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In its fourth winemaker change in a decade, Quails' Gate Estate Winery has lured a Canadian-born Pinot Noir specialist named Grant Stanley back from New Zealand to become its new winemaker.
Stanley will take over the 2003 crush from Ashley Hooper, who is returning to his native Australia after three vintages at the Westbank winery. Hooper leaves in early September for a "busman's holiday" to do a vintage in Portugal. He returns to the Okanagan in late October to help Stanley finish the vintage and to ensure continuity in the Quails' Gate style.
Hooper, 42, profoundly impacted the quality of Quails' Gate wines, both through his work in the vineyard and in the winery. "This job, without doubt, is the best job I've had," says Hooper, who is returning to Australia for family reasons. "I'm putting family ahead of career."
Established in 1989 as a farm winery, Quails' Gate is owned by Ben and Tony Stewart and their father, Richard, who first planted grapes in the Westbank vineyard in 1963. Now producing 40,000 cases a year, Quails' Gate is one of the Okanagan's top wineries. The flagship wines in its large portfolio are Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
The unique Down Under style of winemaking at Quails' Gate began in 1994 when the winery hired Jeff Martin, a winemaker at McWilliams in Australia. With his first vintage, Martin lifted Quails' Gate from the ranks of the average, making top barrel-fermented Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines. The best were released under the winery's new Family Reserve label, selling a premium prices.
Martin, who now operates his own winery, La Frenz, near Penticton, is the winemaker who rescued Maréchal Foch from obscurity in Canada. When he found that Quails' Gate had some 25-year-old Foch vines, Martin set out to make a big, plummy red patterned after Australian Shiraz. Quails' Gate's Old Vines Foch became a cult wine as soon as it was released.
When Martin left in 1998, Quails' Gate hired Peter Draper from Coldstream Hills, a small premium Australian Pinot Noir producer. Unhappily, Draper died in November, 1999.
Hooper, a Roseworthy graduate, arrived in the summer of 2000. A sometime player of Australian Rules football, Hooper's resume includes Katnook, a well-regarded Coonawarra winery, and Cellarmaster, a large Barossa winery now owned by Mildara-Blass.
Hooper had never made Pinot Noir. Not lacking in confidence, he fixed that deficiency by spending three days in Oregon, visiting top Pinot Noir producers. While he threw himself into the 2000 vintage, the Stewart family did a major upgrade in the winery and improved the varieties in the vineyard.
"I walked in at the right time, when a lot of these new vineyards are just starting to kick in," he says. "Previous winemakers haven't had the resources I've had." Stanley, however, is walking into a thoroughly organized vintage.
Stanley, 36, has family reasons for coming back to Canada: he was born in Vancouver, where his parents still reside, and he worked in Whistler before going to New Zealand a decade ago.
He is currently finishing up as assistant winemaker at Ata Rangi, a winery in the Martinborough region near Wellington. Founded in 1980, Ata Rangi currently produces about 10,000 cases a year. Its vineyards, several of which are young, are about the same size as those at Quails' Gate. Some of the varietals are comparable, including Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.
Stanley will not need to hustle off to Oregon before tackling the Pinot Noir at Quails' Gate. Ata Rangi is a three time winner of the top Pinot Noir trophy at the annual International Wine and Spirits Competition in London.
John Schreiner is the author of British Columbia Wine Country, recently published by Whitecap.
Here are the latest Quails'Gate reviews from Gismondi On Wine
87/100 Quails' Gate Chenin Blanc Family Reserve 2002
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
Floral green apple, grapefruit rind jumps out of the glass. Fresh crisp Granny Smith and canned grapefruit flavours make up its substantial presence on the palate. Young, fresh and should improve in the bottle through the fall. Try it with Thai food or sip alone on the patio.
Tasted: 2003-06-30 by AG-ST
Prices: BC $22.99 Winery
UPC: 202038
Producer: Quails' Gate Vineyards Estate Winery
Distributor: Medallion Wine Marketing
88/100 Quails' Gate Fume Blanc Family Reserve 2002
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
The 2002 FR Fumé Blanc was made in limited quantities from the best parcels of fruit. Partial barrel fermentation in new French oak aged 'sur lie', followed by a selection of the best barriques. Look for an oak, melon, floral, citrus rind nose with a smoky citrus fumé vanilla finish with flecks of grapefruit and green apple. Round approachable palate but still crisp in the finish. Well done for a young wine and should only get better in the coming five to seven months. Excellent.
