I decided to travel to South Okanagan to experience some of the wineries down there. I then had the bright idea that with Osoyoos as my destination, let's try to add a winery to stop and taste at on the way down to Osoyoos and another on the way back home. With that, I decided to use Oliver as the region to stop at on our way to and from Osoyoos. Now that I've narrowed my area, the next difficult decision is to choose where to experience a tasting. After that, my research was looking for a winery with tasting experiences, which led me to Black Hills Estate Winery.
I will say that after arriving in Oliver, the drive to Black Hills Estate winery was through some beautiful rolling fields of vines. I was impressed with the number of other wineries I passed. As I drive up to Black Hills, I'm thinking of the wine I've heard of repeatedly and sampled at some tasting events - their Bordeaux-style blend called Nota Bene. Did you know that their first release of Nota Bene was in 2001?
Black Hills came into being in 1996 when two couples (Tennant & McCarrell) shared the same desire to move to the Okanagan to grow wine grapes. They didn't make wine for a couple of years as they were primarily into selling their grapes. When they finally decided to make wine, what they couldn't have known then was the impact their first wine would make. Thankfully, three years later, in 1999, they chose to start making wine and first aimed for a Bordeaux-inspired red blend. This red blend garnered attention and became their flagship blend, Nota Bene. This attention grew the winery—getting picked up by investors and eventually joining the Andrew Peller Ltd group of wineries.
Their current tasting room opened in 2012. Walking into the tasting room, you have one entire side of the building comprised of glass looking out onto rolling hills of vineyard running down to the highway and Oliver. During this visit, they were in the process of readying for new planting right outside the building. The space itself held a crafted colour scheme - the table tops and chairs matched the earth tone of the scenic view. Then, natural wood provides a framed counterpoint to the earth's tones. I can only imagine how this space looks in the summer when the vegetation is in full colour. The view is the primary focus, and the rest of the tasting room is a supporting character. My Wine Host for this tasting is Jessie. She has worked at Black Hills for many many years. However, she is now returning from a two-year maternity leave - and I will say that two years of absence didn't show in her knowledge at all. What I enjoyed the most were all the behind-the-scenes stories she shared, adding so much more colour to what occurs before the wine reaches your glass.
Jessie starts us off with some of their bubbly and a fun little fact: this is the first sparkling that Black Hills has made, crafted in the style of Champagne, comprised of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. I was floored to learn that this wine was left on its lees (the dead yeast cells) for up to four years before they finally released it. Here's a fun little side fact from Jessie: They will sell their second bottle of sparkling this season as they have run through the totality of the first. The second bottling has also rested on its lees for up to four years. And this is her favourite wine they produce, as sparkling wines are her weakness. Their Brut is made using the traditional method, and despite sitting so long on its lees, it has a refreshing freshness with juicy citrus fruit within a creamy texture. The bready quality from the lees aging does bring a bready quality but in a light form, like a croissant or puff pastry. Their marketing material says this pairs "with strawberries, regular potato chips, Friday evenings."
2022 Alibi:Â Jessie moves us along to one of her favourite white wines and the first white wine they produced. Their flagship Bordeaux-style white blend complements the Nota Bene, their Bordeaux-styled red blend. Alibi is comprised of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Jessie shared that this wine saw French oak puncheons and barriques (two different styles/sizes of barrels). The wood treatment is not to impart those qualities as you'd experience in a Chardonnay but more to mellow out the Semillon, making it more "interesting." A piece of news that Jessie shared is that the 2022 Alibi will be the last vintage with Semillon as part of the blend. Unfortunately, this is due to the cold snaps that impacted most of their Semillon vines. This also means that the label Alibi will be retired and labelled Sauvignon Blanc. But this is an opportunity for growth and evolution. Now, onto the wine. On the nose, I was getting a tropical fruit salad that started to show a green vegetal note as it warmed up. Either way, I loved the aroma of this wine and spent more time smelling it than tasting it. The palate showed a rich yet refreshing mouthfeel with a melange of tropical fruit. I was happy to see that a card of their wines also showed that this wine has a cellaring potential of 1-5 years. And I chuckled that they offered a pairing suggestion of Spring.
