{"id":23995,"date":"2019-07-09T01:08:17","date_gmt":"2019-07-09T01:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/?p=23995"},"modified":"2019-07-19T15:49:39","modified_gmt":"2019-07-19T15:49:39","slug":"alternative-okanagan-1-sage-hills-and-keenan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/canada\/alternative-okanagan-1-sage-hills-and-keenan","title":{"rendered":"Okanagan (1) Sage Hills and Keenan"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sage Hills is a relatively new Okanagan winery. The vineyard, beautifully situated on a lake-facing hill in Summerland, was purchased by Vancouver property developer Rick Thrussell in 2006. At the time, it was a rather run-down apricot farm that had been abandoned for a decade, and Rick planted 7 acres of vines on the site, plus another 3 on a neighbouring property.<\/p>\n

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Keenan Thrussell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His son Keenan is now the winemaker here, and he\u2019s taking the wines in a very interesting direction. Keenan moved to the Okanagan from Vancouver in 2015 and began by farming the vineyard and also helping in the cellar. He also got experience working for Pascal Madevon at Culmina. Pascal \u2013 who consults widely \u2013 gave him experience in a number of his clients\u2019 cellars. And Keenan also did vintage with Two Hands in Australia. Armed with this experience, he took over winemaking duties at Sage Hills with the 2017 vintage.<\/p>\n

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The vineyard has been organic from the outset. Initially, weeds were controlled using a bush wacker, but this caused some damage to the trunks of the vines, and so Keenan now takes a different approach: he just lets the weeds grow. Alternate rows are mowed to give some semblance of order, but he doesn\u2019t do anything in the vine row. \u00a0He\u2019s interested in seeing what grows naturally, and in this arid climate the weeds don\u2019t grow up into the canopy, and the vines don\u2019t seem to be suffering from any loss of vigour. \u2018I wanted to see what grows,\u2019 he says, \u2018and since I\u2019ve taken over I\u2019ve been using native yeasts.\u2019 He thinks the weeds are part of this.<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s a step up from the 2016 wines to those from 2017, and there\u2019s also a jump to the wines from 2018. Experiments involving doing less in the winery, and not sulphuring after malolactic fermentation involved just a few barrels in 2017, and then in 2018 he rolled the low intervention approach across the whole range. He says that sulphuring a barrel \u2018kills the immune system of the wine and shuts it down.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Picking here is by acid levels, and so the result is wines that are bright and drinkable, with low alcohol levels. Keenan also makes small quantities of wines under his name \u2013 a ton of Cabernet Franc in 2017 and a ton of Sauvignon Blanc in 2018. These see no sulphites at all.<\/p>\n

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This is a really exciting project, and it\u2019s good to see young people with vision and aesthetic sensibilities making wines in the Okanagan like this.<\/p>\n

Sage Hills Brut Sauvage 2016 Okanagan, Canada<\/strong>
\nThis is traditional method Pinot Gris with no dosage. Smoky and a bit mineral with nice grapey notes. Lovely texture here with fine spicies. Lovely stuff. 90\/100<\/p>\n

Sage Hills Pinot Gris 2017 Okanagan, Canada
\n<\/strong>This is from purchased organic fruit from the Ghost Pines vineyard high up in Peachland. Harvested late on October 28. Tight and mineral with a bit of reduction, showing some matchstick notes. Lovely freshness with a stony texture. Nice precision here with a good acid line. 91\/100<\/p>\n

Sage Hills Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2018 Okanagan, Canada
\n<\/strong>From Covert Farms in Oliver, this is 65% Sauvignon and 35% Semillon. The Semillon is picked very ripe and the Sauvignon is cofermented with it to provide natual acid balance, with the harvest in tranches and juice added successively to already fermenting wine. Lovely texture here: very fine and linear with nice weight and purity, showing rounded pear, spice and white peach. 93\/100<\/p>\n

Sage Hills Gewurztraminer 2017 Okanagan, Canada
\n<\/strong>Half was picked with 9 g\/l acid, then some at 7 g\/l and the final pick was 4 g\/l. Fresh and floral with a lemony edge to the nose and some Turkish delight character. Supple and textured on the palate with nice freshness and some pithy notes. 89\/100<\/p>\n

