By Rick VanSickle
After a couple of disastrous years, things are beginning to return to “normal” in the Okanagan Valley.
Also in this Canadian Wine Report: GGO announces 2026-2027 board of directors and growers’ committee, our picks from the Niagara wines coming to Vintages Saturday, including On Seven Chardonnay, a Pinot and a Chardonnay from Bachelder wines, and a Gamay from Southbrook.
The first white wines made with 100% Okanagan VQA grapes are now appearing on shelves following the 2024 and 2023 vintages, the worst back-to-back vintages in the region’s history. Those years were dominated by extreme deep-freeze events that killed buds and damaged vines, resulting in historically low yields.
The 2024 vintage was considered “catastrophic” with near 100% winter kill, especially in the Southern Okanagan, Similkameen, and Kelowna areas. 2023 was considered a “very bad year” suffering a 58% loss in the grape crop due to a late 2022 freeze, followed by drought and wildfires.
For wineries such as Hester Creek on the Golden Mile Bench in the Southern Okanagan Valley, the first fresh white wines from 2025 couldn’t arrive soon enough.
Hester believes the 2025 season will go down as one of the best vintages the Okanagan Valley has seen to date. According to the winery, the season was the “perfect union of growing conditions; consistent heat with no extremes, low disease pressure, no spring frost and Growing Degree Days of 1,859 — the highest ever recorded in the Okanagan Valley.”
Early bud break coupled with warm summer days allowed the grapes to reach full phenolic ripeness and retain acidity, producing wines that are balanced with intense flavour. The vineyards that were damaged during the winters of 2023 and 2024 were able to recover and produce beyond expectation with favourable growing conditions, yielding a larger than average harvest of exceptional fruit.
The 2025 harvest started on Aug. 27 with Gewürztraminer and finished Nov. 6 with Syrah. “After the challenging 2023 and 2024 growing seasons, this spectacular 2025 harvest is the vintage we were all hoping for,” the winery said.
Wines in Niagara tasted six of the first fresh white wines released at Hester Creek since 2022.
Here’s what we liked:
Hester Creek Pinot Gris 2025 ($20, 89 points) — This Gris is a blend of grapes from the estate’s historic Block 5 and from fruit sourced from trusted growers in the South Okanagan Valley. The nose shows green apples, peaches, melon and bergamot. It’s mouth-coating on the palate with ripe orchard fruits, juicy apricots and citrus zest with mouth-watering acidity keeping it fresh and lively.
Hester Creek Old Vine Pinot Blanc 2025 ($23, 90 points) — From my early days of tasting wines from the Okanagan, Pinot Blanc was certainly one of my favourite white wines. It has slowly lost interest with consumers. It is this style from Hester Creek that I identify with, and I wish more wineries followed suit. It’s sourced from the estate’s originally planted vines in 1968 that managed to survive the cold snaps of 2023-24. The nose shows ripe apples, pears, white flowers and peach fuzz. It’s clean and pure on the palate and reveals apple strudel, quince, and peach tart, with just a hint of savouriness on a bright, lifted finish. You can even cellar for a couple of years for further integration.
Hester Creek Sauvignon Blanc 2025 ($22, 89 points) — This is Hester Creek’s first B.C. sourced single variety Sauvignon Blanc. The nose shows fresh herbs, grassy notes, green apple, kiwi and green pear. It has lovely texture and verve on the palate with citrus, passionfruit, guava, gooseberries, herbs and quince notes on a bright, lip-smacking good finish.
Hester Creek Character White 2025 ($20, 88 points) — The blend for this friendly white wine is 40% Pinot Gris, 30% Gewürztraminer with the rest Chardonnay. It’s a nice, easy going porch sipper with a nose of peach, pear, lychee, grapefruit and citrus. The fruity palate reveals vivid notes of ripe apricots, grapefruit zest, peaches, yellow apples and ginger on a lifted finish.
