Kascadia 2 Q1 2025

Painted Rock Estate Winery

Okanagan Valley, BC

Painted Rock Estate Winery, envisioned as a family legacy by Proprietors John and Trish Skinner, began in 2004 with the purchase of a 56-acre bench in Canada’s Okanagan Valley.

They chose to plant and build their winery on a unique west sloping bench in Penticton, British Columbia because it offered the perfect combination of elements to realize their vision for an ultra-premium Okanagan winery, worthy of the international stage. The estate is dedicated to producing terroir expressive wines from their single vineyard estate and is known for their bold single varietal reds and flagship blend Red Icon. 

The wines are produced exclusively from fruit grown on the single estate vineyard located on Skaha Bench, the Eastern bench of Skaha Lake in Penticton, British Columbia. 

The vineyard has been sustainably farmed since the end of 2010. No pesticides are used to control for weed or pests. The bluffs behind the vineyards are home to predator birds including hawks, owls and turkey vultures which control rodent and small bird populations.

Winemaking at Painted Rock is collaborative. Consultant Alain Sutre of Ertus Consulting in Bordeaux oversees the vineyard and winemaking team, lead locally by Gabriel Reis. At Painted Rock, there is a deep understanding that winemaking begins in the vineyard. We use only fruit grown on our single estate vineyard, and never purchase additional fruit. Through cropping and canopy management we methodically control the yield and ripening schedule to ensure consistency from vintage-to-vintage. 

All oak used is French, aside from a small portion of new Seguin Moreau American Oak used for Syrah each vintage.

• Collaborative winemaking. Consultant Alain Sutre of Ertus Consulting in Bordeaux oversees the vineyard and winemaking team, lead locally by Gabriel Reis.
• 100% single varietal wines. All varietally labelled wines are true single varieties.
• Hand harvested. To ensure pristine berries, only undamaged clusters are harvested, gently destemmed and hand sorted.
• No transportation. With our winery and vineyard onsite, there is no travel or delay between harvesting and processing, and no environmental impact from grape transportation.
• Unfiltered. Our red wines are never filtered to ensure their most complete expression.
• Renewable Energy. Solar panels were installed on our winery in 2017 to provide the power needs for the estate.

It is now 17 years since the planting of the estate vineyards and the property is living up to its potential in every regard. When our 2017 Red Icon was named a Decanter Wine of the Year in 2020, it validated the progress made by the team and steeled its resolve. At Painted Rock there is a firm belief that by aiming highly and working cooperatively, British Columbia wines can compete with the finest in the world.

Painted Rock 2022 Syrah

Notes of dark plums, almonds, and cracked pepper are complemented by concentrated dark fruit and blackberry leaf. Lingering hints of eucalyptus and violets. This wine is richly fragrant and poised for aging. 14.9% alcohol. 

The 100% Syrah vintage was handpicked on October 27, 2022 from our two estate Syrah blocks: J block which is planted with clone 100, and M block, which is planted with 99. This wine was aged for 18 months in 30% new oak. Of that new oak, 80% was French and 20% was American. The remaining 70% was aged in second-fill French oak.

Food Pairing: Grilled meats like lamb chops, ribeye steak, and herb-marinated chicken. Compliments char-grilled beef burgers, chilli, dark chocolate. Best paired with blue cheese, gorgonzola, cheddar, parmesan and gouda. 

 

Clos Du Soleil Winery

Similkameen Valley, BC

Founded by a small group of friends in 2006, Clos du Soleil is an artisan winery with estate vineyards, in the Similkameen Valley in southern British Columbia, Canada, producing wines which are elegant, complex, and age-worthy.

Clos du Soleil's vineyards are primarily located on the upper bench of the southern Similkameen Valley, which has an arid, hot, desert-like climate, with rocky, mineral-rich soils that produce truly distinctive wines of ripe fruit character, fresh acidity, herbal notes and striking minerality.

The team uses traditional winemaking techniques, informed by research, while adhering to the philosophies of minimal-interventionist winemaking, and organic and biodynamic viticulture. The resulting wines borrow an aesthetic derived from the great chateaux of Bordeaux, but are stamped with the flavours and aromas of our unique, rock-laden Similkameen landscape.

Clos du Soleil's wines, praised for both authenticity and elegance, are consistently rated amongst the top in British Columbia, and regularly win awards both nationally and internationally.

The name Clos du Soleil, a French term meaning an enclosed Vineyard of the Sun, refers to the rocks, soil, and sun, which together define this very special piece of land where we grow our grapes. The enclosure is the mountain that forms a tall natural stone wall at the back of our vineyard, almost surrounding the cobbled terroir which lends its unique flavours to our wines. Most importantly, our name highlights the long days of sun which pour in on the Similkameen Bench, one of BC’s most unique and promising microclimates.

Winemaker, General Manager, and co-owner Michael Clark was originally trained in Theoretical Physics, then followed a career in investment management in Canada, the United States, and Europe. Obsessed with understanding wine from a young age, Michael gained training in winemaking in Geneva, Switzerland, and Bordeaux, France, followed by the winemaking program from the University of California, Davis.   At Clos du Soleil it is Michael's goal to produce minimal-intervention, terroir-driven, thoughtful wines.