Stag's Hollow Winery News

New Release Reviews from John Schreiner

Thank you to John Schreiner for featuring our new spring releases in his latest post. We are thrilled to receive 92 points on the Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc and 90 points on the other four! To read more, please click here.

Stag’s Hollow Pinot Gris 2019 ($26 for 490 cases). This is the winery’s first Pinot Gris. To distinguish it from the ocean of Pinot Gris in the market, winemaker Keira LeFranc decided to make it in what the winery calls “a rich and textural, off-dry Alsatian style.” She succeeded brilliantly. The wine begins with appealing aromas of pear, white peach and citrus. The palate is indeed rich, with flavours of pear, apple and honeydew melon. The wine has a lingering finish with a hint of spice. 92.

Stag’s Hollow Sauvignon Blanc 2019 ($22 for 123 cases). This is a dry, zesty wine with aromas and flavours of lime and gooseberry mingled with savoury herbs. The wine is especially notable for the intensity of flavour and the persistent finish. 92.

Stag’s Hollow Muscat Frizzante 2019 ($22 for 305 cases). The blend is 49.7% Muscat Ottonel, 45.3% Orange Muscat and 5% Riesling. With 10% alcohol and delicate bubbles from being carbonated, this wine is light and refreshing. It begins with aromas of spice. On the palate, the flavours mingle spice with citrus and nectarine. This is such a delicious wine, and it goes down so easily, that you need to buy more than one bottle. 90.

Stag’s Hollow Rosé 2019 ($24 for 483 cases). This is 65% Syrah and 35% Zweigelt. The Zweigelt is new to this blend; the winery now has access to that varietal from a Similkameen vineyard. The wine presents in the glass with a delicate pink hue. It begins with aromas of raspberries and strawberries. Those berries are echoed on the intensely flavoured palate mingled with watermelon and a hint of pepper. The finish is dry. 90.

Stag’s Hollow Blanc de Noirs 2019 ($25 for 235 cases). Fashionably pale in the glass, this wine is 76.8% Pinot Noir, 18.2% Gamay Noir and 4.6% Zweigelt. It begins with aromas of cherry, strawberry and peach. The texture is surprising, and pleasingly. Full, with flavours of strawberry and apple. The finish is dry. 90.

Stag’s Hollow Simply Noir 2019 ($22 for 860 cases). The blend is 63% Gamay Noir, 28% Pinot Noir, 5% Zweigelt and 4% Dolcetto. Here is a very drinkable red wine with soft tannins that suggest the wine will benefit from a slight chill. It has aromas and flavours of bright red fruit including cherries. The finish is dry. 90. 

New Release Reviews from the Wine Diva - Daenna VanMulligan

We've recently received reviews on our first 2019 vintage releases -  2019 Rosé & 2019 Sauvignon Blanc - from Daenna VanMulligan. To see more of her reviews, please visit her site at WineDiva.

Tangy, dry, juicy.
Stag's Hollow celebrates 25 years in 2020!
Made from Syrah (64.8%) grown in Osoyoos, and Zweigelt from the Similkameen Valley, this pale Provencal-hued pink offers apricot and melon, red currents and orange blossom aromas. Tangy high-toned red fruit lines the palate; overall, good structure, balance and freshness.
A great wine for taco Tuesdays, or partner with grilled fish, ratatouille, grilled veggies and medium cheeses.   

 

 

 

 

 

Delightful, expressive, delicious.
Delightfully expressive, this savvy offers piquant notes of nettle and gooseberry alongside guava and peaches, green apples, honey and elderflower branch. It is tangy and buoyant, with a clean palate that shows significant peachy flavours. It has a kiss of sweetness and is definitely more fruity than verdant. Delicious and persistent; one glass, nay one bottle will not be enough.  

Recommended Pairings 
Eat your Greens, Cheese - Goat, Creamy Dishes

 

 

Food & Music Pairings for our 2019 Rosé

Our 2019 Rosé is featured in this week's Castanet Wine Review by Allison Markin, where she offers some great food pairing suggestions, as well as a song...

