Whitty Vineyard Gamay 2023, 13th Street Winery

Description from the Producer

Tasting Notes:
Bright ruby in the glass with intense and complex aromas of fresh raspberries and ripe black cherries with earthy aromas of mushroom, violets, and a touch of minerality. On the palate it is bright and fresh with juicy acidity, silky tannins and delicious flavours of candied Bing cherries, black raspberry, red currants, with a touch of spice and black pepper. The finish is long and refreshing and a pure example of Gamay.
Enjoy now at cool room temperature with grilled salmon with shiitake mushrooms or seared duck breast and cherry jus, soft cheese, and charcuterie. It will also reward short-to-medium-term cellaring.
VQA Creek Shores
Residual Sugar: 3 g/L
Winemaking Notes:
Harvested in early October from our Whitty Vineyard in Creek Shores, the grapes were sorted in the vineyard and again in the winery to ensure only the best fruit remained. The grapes were immediately crushed and destemmed and fermented in open top stainless-steel tanks with regular punching down to extract colour and structure. After malolactic fermentation, the wine remained in stainless steel tanks until it was lightly fined and filtered prior to bottling in August 2023.
Vintage Notes:
A mild winter, accompanied with warmer than warmer-than-average temperatures led to an early start to the growing season in 2023 (Bud break recorded May 5th). Conditions throughout the Spring and Summer were highly variable, a mix of extreme heat and cool spells with intermittent and isolated heavy rains caused a wide range of fruit maturity among most varieties. This led to a slightly delayed start to the 2023 harvest (3rd week of September. Two weeks later than 2022). Once harvest began, conditions were near perfect, consisting of mostly dry, warm days and cool nights with little precipitation. The first grapes to come into the cellar were Chardonnay for sparkling. Followed by aromatic whites and lighter reds such as Riesling and Gamay from late September through mid-October. Later ripening reds such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc were harvested mid to late November concluding harvest. Overall quality was good to excellent, with yields ranging greatly from varietal to varietal. Wines should have the capacity to age for the medium to long term.