Fred Farinha, winemaker and co-owner of Adega Estate Winery, with the discarded skins and seeds from the grapes that were crushed after harvest. Farinha said that both he and his partner, brother-in-law Alex Nunes, think that this will be a particularly good vintage due to the warm weather in the fall. (Michele Weisz photo)
By Michele Weisz
Osoyoos Times
Harvest season is officially over for most wineries in Osoyoos and that means it is time to make wine.
For winemaker Justin Hall of Nk’Mip Cellars, who has only had two days off in 2 months, it’s an exhausting time of year.
The process starts with harvesting grapes and choosing the best date is crucial and can determine the outcome of the wine.
“Harvest is the most important time to get things correct … it sets up your whole year,” Hall said.
Harvest dates vary depending on which variety of wine is being produced, with red and white wines being harvested on different days.
Winemakers taste the grapes to check for sweetness, acidity and tannin levels. A tannin is a compound found within the skin of a grape which is released after a grape has been pressed and contributes to the sensation of dryness in one’s mouth after drinking wine.
Once the grapes have been picked, they are crushed, their stems removed, and they are fermented, causing the sugars in the juice to turn into alcohol.
The skin is removed from white grapes before they begin fermentation, while red grapes are fermented with the skin still intact. Leaving the skin on the grape allows the juice to develop into the colour associated with red wines.
An exhausted Justin Hall, winemaker at Nk’Mip Cellars, said that he had just two days off during the two-month harvest season, but is very optimistic about this year’s vintage. (Michele Weisz photo)
Hall is confident that the wine produced this year will be up to the Nk’Mip standard.
“It’s a phenomenal vintage for whites,” he said. “I’m very, very happy with the wine. I’ve got super high aromatics coming out of just about everything.”
Fred Farinha, co-owner of Adega Estate Winery said both he and his partner Alex Nunes are optimistic about the quality of wine that the estate will produce this year.
“It will be a really good vintage I believe. It was a good growing season overall.”
The wildfires that swept through the region this summer do not seem to have had much of a negative impact on the grapes.
Hall said that the “physiological ripeness of the grape was affected a little bit” with the whites, but not the flavour.
“Sugars were a little bit lower than the average year but that was, I think, because the smoke delayed some of that a little bit.”
As a result, the whites are dryer overall but Hall said working with changing conditions is part of being a winemaker.
“We’ve still got 18 months to work on the wine. That’s our job as winemakers; you know not every vintage is perfect so you’ve got to make wine sometimes.”
Farinha said that the smoke was not a factor in this year’s vintage.
“We had a slow August because of the smoke but September and October were so beautiful that it all just came back.”
Harvest is a gruelling process for all winemakers, but for Farinha, the most difficult part of the harvest is the agony of anticipation.
“The hardest part is the waiting to press. Then you have to wait almost two years before it goes into the bottle,” he said.
For Hall, the best part is hearing about how a bottle of wine he produced played a part in a special or memorable occasion for his customers.
“It’s the magic of food and wine and that’s what really keeps me in the industry – I love it,” he said. “In a way I’m bringing people together and I think the world today needs more of that.”