Something I wanted to bring up is how the cold snaps during the winters the past two years have impacted their vines. As I said earlier, they are readying the ground for new plantings right outside the tasting room. I was mistaken, as they had ripped out nearly 100% of the vines in this vineyard. They pulled out 70-80% of that one at their neighbouring Sharp Rock vineyard. Some of this was done for future growth of the winery's selection of wines, and some was due to the damage incurred from the winter of 2022-23 & 2023-24. Black Hills vines faired well from the winter of 2022-23, but the double whammy didn't allow them to escape the impact of the following winter. A sad detail that Jessie shared was that she's heard that several producers will not make a 2024 vintage. Canada's wine industry is still young compared to the age of some old-world wineries, and something like this is unprecedented, which unfortunately leads to a lot of uncertainty about how to survive and move past this. From talking to Jessie about this, many ideas are being discussed.
I'm glad I spoke to Jessie about this, as she did provide some optimism for the future. This may be a scary time, but it is also exciting because of what creative measures wineries and winemakers will take. BC's little wine industry is now entering an undiscovered country, spurring innovation. Their winemaker, Ross, is toying with planting vines that don't need to grow on a trellis but rather in a bush. And the vines he is pulling out now allow him to consider other varietals and what he can do with them. Hearing this gives me hope that BC's wine industry can survive and continue growing.
Now, back to the wines 🤓
2021 Rose:Â Rose started back in 2015. The winemaker at the time wanted to do a Pinot Noir rose. However, this area is too hot to grow quality Pinot Noir, so he sourced from a vineyard further north to make what he thought would be a one-off rose. But their clientele loved it so much that it was hard not to continue making one. When their current winemaker came on board, he chose to go old-school French - more in a style of Provence. A blend of Syrah, Grenache, and Mouvedre. This is a serious rose. A rose that can be enjoyed on a summer patio with some fresh fruit, with a snack of charcuterie on a spring picnic, or with a meal out on a sunny terrace. I found its aroma very complex. An engaging, funky element opened up into delicate sweetness like a cherry blossom. On the palate, there are berries - strawberry, white cranberry, raspberry. There was a subtle spicy element like pink or white peppercorn. The acidity within this is lovely. Strong enough to partner ideally with food. I found that this rose is better with food to appreciate its complexity fully. Cellaring potential of 1-5 years and a food pairing note of -summer.
2021 Viognier: The nose on this is intense, showcasing floral and stone fruit, adding to its inviting deception. It has such a sweet nose, yet bright acidity shines on the palate, partnered with peach flavours. All of their wines, except for the rosé, use wild fermentation (some also utilize cultured yeast in combination), a new addition to their tool belt since 2021. This Viognier is a classic South French style Viognier. So much so that I probably could pick it blind as Viognier. But that doesn't take away from it's deliciousness. Memorable pairing suggestion is "Netflix". Cellaring potential 5-11 years.
2019 Syrah:Â This wine is from the first year of their current winemaker. This one surprised me with how fruit-forward it presented itself. Dusty fruit - black cherry, red plum, currant, coupled with violets and a spicy element like pepper or clove. In my tasting notes, I wrote down juicy tannins. Describing them is difficult, but that descriptor made complete sense at the time of tasting. I will say that the earthy flavour components beautifully elevated the fruit. Cellaring potential of 5-11 years.