Hester Creek Pinot Gris Viognier 2025 ($22, 90 points) — This is a blend of Pinot Gris and Viognier sourced from the estate’s Golden Mile Vineyard and trusted vineyards in the South Okanagan. It’s deep and rich on the nose with ripe apricots, baked apples, peach pie, nectarine and pear. It has gorgeous texture on the palate with medley of ripe orchard fruits and a rounded, long finish. You could cellar this for a couple of years.
Hester Creek Old Vine Trebbiano 2025 ($27, 91 points) — Hester Creek’s Old Vine Trebbiano regenerated itself after a brief hiatus. This grape thrives on Block 16 of the estate’s historic Golden Mile Bench estate vineyard. After a couple of challenging growing seasons, the vineyard has recovered remarkably well. It has a lovely, personable nose of yellow pears, honeysuckle, peach tart, bergamot and citrus zest. It’s fleshy and ripe on the palate with pear, melon, yellow apples, apricots and mouthwatering acidity on the bright, zesty finish. Outstanding wine!
GGO announces 2026-2027 board of
directors and growers’ committee
Debbie Zimmerman, CEO of the Grape Growers of Ontario, announced the election of its 2026-27 board of directors. During a recent meeting, the board elected Kevin Watson. above, as chair and Jeff Duc as vice chair.
Watson has been involved in Ontario’s grape and wine industry since 1978 and currently farms approximately 100 acres of certified sustainable vineyards with his family. He previously served on the growers’ committee from 1999 to 2003, including one year as a director. He was named Grape King in 2007 and subsequently served on both the growers’ committee and board of directors until his election as vice chair in 2022.
Watson represents the GGO on the Canadian Grapevine Certification Network and the Ontario Wine Appellation Authority (VQA) board of directors and serves on GGO’s advisory committee. In addition to the vineyard, Watson, his wife Cathy, and their two children also operate an on-site home winemaking and barrel business, Watson’s Barrels and Winemaking Supplies.
Duc, the newly elected vice chair, is a third‑generation grape grower in Niagara‑on‑the‑Lake, managing Forrer Farms alongside his father, Ray Duc, a former chair of the GGO board. The family operates approximately 250 acres of vineyards. Jeff Duc served on the growers’ committee from 2020 to 2024, was elected to the board in 2024, and was named Grape King later that year. He represents GGO on F.A.R.M.S. and serves on the board of the Niagara Peninsula Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association.
The board also welcomes new directors, Aaron Oppenlaender as District 1 director and Andrew Wilson as District 3 director. Oppenlaender is a second-generation grower in Niagara-on-the-Lake, has been a GGO Next Gen member for three years, and serves on the IT committee. Wilson is a third‑generation grower in the Lake Erie Northshore region and has also been a GGO Next Gen member for three years.
The 2026-27 board of directors includes representation from across Ontario:
• Niagara‑on‑the‑Lake: Steve Pohorly, Dan Lambert
• St. Catharines: Will George, Joe Schenck
• Winona: Brock Puddicombe
• Prince Edward County: Robert Peck
“At the Grape Growers of Ontario, the Next Generation Committee was established in 2019 with a clear purpose: to nurture, mentor, and build a strong foundation for the future of Ontario’s grape growers. It is incredibly rewarding to see that vision in action, as several members of the Next Gen Committee are now serving in leadership roles at the board level, including Brock Puddicombe, Jeff Duc, Aaron Oppenlander, Dan Lambert, Andrew Wilson and Will George. This is a strong reflection of the committee’s impact in developing the next generation of leadership for our industry.” said Zimmerman.
The GGO extended its sincere appreciation to Matthias Oppenlaender for his leadership and service during his term as chair of the board. His steady guidance and commitment have played an important role in supporting our organization and industry.
Niagara wines coming to LCBO
Vintages stores on Saturday
On Seven The Pursuit Chardonnay 2021 ($48, 93 points) — The Pursuit was aged in French oak (25% new oak), for 20 months, all wild fermented, hand harvested, and hand sorted. It shows a light golden colour in the glass with a rich and savoury nose of succulent ripe pear, yellow apples, lemon curd, peach skin, fresh salinity, white flowers and integrated oak spice notes. It’s richly extracted on the palate with layers of orchard fruits, zesty lemon, flinty accents, spice and defined by its rush of racy acidity on the back end, giving it poise, balance and finesse through the long finish. Can cellar to 2030.
