There’s a lot happening at Road 13 this year.

We’ve started digging the hole for our new building which will house our barrels and case goods along with a staff room, kitchen and a new licensed area.

During the excavation, we unearthed some volcanic ash which most likely came from the explosion of Mount Mazama in Oregon about 7700 years ago.  Crater Lake now exists where Mount Mazama once was. No matter what we do, it keeps coming back to the dirt.

At the end of July we picked up our new dog, a Bouvier named Arnie.  He’s now almost 5 months old and nearly as big as a smart car. Many of you managed to meet him in the wineshop where he hangs out behind the tasting bar.  The Daschunds have been upstaged somewhat but Fil is making sure his alpha status has not been undermined.

In spite of a late start to the growing season, most of our grapes are coming in early this year.  As of today we have already crushed 90% of our harvest.  For once we didn’t have to pick the Chenin Blanc in the snow. The last 3 nights have been below freezing (Oct 9,10 & 11) and all the leaves have turned brown.  The only grapes we still have on the vine are Syrah so they won’t ripen any further and it’s up to the winemaker now work his magic.

The 2008 Honest John’s Red  ($18.99) is now available in our wine shop. This vintage the blend is 41% Merlot, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Pinot Noir and 6% Cinsault. ($18.99) Fresh berry and soft tannins. Remarkably easy to swallow!

Another new release to look forward to is the 2008 Pinot Noir ($22.99) which will be available October 19. After a bit of stylistic digression of the 2007 vintage (not bad, just different) this wine resumes the style of previous vintages. Cherry predominates with a “briary” background which comes, year after year, from the particular vineyard.

Our results are in from the Canadian Wine Awards and once again we are happy with the results. Our 1 Gold, 4 Silver, and 7 Bronze medals placed us the #6 winery in Canada.

Gold: 2008 Viognier Roussanne Marsanne*

Silver: 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon

2007 Jackpot Syrah

2007 Jackpot Pinot Noir

2008 Honest John’s White

We are equally as pleased with our results at the Okanagan Fall Wine Festival Awards:

2 Gold, 1 Silver and 5 Bronze.

Gold: 2007 Merlot

2008 Viognier Roussanne Marsanne

Silver: 2008 Old Vines Chenin Blanc

*For the time being, due to limited production and a pending restaurant allocation, the Viognier Roussanne Marsanne is available only to wine club and restricted to two bottles for visitors to our winery.

For those customers living outside of British Columbia we regret to inform you that we are no longer shipping outside of the province.  We are being obedient and abiding by the law introduced during prohibition that prohibits the transport of alcoholic beverages across provincial boundaries (unless they are being sold to the liquor boards).

The good news is we have several stores selling our wines in Alberta now and our 2007 Merlot is available through the LCBO and as of November 5th, the SAQ.

We are always happy to ship to friends and relatives in BC and then it might find a way  to get to you (if no-one drinks it first).

I’ll try to send one more update before Christmas.

Cheers,

Pam