2019 Reserve - King Chardonnay Traditional Method Brut
King Family Farms has become the backbone of our Chardonnay program. A bright crisp apple palate is complimented by a whisper of croissant poking through on the nose. This wine has spent 41 months on lees and was recently disgorged in March 2023.
RESERVE PHILOSOPHY - At Bella the underlying philosophy is to produce natural sparkling wines of exceptional quality and although we are pioneers in the development of “pet-nats” and “trad-nats” we don’t want to lose sight of the tradition and craftsmanship that has evolved over centuries in Champagne, France.
Utilizing one of the principal Champagne grapes, Chardonnay, we follow the traditional rules closely for our reserve program. In order to be declared a vintage Champagne, 100% of the grapes must come from that vintage year and must spend a minimum of three years of aging. There are no specific regulations about how long it must spend on the lees, but the premier Champagne houses keep their wines on lees for upwards of five to ten years. Our reserve traditional method sparkling wines (two fermentations) are hand bottled, aged laying on their sides, and then riddled for three weeks prior to disgorgement. We prefer a brut natural style, no dosage added, at this time as the natural acidity in our fruit keeps the juice fresh and requiring no adulteration in flavour.
KING FAMILY FARMS - Starting with the 2017 vintage, we have been honoured to work with King Family Farms and benefit from their deep heritage on the Naramata Bench. Currently under the stewardship of Rod King, his brother Don King and his son Ian King, this is the fourth generation to farm on this site.
Rod’s father was the first male born in Naramata in 1909 … in a tent. Rod’s grandfather bought here in 1929 and Rod’s father acquired the property where our Chardonnay comes from in 1939. It was all tree fruits until the late ’80s when Don and his brother decided to plant grapes in 1992 – the Chardonnay on rootstock SO-4, clone 76. This block is trained in a “double divided” also known as a “double Scott Henry” – this style being developed in New Zealand for higher vigor sites. Just on the northern side of Munson Mountain in Penticton, the soil at this site is deep silt loam. We fully support Rod’s approach to vineyard management: the best equipment in the vineyard are their boots and eyes and forget the calendar – read and look at what the vines are telling you. Having grown up farming this site, Rod and his family have an intimate knowledge of what it can produce and have chosen a minimalist conventional farming approach.