Inniskillin Okanagan Vineyards Winery

Zinfandel, California’s iconic variety, could not handle the winters when Reif Vineyards planted it near Niagara Falls in the 1990s. So far, the Okanagan has been more hospitable to Zinfandel, first planted in 1999 or 2000 in Vincor’s Bear Cub vineyard near sun-drenched Osoyoos. In the 2002 vintage, these grapes allowed Inniskillin Okanagan to release British Columbia’s first vintage. More recently, a few other Okanagan wineries have released or are getting ready to release their own Zinfandels.

Inniskillin Okanagan is the winery in the Vincor group anointed for proving the viability of varieties new to the Okanagan. Like the Zinfandel, the wines come out in the winery’s Discovery Series. The volumes are modest (550 cases for this vintage of Zinfandel), with the promise of more once the varieties prove themselves.

California winemakers would recognize this wine as coming from a “cool” terroir. The Okanagan’s hot days ripen the fruit but the cool nights result in flavours that are bright, without the jam found sometimes in muscular California Zins. This wine shows aromas and flavours of spicy currants and blackberries, with undertones of chocolate. The ripe tannins give the wine a rich, chewy texture. The vivid brambly flavours linger on the palate. 90 points.

Reviewed February 27, 2008 by John Schreiner.