Pair with: Takeout Indian dishes, spicy nachos made at home, a veggie or tuna poke bowl with reasonable wasabi mixed in (or on the side). Grilled salmon or hot buffalo wings from the grill, or a spinach and strawberry salad with a light lime and pepper vinaigrette.

Music pairing: How Soon is Now, The Smiths

For the complete review on Castanet, including the tasting notes, please follow this link.

91 points for Stag's Hollow N/V Royal

From Treve Ring, gismondionwine.com

Pouring a golden yellow hue, this very sweet elixir is like drinking floral syrup, with dense and intense white blossoms, lime essence, dried apricot, golden raisin, rich quince paste, filling the full palate to a very spirited, spiced ginger finish. Super sweet (205 g/l), though thankfully there is a well handled line of acidity to counter. This is the third release of NV Royal, a blend of orange muscat and ottonel muscat that fermented naturally, arrested halfway with the addition of barrel aged grape spirits, and transferred to older French oak barrels where it remained for a minimum of 5 years, with random exposure to the hot Okanagan sun.

New Releases & a chance to chat with our team

We hope you are all well and are holding up through these times of quarantine, self-isolation and social distancing - it is certainly not easy. In normal times, these wines would have been released this week in our tasting room. As our tasting room is closed and you cannot drop by to discover these new wines, we are focussing on keeping you updated through online channels. Our new 2019 Sauvignon Blanc, just released today, joins our other Spring wines: 2019 Rosé and 2018 Muscat Frizzante. All three are fresh, vibrant and guaranteed to raise your spirits during this quieter time! We are also continuing to offer free shipping on orders of 6 bottles or more within BC and Alberta.

Want to try something new from your living room sofa or patio deck? Anybody who purchases one or all of these three wines between now and the end of April will be able to participate in an interactive virtual video chat with our winemaker, Keira, and some of the team here at Stag's Hollow. Join a group of fellow wine enthusiasts (or bored isolated folks) for a fun and informative social chat. This virtual chat will take place the week of May 4th, with more details to follow.

92 points for Stag's Hollow Renaissance Meritage 2016

We're excited to have this wine featured on Anthony Gismondi's list of Top 10 BC Reds this week! And rated at 92 points with the follow review...

Stag's Hollow Renaissance Meritage 2016

Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada

Wow, what a treat, and a further confirmation that 2016 is the best vintage we have experienced in the modern BC wine era. Clean, supple, and simply delicious to drink, it has the balance to go the distance, but you can enjoy it now – a rare combination in wine. From dark chocolate to red and black fruits to silky tannins, it's all here but in a tighter package that leans toward complexity rather than pure hedonism. It is already an excellent dinner wine that can take on most major meat dishes or a favourite cheese. The wine finished its ferment in French oak barrels: 40 percent in new 228-litre, thin-staved Bordeaux barrels, and the remainder in 3rd-fill 300-litre hogsheads, ageing in place for 18 months before blending and bottling without fining or filtration. It is 76% merlot, 13% cabernet sauvignon, 11% cabernet franc. Well done.

Easter Virtual Sharing Packs

Easter, a time for families to gather together over a meal, enjoy a nice bottle of wine and engage in family conversation. This year, you can still do this... virtually! Pick up an Easter Virtual Sharing Pack for yourself and each of your family members. Then connect via FaceTime, Skype, Zoom, etc. over the Easter weekend and visit while sipping the same wines, and even having dinner together! We're offering FREE SHIPPING in BC & Alberta on these packs.

