Wine slowly trickles out of our BC wineries and makes their way to market. Two new bottles of wines that I received to taste and rate are from Haywire and Singletree wineries. One a Pinot Gris and the other a Pinot Noir. These are wines for everybody from every province and territory across Canada to enjoy.
My Tasting Notes
Haywire Switchback Organic Vineyard Pinot Gris 2015 (~$24.90+)
According to Haywire Winery at Okanagan Crush Pad, “The Switchback Organic Vineyard is surrounded by sage, bunch grass, ponderosa pine, and fruit trees which bring out hallmark aromas in wines from this site. The vineyard was planted 100% with clone 52 Pinot Gris in 2006 and has been farmed organically since 2011. The south-east facing site is planted 15° off north-south. The soil composition includes silt, gravelly soils with rocks encased in limestone.
The grapes are harvested and processed in five distinct batches with each lot playing a pivotal role in the final wine, offering structure, acidity, minerality, floral notes and texture. Fermented using native yeasts, full malolactic, and aged in concrete tanks for ten months on gross lees.”
This wine is bright lemon colour in the glass. A nose showing some development in the bottle; toasty, citrus and hints of honey and bramble leaf. The wine with decanting shows a butteriness on the nose, and more oakiness. This wine is dry with a thicker, buttery mouthfeel but balanced by higher acidity. Medium plus body, with flavours of roasted apples and peach and ripe pineapple. The flavours are quite deep. There is also some bramble leaf, oak-like flavour (could it be from extended skin contact during fermentation?), honey, and a hint of marmalade. This wine has a medium plus length, finishing with mouth-watering acidity, toast, ripe tropical fruit, and bramble leaf. This wine at the moment tastes a lot like a oaked Chardonnay, but it has more acidity. I think that this wine is going to be very interesting to taste with 3-4 years of ageing, softening out the toastiness and letting the flavours in the bottle get more complex. I don’t think I’ve ever suggested to age a BC Pinot Gris, but I think this wine will reward you if you give it time to evolve.
Rating: 
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A heavy-duty Pinot Gris. Toastiness paired with deep fruit flavours. Give this wine a few years of ageing before opening for optimum pleasure.
Singletree Pinot Noir 2015 (~$21.66+)
“This wine is fermented in stainless steel with punchdowns twice daily. The wine experienced extended skin maceration followed by 11 months aging in oak…”, according to Singletree Winery.
This wine is translucent garnet, a medium intensity in the glass. A youthful nose, that smells a lot like freshly baked gingerbread; cinnamon and nutmeg, along with ripe red cherries and raspberries. A very nice nose. With decanting you also get mace spice on the nose. The wine is dry, medium bodied, and medium acidity. Raspberries, plums, red cherries and other red fruits, along with a floral component showing roses and violets. Light oak with vanilla showing up later on the palate. Also a hint of minerality. Medium plus length, finishing with tart red fruit and red cherries, plus vanilla and cinnamon flavours. Medium, drying tannins. Some pepperiness as well, but this disappears with decanting. With decanting this over overall becomes much rounder in the mouth and the fruit flavours mesh more nicely together. Decanting recommended. Singletree notes that this wine can be cellared for 5-10 years.
Rating: with decanting. Lots of red fruits on the nose and on the palate. Pretty floral component.
Where Can I Buy These Wines?
You can order Singletree Winery’s wines online on their website.
You can order Haywire Winery’s wines online on their website.
Everything Wine does sell some of Haywire wines. Haywire’s website does provide a web search for private shops and restaurants offering their wines.