Sage Hills Syrah Ros\u00e9 2018 Okanagan, Canada<\/strong>
\nFruit from Covert Farms. Supple and textured with nice strawberry and cherry fruit, some nice richness and a bit of spiciness. Textural and appealing. 90\/100<\/p>\n

Sage Hills Rhymes With Orange Pinot Gris 2017 Okanagan, Canada<\/strong>
\nThis is quite smoky, but when it goes through malolactic in barrel the smokiness disappears, which makes Keenan think it\u2019s not smoke taint. Half of this went through barrel and wasn\u2019t smoly, but the tank component was. Smoky, medicinal and herb tinged on the nose. The palate has lovely texture with a hint of mint and some earthiness. Structured with some tropical highlights. 88\/100<\/p>\n

Sage Hills Merlot 2017 Okanagan, Canada
\n<\/strong>From Kaleden Organic Vineyards. This is fresh and supple with nice cherry and plum fruit, showing nice brightness and purity. Very supple and elegant. 92\/100<\/p>\n

Sage Hills Pinot Noir 2017 Okanagan, Canada
\n<\/strong>Estate fruit, 30% whole cluster. Supple, fresh, mellow and elegant with textured red cherry fruit and some nice herby hints. Very textured and fine with a silky mouthfeel. Lovely wine. 93\/100<\/p>\n

Sage Hills Syrah 2016 Okanagan, Canada
\n<\/strong>This comes from Covert Farms in Oliver. Fresh and textured with nice ripeness and good balance. There\u2019s a bit of pepper here with some oak in the mix, too. 91\/100<\/p>\n

Tank\/cask samples of 2018:<\/p>\n

Sage Hills Rhymes with Orange Pinot Gris 2018 Okanagan, Canada<\/strong>
\nLovely spicy texture here with nice savoury notes. Some liquorice, a bit of spicy framing and a twist of medicine. 90-92\/100<\/p>\n

Sage Hills Pinot Gris 2018 Okanagan, Canada
\n<\/strong>This is the whole-cluster component, which will be a quarter of the blend (this is 50% whole cluster). Lovely detail with notes of marmalade and spice and tangerine. Nice weight, with some tannin. 91-93\/100<\/p>\n

Sage Hills Pinot Noir 2018 Okanagan, Canada<\/strong>
\nWild ferment, no cold soak, 10% whole cluster. Fresh and textured with spices and a hint of reduction. Fine-grained tannins with some savoury spice and a silky texture. Lovely cherry fruit. 92-94\/100<\/p>\n

Sage Hills Syrah 2018 Okanagan, Canada<\/strong>
\nWild ferment. This has an amazingly peppery nose with lovely vivid floral black cherry fruit. Shows precision on the palate. Bright and vivid with focus and purity. A remarkable wine. 94-96\/100<\/p>\n

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Each year Keenan does a ton of grapes as his own experiment. In 2017 it was Cabernet Franc, in 2018 a skin-contact Sauvignon Blanc. These are made with no added sulphites, after he had good results with an unsulfured barrel.<\/p>\n

Keenan Sauvignon Blanc Skin Contact 2018 Okanagan, Canada<\/strong>
\nThis is whole berries with a month on skins, punched down and then pressed with an old basket press. This then went into barrels for 8 months with so sulphites. Lovely floral nose with orange blossom and citrus peel. The palate has structure and texture. Very refined with nice length, with a twist of mint and fine herbs. There\u2019s balance, precision and freshness. 93\/100<\/p>\n

Keenan Cabernet Franc 2017 Okkanagan, Canada<\/strong>
\nThis comes from Kaleden, near Penticton. No added sulphites. Supple and fine grained with nice freshness, a touch of pepper and some earthy hints under the grainy cherry and plum fruit. Has good structure with some finesse. 93\/100<\/p>\n

Find these wines with wine-searcher.com<\/a><\/p>\n

OKANAGAN<\/strong><\/p>\n