2022 Estate Chardonnay Traditional Method Brut
This fruit comes from the west facing slope of the Bella homestead property. With traditional citrus notes found in Chardonnay, this vintage tastes a lot like your favourite Chablis with great lemon rind acidity and a whisper of apricot and saltiness on the finish. This wine pairs beautifully with oysters. To be truly rewarded by this stunner, store in a cool dark place for a few years and be wow’d by its evolution.
BELLA ESTATE VINEYARD - With steep clay banks rising up from Okanagan Lake, Bella’s estate vineyard settles on a terrace of rolling fruit orchards looking directly west across the lake to Giant’s Head Mountain. We are honored to put down roots on our four acre homestead and are dedicated to respecting the long term sustainability of our land.
Naramata Village climate is moderated by the Monashee Mountains forming a rampart to the east and Okanagan Lake helping to counteract warm air flowing up from the Great Basin in summer and cold air flowing down from the Arctic in winter. Typically summers here are long and hot. Humidity is very low. Winters are short and mild with little snow. Spring comes early with our apricot trees being the first to blossom and the show continues through May with our three types of cherry trees, peach, pear, four types of plums and finally our two spartan apple trees providing fruit well into fall.
On June 15th, 2014, a good day according to the bio-dynamic calendar, we planted two and half acres with Chardonnay and Gamay Noir. The vineyard site is below the exposed rock bed and is deep with pure silty clay loam. The soil is high in ph with a rich organic topsoil and we use various ground cover crops to manage nitrogen and maintain an organic ecosystem. We hand pull weeds around the base of the vines and alternate mowing the vineyard rows to create corridors for bugs and small birds. We irrigate at a bare minimum to encourage our vines to send their roots deep down and intensify flavor in the fruit. Although not certified organic, we practice organic and bio-dynamic farming techniques.