This 3-pack ($70) features:

• 2018 Muscat Frizzante... to sip while dinner's cooking (and celebrate everyone's health)
• Brand new 2019 Rosé... to pair with appies (and discuss who made the best ones!)
• Limited-release 2017 Stag's Hollow Vineyard Pinot Noir... versatile for turkey, ham or vegetarian dishes

 

90 pts for Stag's Hollow Renaissance Pinot Noir 2017

From Anthony Gismondi, gismondionwine.com

The very best lots at Stag's Hollow end up in the Renaissance wines, and I believe this is only the seventh release in 21 years. The selection comes from two sites: Stag's Hollow, and Shuttleworth. It aged in new 300L French oak hogshead barrels and 3rd fill 228-litre Burgundy barrels for 15 months. In all, four clones are used: 115, 667, Pommard, and 777. 2017 is a little less luxurious than in 2016, and it's better for it. Expect a mix of expressive strawberries and cherries, with a dusting of sage and expressive, silky textures, finishing with a twist of brown spices. There is quite a resemblance to Sonoma here. Serve with roast chicken, roast pork with fennel, and any mushroom dishes.

Stay Home & Sip - Free Shipping

We wish to thank you for your continued support of Stag's Hollow Winery in these uncertain times. As much as we all hope that this is over sooner than later, all reports from Public Health seem to point to the latter. We have implemented strict santitizing protocols at the winery, and with a small core staff and a very large building, we're able to safely practice social distancing in our work environment. We have also closed our tasting room doors until it is safe for all to enjoy again.

Despite all the uncertainty in the world today, it doesn't mean we cannot enjoy all of life's simple pleasures in our own homes.  Start experimenting with new recipes or making some of those special meals we haven't found time for lately. Of course, special meals need special wines!  Or maybe all meals need a bottle of wine!  We don't want anybody's cellars to run dry at this time, so we'd like to extend the following offer:

We thank you for your patience.  In this new world of social distancing and sanitizing, our old efficient ways have been changed and we are a bit slower at packing a box! In any case, we have the technology and we will get these out to you!

2019 Harvest Recap

Now that the last of the reds have officially been pressed off, we’re able to catch our breath in the cellar and reflect on this year’s harvest... 

They say that every vintage is different, and each comes with its own set of unique challenges; after this year, I’d have to agree. Last year's long, drawn-out harvest was a lesson in patience - a hard-learned lesson for me - but one that proved invaluable. This year, we didn’t have the luxury of patience, but instead we were dealt a lesson in adaptability. Challenging vintages, like the one we’ve just had, remind us that vintage variation should not be used as an excuse for lesser wines, but rather as a challenge to winemakers to adapt their practices to suit the fruit they get, with the goal of making the best wines possible, irrespective of year. With ideal weather, wine is made in the vineyard, with winemakers having to do relatively little to craft exceptional wines. It’s the poorer weather years that separate wineries through their vineyard practices.  It is also these years that really allow the winemaking team to show off their skills. Exceptional wines that come out of these years are made all the more satisfying knowing the hard work that has gone into them. This year is one of those years and we couldn’t be more excited about what we’ve been able to create.

The spring and summer leading up to harvest were as close to ideal as you could ask for. Moderate temperatures set us on track for gradual, even ripening across all of our vineyards - Mother Nature had a few tricks up her sleeve for us, though. An uncharacteristically wet and cool September slowed things down, and then a frosty start to October brought on a bit of a mad rush to bring everything into the cellar all at once. Luckily for us, our hard-working and meticulous vineyard team set us up for success early, by reducing crop loads, and staying on top of disease and rot pressure. While much of the valley was battling rot and mildew, we were extremely lucky to be relatively unaffected by it.  We had little work to do on the sorting table as the quality of the fruit was surprisingly beautiful! As we aren’t used to having the majority of our fruit come in all at once, we had to get a bit creative with tank space. Heads were popped off barrels and picking bins were stolen from the vineyard so that we could use them as make-shift fermenters. I think at one point we had about 35 individual red ferments going (that’s a LOT of punch-downs!) Having so many small  vessels for fermentation actually allowed us to divide parcels into more batches than usual. This allowed us to experiment with different techniques and play around with variables in a way that will give us many options when it comes time to blend our wines. As usual, we have a few new projects up our sleeves and we were also able to work with a few new-to-us varieties (just to keep things interesting!) I can’t wait to share these wines with everyone... there are some really special things happening in the cellar!

For now, though, we are waiting patiently, with our fingers crossed, for some perfect Icewine picking weather!

Cheers,
Keira
IG: @stagshollow