds, introducing us to the winery’s latest passion project: the Retouche red (a Cabernet Sauvignon with a ‘touch’ of Syrah). Rasoul spent time telling us about the winery’s commitment to sustainable growing practices, highlighting the challenges of this past growing season and alluding to what buyers can expect from Le Vieux Pin’s latest vintage. He’s truly passionate about all aspects of his work, the wines and the business – refreshing to see from an accomplished YP. For starters, he hinted that Retouche won’t be around for long; they only produced 60 or so cases and will be snapped up in no time. We’ve now added that to our wish list.
The event was held in the winery’s urban Yaletown office and offered invited guests the perfect post-work opportunity to learn more about the its continued development and future plans – sans any wine-snobbery. Images of the 50 acres of picturesque vineyard property owned and cultivated within the South Okanagan region were displayed on a large screen, enticing us to add a personal visit to our must-do list for next summer.
With so much demand (and recent rewards received), this fairly young winery (first vintage was released in 2005) has stayed committed to its roots and kept sustainable practices in mind. They’ve also maintained the essence of French winemaking tradition – with a New World twist that we tasted in the line up: Viognier, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Grapes are grown on-site with the remainder sourced from a select group of certified organic growers in the immediate region.