Written By Treve Ring Libations / Wine News Jun 28, 2011 DRINK UP the Valley: Latest Okanagan Wine News SHARE VIA: Facebook Twitter PinterestThere are a lot of NEW releases and NEW wines in the Okanagan this spring. But nothing as NEWsworthy as the announcement of Okanagan Crush Pad’s newest arrival. What is the ultimate symbolism of NEW? The egg.New beginnings, birth of a new era, a new living thing. Summerland’s Okanagan Crush Pad Winery is the first and only winery in Canada to use egg-shaped temperature-controlled concrete tanks for winemaking. They’ve ordered 6 of these concrete fermenters after much study, and on the trusted advice of renowned winemaker Alberto Antonini. Okanagan Crush Pad’s consulting winemaker, Antonini has a history of working with concrete in Europe, where the practice of fermenting wine in oval shaped amphora goes back to the beginning of winemaking history. Of course, concrete too has been used for centuries in winemaking, but these egg-shaped tanks from Sonoma Cast Stone take a very forward- thinking approach using modern features such as wall-embedded temperature-control tubing. There is also an impact on the flavour development of wine when concrete is used. Like oak vessels, concrete is slightly porous, allowing the wine to breathe as it would in oak. However, unlike oak, the eggs leave no oaky flavour as they gently diffuse oxygen. Concrete is considered neutral, like stainless steel, and imparts no flavours of its own. The concrete tanks are unlined and they allow a measured but lasting flow of oxygen into the tank throughout fermentation and aging. The tank’s egg shape means more of the cap (skins and pulp floating on top of the juice in red-wine fermentation) stays submerged. According to Sonoma Cast Stone, this lengthier contact of the skins and pulp with the juice means wines come out brighter with higher fruit notes and prettier secondary aromas that you don’t tend to find in wines fermented in stainless steel.Okanagan Crush Pad has been designed to facilitate production of multiple small lots of wine from many different sources. Head winemaker Michael Bartier will assist and advise on the vinification. It is also home to Haywire wines (owned by Crush Pad owner Christine Coletta) and the newly launched Bartier Scholefield wines (a joint project of Michael Bartier and David Scholefield).www.okanagancrushpad.comwww.haywirewinery.com BC winenewsWine SHARE VIA: Facebook Twitter Pinterest Written By: Treve Ring Treve Ring is a wine writer, editor, judge, consultant and certified sommelier, and has been with EAT Magazine for over a decade.\r\n\r\nIn addition to her work with EAT, she is a Wine Critic and National Judge for ... Read More You may also like Beer / Beer & Cider / Drink / Events / Victoria March 24, 2019 A New Beer Society in Town Victoria Beer Week launched its sixth annual festival earlier this month, which ran from March 1-9. In addition to the festival returning for another ... Read More Beer / Wineries & Breweries February 4, 2019 Vancouver Island Brewery’s New Porter and New Re-Rebrand Vancouver Island Brewery unveils new porter along with their new re-rebrand Vancouver Island Brewery held a flight night last week, in part to ... Read More Causes / Events January 25, 2019 Blue Monday Pop-Up Bar – 100 Proof Blues January can be tough around these parts. In fact, it has come to be so globally known as such, that the third Monday of each January has ... Read More Cocktails / Events January 25, 2019 The Complete Bartender Competition 2019 Little Jumbo played host to Nimble Bar Co.’s The Complete Bartender Competition, January 16, 2019 Last Wednesday, I judged my first cocktail ... Read More Beer & Cider / Events / Victoria March 1, 2018 Victoria Beer Week launches its fifth year Victoria is once again readying itself to host the fifth annual Victoria Beer Week. As locals and beer geeks alike wet their palates for special ... Read More Coffee & Tea / Victoria December 18, 2017 Level Ground Trading Moves Up to New State-of-the-Art Headquarters Victoria, BC – Level Ground Trading, Victoria’s Fair Trade pioneer, is moving from their current location in Central Saanich, to a larger ... Read More Comments are closed.
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