CedarCreek Sold

The sale is expected to be completed in late February.

Von Mandl Estates will be the owner of record and CedarCreek joins Checkmate, the former Domaine Combret property, purchased with zero fanfare about a year ago.

Both estates will be run independently from Mission Hill (Darryl Brooker will remain as CedarCreek's winemaker) when it comes to making and selling wines, but you would think there would be some attractive savings when it comes to managing vineyards, buying barrels, bottles and tanks and controlling the everyday costs of running a winery. It looks to be a good deal for everyone.

There is no shortage of dreamers in the wine business and for all the good news coming out of the Okanagan, the future of its 250-plus wineries remains clouded in the ever changing global wine business where competition is fierce. If von Mandl is successful in taking CedarCreek to yet an even higher level of quality, and replacing the mess at Domaine Combret with Checkmate, it's all good for the Okanagan.

The Okanagan Valley has punched well above its weight for almost a decade despite exporting little if any wine into the major wine capitals of the globe where real reputations are built. You often hear we can compete on quality, and yes on any given day we can go head to head with some of the world's best wines, but when we talk hundreds of bottles the world talks thousands and when they talk reach and distribution, we are speechless.

That's why the impending sale of CedarCreek is so interesting. Is it the start of consolidation in the Okanagan? Is that a good or a bad thing?

The vertically integrated von Mandl, owner of Mission Hill Family Estate winery and numerous brands as well as Mark Anthony Brands distributorship, is surely in much better position to take CedarCreek to the international stage where its wines belong.

The Fitzpatrick family has done an admirable job with CedarCreek, literally keeping Kelowna on the wine map in the face of the Black Sage Bench and Naramata land rush of the last 25 years. The truth is we need CedarCreek and Checkmate to excel as much as we need Mission Hill and Tantalus, Painted Rock, Haywire, Stoneboat, Orofino, Joie, Howling Bluff, Poplar Grove, Road 13, Tinhorn Creek and more. It's not rocket science.

Without a 100 per cent commitment to being the best, the Okanagan will not make it in the super competitive international wine market.

Von Mandl appears to be taking a page from Californian Jesse Jackson's playbook with his recent acquisitions. Rick Bonitati, former Kendall Jackson executive and now president of VMF Estates, was a key KJ strategist as it acquired dozens of high quality vineyards and estate wineries across California. Jackson was so adamant that each winery find its own way that the best fruit in the company was made available to the winemaker whose wine fetched the highest retail price.

In the case of CedarCreek, owners of some of the steepest and coolest slopes in the valley, its vineyards fit perfectly into the long term Pinot Noir/Riesling ventures at Mission Hill who have been farming similar cool sites in Kelowna and Naramata for several years.

Add to that one Darryl Brooker, CedarCreek's talented winemaker with a penchant for Riesling and Pinot Noir, and I for one am excited at the possibilities of the sale. The CedarCreek philosophy of "respect the land, honour tradition and pursue perfection," looks to be in good hands which is probably why in the end the Fitzpatrick family made the deal.

See press release here

Mission Hill Five Vineyards Chardonnay 2012, Okanagan Valley

Price: $15 | Score: 87/100

UPC: 00776545995179

John Simes knows Chardonnay and in this case the 5V is showing some of the creamy, complex notes found in its SLC and Perpetua bigger brothers. Love the fresh bright style the pear and green apple fruit with floral mineral support. Good value.

Mission Hill Five Vineyards Pinot Grigio 2012, Okanagan Valley

Price: $16 | Score: 87/100

UPC: 776545995322

The FV grigio is un-oaked and set in the Italian style. Fresh and round with stone fruit flavours, flecked with spice, honey and enough minerality to keep it lean and fresh. Built to drink from release and that means shellfish, or creamy pasta dishes or Margherita pizza.

CedarCreek Gewürztraminer 2012, Okanagan Valley

Price: $18 | Score: 88/100

UPC: 778913022050

Spicy, peach, honey, light lychee, orange rind aromas. Fresh, round, somewhat sweet style but solid acidity. Honey, lychees, soapy floral, orange and peach flavours. Good flavours but this is quite a sweet style so plan your menu accordingly. Or serve solo well chilled.

CedarCreek Pinot Gris 2012, British Columbia

Price: $18 | Score: 89/100

UPC: 7789130220098

The Upper CedarCreek Vineyard is home to this delicious fruit picked about the same time the black bears arrive in the vineyard. Timing is everything. It's partly fermented with the wild yeast native which seems to allow the juicy peachy/orange and honey scented fruit to mesh perfectly with a dash of earth.

Mission Hill Pinot Gris Reserve 2011, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada

Price: $20 | Score: 89/100

UPC: 776545991171

Classic Pinot Gris with intense honey/earthy, ginger notes and a touch of fruit cocktail. Fresh salty mineral mid-palate with pear and peach flavours all over a citrus undercurrent that is structurally built for food. We suggest linguine and clams as the perfect match.

CedarCreek Platinum Block 4 Pinot Noir 2011, Okanagan Valley

Price: $40 | Score: 87/100

UPC: 778913061509

Spicy, celery salt, tobacco, strawberry/rhubarb aromas. Dry, fresh, lean and astringent palate with elevated acidity. Juicy, tart, rhubarb, celery salt, pepper, resin and strawberry flavours with some richness on the palate. This needs two to four years to soften.