La vendange! La vendemmia!
Our busiest time of year is now upon us. The grape harvest or la vendange and la vendemmia as they call it in France and Italy has begun. With an incredible summer now behind us and the onset of autumn, we are working flat out to pick our grapes at optimum ripeness ensuring brix (or sugar) levels are balanced with acidity. This is key to enabling us to craft well-blanced, food friendly wines that convey quintessential Okanagan flavours distinct from other popular cooler climate, white wine growing regions like New Zealand, Germany, and parts of France and Australia.
Similar to harvest in other areas where vinifera grapes are cultivated, a plethora of celebratory actvities are held. Last weekend was not only Thanksgiving but also the conclusion of the annual Okanagan Fall Wine Festival, during which our 2008 White Bear Sauvignon Blanc was honoured with a bronze medal at the 2009 Judging Awards. With over 160 events and 10,000 people visting our Valley during the week of Festival it is a fun though can be an exhausting time if you try to fit too many in!
With the rural nature of our lovely wine countryside, we see perhaps some slightly different sights than wine regions like Niagara that are adjacent to large urban areas. Driving near our Oliver vineyards recently I came across a herd of cattle (see my photo on the right). Occassionaly our vineyard workers come across other wildlife around our properties such as deer, big horn sheep, and wild horses that are attracted to our deliciously ripe grapes. One of the many cool things about living here in the west! Would love to hear from other bloggers/readers about wildlife you've seen while wine touring...
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