Winery Review of One Faith Vineyards
@District Wine Village
DWV Series 8 of 10
My second day at District Wine Village starts with One Faith Vineyards. And I will say that they were the perfect winery to start my day at.
This winery aims to recognize BC's beautiful potential for making wine that can be just as great as those found in France's Bordeaux region. Proprietor and visionary Bill Lui believes in this potential, leading him to build One Faith Vineyards.
"Our singular goal is to produce a "First Growth" in the Okanagan Valley, an exceptional wine of unparalleled quality."
Their inception in 2010, followed by their first vintage in 2012, is the culmination of extensive research through wines and wineries in Bordeaux, France. They then searched an area in BC to find the "just right" vineyards to make this dream a reality. Careful examination and selection brought him to Oliver, where the warm and hot sunny days and unique terroir provide the perfect starting point to craft excellent wines.
With a close eye and focus on quality, they look at crafting elegant, beautiful wines as a labour of love. Where many other wineries utilize machinery, they prefer to maintain that "hands-on" approach. Sparing no expense, they use premium tanks and barrels/barriques. They support a good cause by donating 100% of their profits from The Girls Rose to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. They draw off 10-15% from each fermentation for this rose to produce their saignee-style rose. A happy byproduct of drawing off this portion is the intensification of the aroma and flavours in the final red blend, drawing out so much more of the character of these lovely grapes.
Every stage, from vine to wine, is carefully crafted and planned. The involved manner of barrel fermentation - only uses new oak. Rolling the barrels to allow the whole grapes to break apart and macerate in their juices enables the incorporation of the oak characteristics and tannins in such a manner that results in an elegant integration. Barrel aging extends upwards of 20 months. Constant evaluation of their many wines ensures that only the best get considered in the final blending.
This care and attention to detail even extend to their tasting room.
I had made a reservation for their Grand Vin tasting. This includes tasting two Grand Vin red blends and other wines from their portfolio. (Special note - during the tourist season, it gets reduced to two. I went in the off-season and was treated to six 😁). I'm so glad I made a reservation and booked this experience because when I entered, I was greeted with such a lovely setting providing a warm welcome—a platter of two kinds of cheese, cured meats, raspberries and blueberries, and slices of baguette.
My wine host is Brad, the current winemaker of One Faith. I say current as One Faith changes out their winemakers. This brings in a variety of learned input to help with their goal of creating exceptional wine. Each winemaker leaves their mark. But they work on the roadmap already mapped out. Brad has been the winemaker since the spring of '21. He has a casual yet welcoming presence and style—engaging and funny conversationalist and storyteller. I immensely enjoyed sitting back, listening, and learning as Brad shared his history (he set up the sparkling program at Silhouette Cellars winery). Sharing the history of One Faith Brad was very informative. So much so that I didn't have as many questions as I usually would, as he would give me the information I'd usually seek through his stories.
One Faith doesn't own the vineyards they source their grapes from. But they do have a say in the growing practice utilized. An interesting thing to note is that One Faith does two house wines for Save On Supermarket - Executive Red and Executive White. While visiting in the off-season, I tasted their '21 as they had not released their '22 vintages yet.
As Brad laid out what I would be tasting, he immediately caught my attention when he said that for a break to stretch our legs, we would go into their barrel storage area and taste a Chardonnay from the barrel. YES!! This experience included a barrel tasting!
Now, onto the wines.
2021 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc: This wine showed a very fruity character on the nose. On the palate, the crisp acidity makes this a wine that could enjoy being paired with food, thinking of seafood, fresh fruit, and cheese. Fermentation is wholly done in steel tanks. The harvest is completed in two parts. The first batch preserves the acidity, and the second is for the fruit flavours and aromas. Crisp and refreshing, I could not leave without taking some of this home with me.
