Quick Conversations in Wine – Caroline Schaller of Osoyoos Larose
The Vancouver International Wine Festival is just around the corner, and we’d like to know more about who’s attending and what they’re interested in in the world of wine and thought you would too. Good Wine Gal’s Barb Wild and I choose some of the women in attendance for this year’s festival and have presented them with a few quick-fire questions to get to know them better. Here’s our Q + A with Caroline Schaller from the Okanagan’s Osoyoos Larose. More on the Wine Festival here.
Proudest moment?
When people enjoy the wine, I made.
Favorite grape variety?
Malbec for red, Sauvignon Blanc for white.
Favorite wine you make? Why?
Le Grand Vin, a strong and powerful wine that pairs with hearty meal!
Favorite food? Meal?
I love food and cooking, so picking a favorite is hard, but chocolate, any kind of cheese, and bread!
Funny thing that happened along the way?
During my studies I always heard about the bears hanging around during harvest, I thought it was a “wine legend” and now here I am dealing with the black bears.
Yoga? Meditation? What keeps you going?
No yoga, no meditation, just the pleasure to taste a finished product with friends and remember the year it came from.
Blundstones or Blahnik?
Doc Martens.
What are you looking forward to this year?
Building our winery and planting white grapes!
Organic, biodynamic, vegan, low alcohol wines. What are your thoughts on these?
Caroline Schaller tells us that the truth will reveal itself in the wine! The truth is in the tasting!
Advice for women in the industry?
In any industry, just keep doing what you love, and the best answer is always humour.
Bio
2017 : Executive manager Winemaker OSOYOOS LAROSE
2004-2017 : Executive manager Winemaker Domaine d En Segur, Tarn France
2009-2017 : Wine Tasting Teacher Prodegustation, France
2003 : Assistant Winemaker Domaine Cauhapé Jurançon France
Assistant Winemaker Vina Leyda Chile
2002 : Winemaker Groupe Plaimont Madiran France
2000-2001 : Cellar Worker/ Lab Worker Pine Ridge Winery, Napa USA
Osoyoos Larose
In 1998, Groupe Taillan of Bordeaux, France and Constellation Brands Canada formed an inspired partnership with a vision to create a world-class Canadian wine from classic Bordeaux varietals.
The union of centuries-old winemaking traditions and new-world, state-of-the-art equipment and technology was consummated on an arid, west-facing, 80-acre bench overlooking Lake Osoyoos in the South Okanagan, British Columbia. Their inaugural wine, Osoyoos Larose Le Grand Vin 2001 exceeded all expectations at home and abroad. Le Grand Vin 2001 raised the profile of all red wine produced in the South Okanagan and placed Osoyoos Larose on par with the world’s finest wine producers.
The early success of Osoyoos Larose validated the extraordinary vision of an unlikely partnership and to this day inspires exceptional wine that rivals the best of the old and new world. The winemaker is now Caroline Schaller.
