Wine grapes from two different vineyards plus native yeasts from each vineyard, produces two unique wines. The winery in question is Haywire and the wines were made at Okanagan Crush Pad, in Summerland, BC. The two wines I tasted from Haywire were:
- Haywire Switchback Vineyard Pinot Gris 2012
- Haywire Canyonview Vineyard Chardonnay 2013
The Switchback Vineyard was the first vineyard planted by Haywire winery owners, Christine Coletta and Steve Lornie in Summerland, where their Okanagan Crush Pad, custom crush facility is located. The soil is slightly varied throughout the site: sandy with a touch of clay. The Canyonview Vineyard is located above Trout Creek in Summerland, about 8km south of the Switchback Vineyard, and is owned and managed by grower Krimo Souilah.
My Haywire Reviews
Haywire Canyonview Vineyard Chardonnay 2013 – This wine was between a medium and pale straw colour with a green tint. It was all fermented in concrete, which is an inert medium, and does not have any oak barrel aging. The same is true for the Switchback Vineyard Pinot Gris. On the nose, this wine had quite a prominent lees component, together with grapefruit rind upfront, with stone fruit in the background. I re-tasted this wine 6 hours later and I picked up more of a lemon component on the nose. It was dry with lower acidity and lighter body. A very soft mouth feel together with a very light prickle on your tongue. I may say that this wine has a silky, waxy feel. The lees from the nose continued to the palate, where it was present from the start of the sip to the finish. It does taste of nice fresh fruits; stone fruit, grape fruit and lemon, but the flavours are all quite restrained. One does not dominate the other. With my 6 hours of decanting, there was much more tropical fruit flavour, followed by stone fruit. I also picked up stoniness from the mid palate to the finish. It has a medium plus length which finished with pepperiness then mouthwatering acidity. This is not your typical Chardonnay, and I find it quite interesting. I could drink this wine on it’s own. This wine is not yet released, so if you are interested in getting it, go to http://okanagancrushpad.com/contact-us/ to get on the pre-sale list.
Rating: An elegant Chardonnay, light and soft, with balanced fruit and acidity, that would pair nicely with steamed or poached seafood, or chicken.
Haywire Switchback Vineyard Pinot Gris 2012 – Medium Bosc pear skin colour in the glass. Medium intensity nose that is moving from youthful toward developing. intriguing aromas in the glass of over-ripe, or dried, pears and apples, together with dried herbs. With the 6 hrs of decanting, I picked up more pears on the nose. Smelling the wine the next day, it almost reminds me of a dry Tokaji. On the palate, the wine is dry (to slightly off dry) with medium acidity, but quite round and a bit heavier mouth feel. It also had an acidic prickle on the tongue like the Canyonview Vineyard Chardonnay. More complex flavours of dried apricots, peaches, and apples, blossoms on the mid palate, almonds and butter, and honey toward the finish. Medium plus length with again pepperiness, honey, some bitterness, and mouth watering acidity. The wine had a lighter mouth feel after 6 hrs decanting, but the flavours were all still there. A very complex wine, that I think could make some interesting food pairings.
Rating: A very intriguing wine to share with your guests. Maybe try with roast pork with apples, smoked salmon, or a light blue cheese?
Lagniappe
The back label of many wine bottles will have the wine maker’s notes, describing the aromas and flavours of the wine at the time of bottling. I never read the back label before I make my tasting notes, but I do like to compare my notes to the wine maker’s notes. It is quite interesting to see how similar many of my observations are compared to the wine maker’s notes in many cases. You can try this too. In the beginning you may find that you missed many of the nuances from the wine maker, but with time and practice, you will become more descriptive. To help you with this, I would suggest getting a white and a red wine tasting sheet, which you can download from the Internet. Use it to help guide you find the words that best describe the wine. Below is the back label of the two wines. How did I do?
In case your curiosity gets the best of you, here is the Wikipedia description of Lagniappe!