2021 Blanc Reserve: With Bordeaux as their inspiration, it is no surprise to find this white Bordeaux-style blend of Semillon (78%) and Sauvignon Blanc (22%). This blend is aged in neutral oak barrels. The aim of this is to impart a creamy texture to the wine. Similar to what you get from a heavily oaked Chardonnay, their technique gave the wine a fullness without making it heavy. They aimed for this to be different and hit that mark very well. I quickly picked up the flavours of melon, but there was a savoury component to the flavour palate that I needed Brad to help me nail down. As soon as he said the meat of an olive pre-brine and walnuts minus that papery tannic skin clarified what I had difficulty identifying. Brad noted that this wine would work great with creamy dishes.
2021 Fizz Rose: I will start by saying that I have not come across a sparkling comprised of such a variety of grapes - Merlot (36%), Pinot Gris (22.2%), Viognier (16%), Mourvèdre (13.4%), Grenache (12.4%). Brad shared a humorous story of an expected Merlot planting that mistakenly was Viognier instead. That mistake didn't take away from this lovely sparkling. This bubbly is made in a frizzante style where CO2 is injected. This results in a cheaper sparkling and is quicker to make, allowing greater focus on their Grand Vin label and still offering a sparkling as part of their portfolio. Bright fruitiness in a crisp and clean flavour profile. This frizzante went with the charcuterie platter exceptionally well. Some of this had to come home as the wife loves sparkling.
Unbottled Chardonnay: For this, I was escorted into the back area among stacks of barrels. What caught my attention was that there were many with the branding of Therapy Vineyards. Brad shared that it's because they purchased them from that winery. Brad also shared that everything I saw in this back area was their entire production—neutral barrels to balance its influence on the Chardonnay. Like a protective father, Brad was pleased to see that it was settling out nicely. It is still a work in progress, as all the flavour components almost felt like they were battling each other for center stage instead of working together. But this is part of the behind-the-scenes journey that a wine goes through….for me; this is fascinating to see, experience, taste, and discuss. I regret forgetting to ask when he expects to bottle this and the vintage. I was too enamoured with this experience and was too busy just soaking it in and enjoying the moment.
And now the show stoppers. Two vintages of their Grand Vin poured side-by-side.
2015 Grand Vin: A blend of Merlot (58%), Cabernet Sauvignon (25%), and Cabernet Franc (17%). A happy bonus this vintage received came from thick smoke from fires. This smoke allowed for prolonged ripening, resulting in more complex flavours within the grape harvest—dark fruit flavours - currant, plum and prunes with spice elements of clove, cinnamon and anise. A very earthy/dusty character and a long finish show the aging potential and exquisite craftsmanship that goes into their Grand Vin line.
2018 Grand Vin: A blend of Cabernet Franc (61%), Cabernet Sauvignon (25%), and Merlot (14%). Grown on the Black Sage bench, this became a limited release of 75 cases due in part to the low-yielding vines that produced the grapes. With a lower yield, the vine will focus more energy on the smaller quantity of grapes it grows. Enjoying these side by side, I enjoyed that 2018 came across with more pronounced fruit of blackberry and plum. I fell head-over-heels in love with its earthy, more prominent qualities. As I write this, I now wonder if it's due to the aging why the 2015 fruit was a bit more subdued in comparison…I wish I had noticed this and asked.
Experiencing this winery excited me the most about my visit to District Wine Village. And they did not disappoint. They aim to create a Grand Vin in Canada, which I respect because it recognizes Canada's incredible potential in the wine game. Their attention to detail can be experienced in the crafting of their wines. Their care for their guests was center stage when I entered for my booked tasting appointment.
I've looked at Mission Hill Winery as the definition of a luxury Canadian wine brand. And it now looks like there's another player in town. I am anxious to see what the future holds for this little winery, and the second I find out they are opening their own winery, I will be there for its opening weekend.
Cheers 🥂
-BC Wine Nerd
Website: One Faith Vineyards
Address: District Wine Village
Instagram: @onefaithvineyards
Tasting Fee: $10.00 (Fee is donated to Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation), $30.00 for the Grand Vin Tasting
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