2020 Per Se:Â This is their showcase for their Cabernet Franc. This red blend is 80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot. A fun little fact Jessie shared is that this originally was a blend of Syrah and Cabernet Franc under this name. The juices were co-fermented until their current winemaker changed that. Looking to showcase the Cabernet Franc, he chose to change it up and blend with Merlot to be the supporting character of the Cabernet Franc. I'm a huge fan of Cabernet Franc, and it grows so well in the Okanagan Valley. This is another great showing of what Cabernet Franc can do. On the nose, I quickly picked up the enjoyable, funky cab franc elements - a combination of herb and fruit. Maturing for 18 months in French oak gives this wine soft, elegant tannins. Overall, it is a beautiful showcasing of this varietal in a blend. Cellaring potential of 5-10 years.
2021 Carmenere: I saw this on the counter near the lineup of the six wines part of our tasting. I kept my eye on it and may have mentioned something to Jessie about my curiosity to try this. Almost as though she could sense the wine nerd in me, she opened it up and added it to our tasting. Jessie may have partially influenced my tasting notes as I noted "masculine aroma and feminine flavour." Let me further elaborate. On the nose, the "masculine" is due to the prominence of the spice and other bold flavours - white/pink peppercorn, anise, black tea, and licorice. There are fruit elements that play a minor role in this ensemble cast. The "feminine" flavours on the palate showcase a parade of fresh berries. The tannins reminded me of raspberry seeds (probably due to the fresh berries) but were refined, classy, and elegant. What caught my attention was how long the finish was. An episode of Friends ends quicker than this finish - OK, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but you get my drift. 😉 Cellaring potential is 5-15 years.
2021 Nota Bene - And now the main event. This is their wine that has a cult-like following. Quantities are limited as the best make it into this bottle of wine. Crafting this wine is a labour of love you can taste with every sip. The 2021 season provided exceptional heat, ripening the grapes to perfection across all varietals used for this wine. Followed by hand-harvesting, hand-sorting, and destemming before getting natural and wild yeasts. Maturation for 18 months in French oak. This care and attention produces a wine that has earned its following well. Consisting of 42% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot. I could tell you my impressions, but I'll paraphrase from Anthony Gismondi: "…elegant, balanced (tannin, acid, flavour). Muted spiciness. Excellent balance, making it hard to pick out components. Artful and approachable red blend that doesn't present as a big red…" Cellaring potential is noted as 10-20 years. If you have any previous vintages of Nota Bene, go to the cellaring potential chart that covers vintages going back to 2000.
Black Hills offers two tasting experiences
The Benchmark Experience - An introduction to their wines, tasting two whites and one red.
The Portfolio Experience - This six-wine flight experience introduces you to the famed whites and reds, including their iconic Nota Bene, that have brought acclaim to Black Hills winery.
An exciting idea formed during this tasting. One of the marketing materials outlined their wine club. Now, I've jumped around wine clubs, just trying them out to add variety to my cellar. Looking at Black Hills, the idea of joining for a year was a no-brainer. Primarily, since one of the shipments is wholly comprised of NOTA BENE!!!🤯 So I joined to experience their shipments for a year. I will video each one and post it. Once the year is done, I'll move on to another for a year. So stay tuned.
But back to Black Hills Estate Winery. With their winemaker Ross Wise drawing inspiration from France, this winery shows a long future ahead. Their wines show that the winemaker loves the French style (he has chosen to use only French oak). Their cult following for their flagship, Nota Bene, is perfectly deserved. Getting Jessie as my Wine Host was fantastic as her stores gave an even deeper appreciation, connection, and recognition of the lovely wines this estate crafts.Â
 At the time of my visit, they were replanting their vines to create a new view from the tasting room. The wines poured more than made up for the work-in-progress view. This will bring me back to check it out in the summer….hey any excuse to get another sampling of Nota Bene?
Cheers 🥂
-BC Wine Nerd
Website: Black Hills Estate Winery
Address: 4190 Black Sage Road (Oliver, BC)
Phone #: 1-888-565-8554
Instagram: @blackhillswinery
Tasting Fee: The Benchmark Experience is $15/person, The Portfolio Experience is $30/person