Today’s two wines I label “Wine hands across the border,” as one wine has grapes from the Okanagan and the other bottle has grapes from Washington state. The winery and wines are Hester Creek Estate Winery Trebbiano 2025 and Hester Creek Estate Winery Rosé Cabernet Franc 2024. The Trebbiano is from Hester Creek’s estate vineyard on the Golden Mile Bench from our wonderful 2025 vintage across BC. The rose wine is from 2024, which you may remember is when we had a terrible January cold snap that killed or severely damaged most of the wine grapes in the Okanagan. So for 2024, BC wineries were allowed to source grapes from outside BC. The grapes for this rose wine come from the Columbia Valley in WA state, particularly Red Mountain and Horse Heaven Hills. I am grateful that we have neighbours that are willing to help other neighbours in times of need.
For those of you that are unfamiliar with the grape Trebbiano, it is an Italian white grape that is widely planted in Italy and elsewhere. In France it is known as Ungi Blanc and is used to make cognac. In Italy it is also used to make balsamic vinegar.
Now, here are my notes for these two wines.
My Wine Tasting Notes
Hester Creek Estate Winery Trebbiano 2025 (BC $ Not listed on winery website)
Appearance: A clear, bright, medium-intensity lemon colour.
Nose: Medium intensity aromas of straw, stone fruits, and lime zest. No straw scent after decanting.
Palate: Dry, medium-plus body with a round, thicker mouthfeel. Medium-plus acidity leaves a light acidic prickle in your mouth. Citrusy, along with touches of lime zest, pepperiness, stoniness, tropical and stone fruits. No change to the body or flavours after decanting.
Finish: A medium-plus length finishing dry with tart stone fruits, lime, pepperiness, and stoniness. I picked up some bitter grape stem on the finish after decanting.
A bright, fresh wine with citrus and stone fruits on the nose and palate. I prefer the undecanted version, which avoids the bitter grape stem on the finish.
Rating: 
The Hester Creek Estate Winery Trebbiano 2025 shows a clear, bright, medium-intensity lemon colour with medium aromas of straw, stone fruit, and lime zest, with the straw aroma disappearing after decanting. The palate is dry and medium-plus-bodied with a round, thicker mouthfeel and medium-plus acidity, offering citrus, lime zest, pepper, stoniness, tropical fruit, and stone fruit, with no change to the body or flavours after decanting. It finishes medium-plus in length with tart stone fruit, lime, pepperiness, and stoniness, with bitter grape stem appearing on the finish after decanting.
Hester Creek Estate Winery Rosé Cabernet Franc 2024 (BC $ not listed on winery website)
Appearance: A clear, medium-intensity, perfectly clear garnet colour in the glass. Constant colour from the rim to the core.
Nose: It is lightly scented with red fruit, cranberries, and a touch of capsicum. Even lighter aromas after decanting.
Palate: This wine is dry, medium-bodied with a round, thicker mouthfeel. Lighter tannins and medium-plus acidity. Tart flavours of cherries and cranberries, plus some candied cherries and a touch of capsicum on the palate. Less cranberry flavour and add some bitter grape stem to the palate after decanting.
Finish: A medium-plus length finishing with a touch of drying tannins. Light, tart red fruits and cherries on the finish. Some bitter grape stem to the finish after decanting.
I prefer the undecanted version of this wine to avoid the bitter grape stem that shows up on the palate and stays to the finish.
Rating: 
no decant. The Hester Creek Estate Winery Rosé Cabernet Franc 2024 shows a clear, medium-intensity garnet colour with light aromas of red fruit, cranberry, and a touch of capsicum, becoming even lighter after decanting. The palate is dry and medium-bodied with a round, thicker mouthfeel, lighter tannins, and medium-plus acidity, offering tart cherry and cranberry, candied cherry, and a touch of capsicum, with less cranberry and some bitter grape stem appearing after decanting. It finishes medium-plus in length with light, tart red fruit and cherry, a touch of drying tannins, and bitter grape stem on the finish after decanting.
Where Can I Buy These Wines?
Neither wine is currently listed on the Hester Creek website. It is likely that the rose is sold out and that the Trebbiano may just be coming out, unless it sold out quickly over the summer. I also checked BC Liquor stores, Save on Foods, and Everything Wine stores websites, but neither wine was listed.
