HARD to believe, but it's barely 20 months since former BCWI director Christine Coletta and husband Steve Lornie - along with an extended family of industry heavy hitters - unveiled their Haywire Winery.
A recent visit to the newly completed building and Switchback home vineyard, nestled in the hills above Summerland, offered a chance to catch up on the veritable whirlwind of activity that envelopes Okanagan Crush Pad, the ingenious business model that the team has developed in conjunction with the winery.
OCP already has no fewer than 90 wines under its belt, ranging from the home team's Haywire wines to the increasingly popular "BS" range from winemaker Michael Bartier and David Scholefield, to Bartier Brothers "Cowboy" and "Goal" to any number of smaller but noteworthy projects.
Tastes (among many) that caught our attention included a couple of very drinkable drops that will be showing up soon (including on tap) in selected Cactus Clubs. "Feenie goes Haywire" is a nod to Cactus Club head chef Rob Feenie's longtime friendship with Coletta. Look for an easy quaffing, food-friendly 80/20 Gewurz/Chardonnay white blend, and a well structured but still approachable 2008 Meritage red blend, that gets a nice lift from a portion of 2010 Pinot Noir.
Also just bottled (though not yet released) is the first wine from Kamloops' Harper's Trail, a zesty, lemon-lime and mineral-toned Riesling from the vineyard on the north bank of the Thompson that should evolve nicely.
One of the more intriguing projects is a co-pro between Okanagan Crush Pad and ever-talented 2010 Vancouver Sommelier of the Year Kurtis Kolt.
Clean and crisp, with orange and sage aromas and citrus on the palate, coolpackaged "Kurtis" 2011 wild ferment Semillon, from near Oliver, is a keeper, literally, that will develop significantly over the next couple of years.
"We wanted it to be 'Hunteresque,' " (as in Hunter Valley style), says Bartier, and that it is. The wine is made under OKCP's Wine Campus mentorship program that includes a $5,000 annual scholarship to BC Hospitality Foundation for wine studies; and invites the winning sommelier to make 100 cases of their own wine.
Meanwhile, Haywire continues to focus on the development of its own vineyard with noted Italian viticulturalist and consultant Alberto Antonini - and Bartier is increasingly amazed at the role played by Crush Pad's egg-shaped, concrete fermenters, that "literally get a current going during fermentation, that contributes to the lees character of the wine."
Haywire 2011 Pinot Gris, after citrus and flint on the nose, yields upfront lemon notes on the palate with definite mineral and zest through the well backboned palate to its lengthy, dry close. A sure sign of more good things to come; $23 From the winery (order on line). MidMay release.
Much more to come on OKCP's various projects.
