Having amassed a bushel of medals at this years Wine Align Awards including Best Run Small Winery and Winery of The Year, you鈥檙e likely thinking Spearhead Winery has it made in the shade. While the team did take some time to enjoy the well-earned accolades, it was quickly back to the tasks at hand.

Spearhead Winery鈥檚 winemaker Grant Stanley鈥檚 devotion to Pinot Noir was born during his time spent in New Zealand and Oregon. The Okanagan being blessed with the terroir, long hot days and cool nights that nurture Pinot Noir, it was inevitable that his dream of overseeing world class Pinot Noirs from field to shelf would eventually lead Stanley to 91大黄鸭 and Spearhead Winery as their winemaker and general manager.

Stanley is not alone in producing these award-winning wines. Owner, founders Bill and Marina Knutson founded Spierhead as it was known in 2008 on the benchlands of Southeast 91大黄鸭. Bill Knutson's response to the awards: 鈥淭his achievement has made Spearhead Winery more determined than ever to play a role in securing for our industry a place on the world鈥檚 stage for Canadian premium wines.鈥�  

Producing some of the best wines in the country hasn鈥檛 shielded Spearhead from the havoc nature has reeked across the Okanagan. Like many of their neighbours Spearhead too has found themselves replanting vineyards after the frosts of the past two winters.

Displaying the resiliency gene that only growers possess and an eye to a future of premium Pinot Noir, Spearhead鈥檚 15-acre estate vineyard replanting will be limited to small lots of Pommard and four other clones, (777, 115, 828, 943). Each clone chosen specifically for the characteristics they will bring to Spearhead small lot wines.

As Stanley tells me: 鈥淔irst you need the terroir that Pinot Noir craves. Then you choose the clones to complement it.鈥�

Whether that be Pommard鈥檚 intense flavours and spice, the full body, smoothness of clone 777, the well-rounded dark fruit aromas and flavours of the 115, or the elegance and aromatics of the clone 828 and 943. The balance of the Spearhead vineyard being replanted in own rooted Riesling clones 239 and 21B.

Having spent several harvests in Oregon鈥檚 Willamette Valley in the early 2000s, Stanley is comfortable with sourcing their 2024 harvest from Oregon鈥檚 Cherry Hill Vineyard while Spearheads replant is underway.

The short-term plan is to produce Pinot Noir under Spearhead Wines label (not to be confused with wine labelled made with international and B.C. juices) from these select Oregon grapes. On the bright side, their 2022 and 2023 vintages are available to wine club members at spearheadwinery.com/Wine-Club That includes their 2024 Platinum award-winning Pinot Noirs, Spearhead 2022 Pommard clone, Spearhead 2022 Consensus and Spearhead 2022 Saddle Block.

A resident of Qualicum Beach, Chris Herbert is a wine enthusiast who enjoys sharing everything that B.C. wines have to offer. He looks forward to hearing from you with your questions and comments via email at spillthatvino@gmail.com