Southbrook Triomphe Gamay 2021 ($29, 92 points) — Winemaker Casey Hogan prefers that the estate Gamays have some oak, in this case 100% neutral French oak for 9 months, to give the wines added texture and complexity. It shows lovely brambly raspberries, plums, dark cherries, and rhubarb with pepper, herbs, and anise accents. It’s smooth on the palate with modest structure then bright red berries, savoury/earthy notes, plums, red currants and subtle pepper and spice all leading to a vibrant finish.
Bachelder Wismer-Parke Pinot Noir 2023 ($65, 93 points) — From the sweet spot on the Twenty Mile Bench, on reddish magnesium and dolomitic-limestone clay soils with a solid silt component, this is one of two expressions of the Wismer-Parke Vineyard. This vintage of the Wismer-Parke is a bit more subtle than the 2022 version with a pretty, floral nose, Morello cherries, wild raspberries, a touch of cassis, subtle rhubarb, savoury notes and fine oak spice. It has wonderful texture on the palate with ripe tannins that wrap around the juicy black raspberries, cherries, crunchy pomegranate, forest floor accents and spice with flecks of bloody/iron minerality through a luxurious, long and finessed finish. Can cellar through 2034.
Bachelder Wismer-Wingfield Chardonnay 2022 ($60, 93 points) — This is another coveted site for Chardonnay in Thomas Bachelder’s arsenal of single-vineyard, single-block expressions. He keeps seven rows of the Wingfield Vineyard for the Hill of Wingfield, with some declassification into the Wismer-Wingfield expression. This is all about poise and elegance with a nose of stone fruits, floral notes, an amalgam of minerally attributes and well-integrated spice notes. It turns richer and more concentrated on the palate with mouth-filling pear, yellow apple and lemon tart, hinting at wet stones, a touch of spice and a silky texture with a vibrant, lifted finish. Can cellar to 2030.
Other Niagara wines released, but not reviewed by Wines in Niagara:
• Cloudsley Twenty Mile Bench Chardonnay 2023 ($37)
• Leaning Post The Fifty Chardonnay 2024 ($27)
• Two Sisters Margo Rosé 2024 ($38)
• Featherstone Rosé 2025 ($17)
• Cave Spring CSV estate Grown Riesling ($35)
• Rosewood Pinot Noir 2020 ($50)
• Hinterbrook Nomad Merlot 2022 ($20)
• Domaine Queylus Droite 2023 ($46)
Whilel I think I understand the ‘why’in Ontario whyne pricing (small production, organic/biodynamic, taking ‘risks’ au naturel, etc.), I still tremble when I see Chardonnay for $50 or $60 up or more per bottle (same for the Pinot and Cabernet group). True, other regions charge way more and people spend the money. Good luck to everyone and may they sell out – but, darn it, I will miss out on the excitement drinking my less expensive friends. Not sour grapes, just envy I guess, from a former winemaker. Jim
I hear you, Jim! By the way, I still have fond memories of your great Three guys Pinot Noir project. This is from a review I wrote in 1986, my last set of those Pinots: Stoney Ridge Funk Vineyard Pinot Noir Reserve 1995 — This was part of four-bottle set that was a bit of marketing genius at the time because it enabled each winery — Marynissen, Stoney Ridge and Lakeview — to be able to sell wines other than their own at their wineries. The idea was to take the same grapes, grown by Mary and Gunther Funk, and apply a unique winemakers’ stamp on each expression. The three winemakers, John Marynissen, Jim Warren and Eddy Gurinskas, each made their style of Pinot that ended up vastly different from each other’s. The fourth wine in the set was a blend of the three. The Stoney Ridge version by Warren showed incredible spicy, dried fruits and was still alive in the glass with slightly fading, but evident tannins. Quite enjoyable.