Tasted: 2003-06-30 by AG-ST
Prices: BC $22.95 Winery Only
UPC: 778856214048
Producer: Quails' Gate Vineyards Estate Winery
Distributor: Medallion Wine Marketing
90/100 Quails' Gate Pinot Noir Family Reserve 2001
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
Finally a pinot with more fruit and less wood from Quails' Gate. Look for firm styling with an attractive violet/black cherry fruit streaked with soya and tea leaves and Chinese five-spice. With so many over-extracted versions it's a pleasure to taste a balanced pinot that's neither over extracted, nor over ripe.
Tasted: 2003-06-20 by AG-ST
Prices: BC $29.99 Winery
CSPC: 560052; UPC: 77856203707
Producer: Quails' Gate Vineyards Estate Winery
Distributor: Medallion Wine Marketing
85/100 Quails' Gate Chardonnay Limited Release 2001
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
Ripe apple, butter, vanilla aromas with some spice and nectarine notes. Dry, soft, light green apple, mineral flavours with an oaky buttery acid finish. Straight-up standard issue chardonnay.
Tasted: 2003-06-20 by AG-ST
Prices: BC $17.99 Specialty
CSPC: 377770; UPC: 778856103106
Producer: Quails' Gate Vineyards Estate Winery
Distributor: Medallion Wine Marketing
89/100 Quails' Gate Chardonnay Family Reserve 2001
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
Look for enticing, ripe, peach/honey aromas with vanilla peach melon edges. Winemaker Ashley Hooper has finally stripped back some of the oak which is a good thing although there's still a prominent buttery, toasted oak nose. It's nicely organized on the palate with good crispness and plenty of citrus, apple skin and peach flavours. Well made and a major jump up in style and class for the winery. Clearly the best chardonnay we've seen yet from Quails' Gate and move the winery into prime time B.C. Release date August 1.
Tasted: 2003-06-08 by AG-ST
Prices: BC $20.99 Specialty
CSPC: 639641; UPC: 778856103007
Producer: Quails' Gate Vineyards Estate Winery
Distributor: Medallion Wine Marketing
88/100 Quails' Gate Riesling Family Reserve 2002
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
The first ever Family Reserve riesling is big and juicy and swimming in citrus floral fruit. There's fairly good intensity of flavour here especially at the front end of the wine but it's almost all floral and citrus and while it's not very complex it will definitely grab your interest. A solid step in the right direction.
Tasted: 2003-06-08 by AG-ST
Prices: BC $22.95 VQA Wine Stores
Producer: Quails' Gate Vineyards Estate Winery
Distributor: Medallion Wine Marketing
89/100 Quails' Gate Gewürztraminer Limited Release 2002
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
It looks as if 2002 was very kind to B.C. gewürztraminer. Look for a whack of lychee fruit and rose petal aromas with an exotic touch of cinnamon spice. This is an off-dry version but with a nice streak of citrus through the finish. Proprietor Andrea Stewart recommends pairing this with free range turkey; I would like to see it on the wine list at Vij's and most every Chinese restaurant in the city.
Tasted: 2003-06-08 by AG-ST
Prices: BC $14.99 Specialty
CSPC: 585745; UPC: 77856102406
Producer: Quails' Gate Vineyards Estate Winery
Distributor: Medallion Wine Marketing
85/100 Quails' Gate Chasselas - Pinot Blanc Limited Release 2002
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
Bright fresh citrus rind nose that follows through on the palate. Lean tart style with some mid-palate softness but no sugar. In fact it's a touch bitter in the finish. Summer sipping is the deal here and fresh oysters or clams would be perfect.
Blend: Chasselas - Pinot Blanc
Tasted: 2003-06-08 by AG-ST
Prices: BC $14.99 Specialty
CSPC: 585737; UPC: 77856102307
Producer: Quails' Gate Vineyards Estate Winery
Distributor: Medallion Wine Marketing
86/100 Quails' Gate Dry Riesling Limited Release 2002
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
Fresh open mineral aromas streaked with lime rind. The flavours are similar but like many 2002s the fruit is riper and marginally sweeter in the mouth. Fine weight and mouthfeel and will be a huge hit on the patio. This is a well made $15 wine; it would be an outstanding $12 B.C. wine.
Tasted: 2003-05-19 by AG-ST
Prices: BC $14.99 Specialty
CSPC: 308312; UPC: 778856100105
Producer: Quails' Gate Vineyards Estate Winery
Distributor: Medallion Wine Marketing
