Covert Operative: Welcome to your Spring 2024 “Mission”
“The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer and restorer and resurrector, by which disease passes into health, age into youth, death into life. Without proper care for it we can have no community, because without proper care for it we can have no life.”
– Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture
As winter passes we forge ahead into spring with cautious optimism. Our vineyards, though without fruit for this year are showing signs of life. We have been sampling selected rows twice weekly and latent buds continue to emerge. At this point it looks as though our vineyard will be able to recover this summer and set up for a crop in the following year. The cover crop residue and snow before the cold snap has adequately protected the base of the plants and a good percentage are pushing from the bottom.
In contrast to the vineyards, our livestock have flourished over the winter. We are over run with babies … 26 piglets, 13 lambs and so far 2 calves.
Late march saw the bottling trailer visit the farm for a family effort with Shelly, Rhya, Ron and Gene bottling our new releases of 2023 Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon, 2023 Pinot Blanc , 2023 Rosé and 2023 Grand Reserve Roussanne. The Rousanne will need some age, but the other three are tasting great already.
“I opened the new 2023 releases this week and WOW😍 they’re so lovely! Brava 👏🏽 ” – Diana Claxton, Amovino Wine Distributors
Here are a couple tasting notes on the upcoming shipment ….
2022 Sparkling Zinfandel: First release. Clean, crisp and zesty with ultra fine bubbles and a fragrant note of cherry blossoms. Shelly’s favorite so far…
2022 Grand Reserve Roussanne: Gold Metal 91 Points SavorNW Wine Awards. Lemon zest, gooseberry, white currant, baby’s breath, wild grass, star anise, orange blossom, white peach. This is a favorite of mine and an exclusive at Wild Blue in Whistler.
2023 Pinot Blanc: This is such a humble grape, but this vintage is exceptional with all the points of a wine in balance and such a great value.
2016 Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon: Fruit forward with fine tannins and a smooth finish. A wonderful wine to savour with only a few cases left. Benefits from decanting.
