Following a severe 2024 frost that saw the loss of 40% of its crop, Iconic Wineries of British Columbia has used the opportunity to reset, recruit top talent from around the world and re-enter the UK market with a bang. Sarah Neish finds out more.
The arrival of a bitter frost is every viticulturist’s worst nightmare. But what’s worse is when it arrives without warning.
That’s exactly what happened to Okanagan Valley producers in British Columbia in January 2024.
“It had been 5°C for the last month but then the polar vortex arrived, bringing the temperature suddenly down to -30°C within the space of 18 hours,” Kaylee Barss, winemaker for CheckMate Artisanal Winery in the Okanagan Valley, tells db.
“The vines were absolutely shocked. It wasn’t just a case of bud death but also vascular damage to the vine trunks. We had to cut into the trunks to reveal the extent of the damage.”
Space to re-evaluate
CheckMate Artisanal Winery is one of seven estates belonging to the von Mandi family-owned Iconic Wineries of British Columbia, which lost 40% of its collective harvest that year. However, what at first seemed like an unimaginable nightmare ended up providing the time and space to re-evaluate and strike forth anew.
“The freeze brought a lot of adversity into the region, but it also built resilience and kept us on our toes,” says Mike Alter, managing director for Iconic Wineries of British Columbia (IWBC). “It can either be looked at as a negative or as an opportunity.”
According to Alter, “the frost has given us the time and ability to put the right vines in the ground and amass international talent in our teams. It was a moment to pause and take a breath.”
Far from being ‘dead time’ the hiatus enabled the group, established in 1981, to put together a plan for how to make a dent in the export market, rather than continuing to focus its attention solely on the domestic Canadian market.
“This is a turning point. Traditionally our wines have been sold in BC and Canada, but now we are at a stage where we want to take all the lessons we have learned over the last 45 years and show the world what we can do,” says Alter.
Top talent
The new MD has been in the role for less than a year, having arrived in BC in 2025 following roles with wineries in Australia, Italy and California, including as president and COO of Huneeus Vintners, a family-owned fine wine company with brands across Napa, Sonoma, and the Willamette Valley.
Nor is he the only new arrival, with acclaimed Chilean winemaker Emily Faulconer also joining the fold as technical director, overseeing winemaking and viticulture of the group’s seven estates, including founding winery, Mission Hill Family Estate.
It speaks volumes about the Okanagan Valley that it is increasingly able to attract world-class talent to the region to build on in-depth local expertise and understanding of this special terroir.
Alter describes the raw beauty of Canada’s premier wine-producing area. Carved into volcanic rock by slow-moving glaciers thousands of years ago, the Okanagan Valley is one of the most distinctive wine regions in the world, a narrow, compact valley (just 250km of vines in total), encompassing a patchwork quilt of extremely diverse terroir.
“It’s as if you’re moving from Champagne to the South of Spain in about 100 miles,” he says.
“Okanagan has this wild beauty, with vineyards that slope right down to the lakes but also pockets of desert. I quickly realised that this is a place of extremes but also of untapped potential.”
And the signature style of Okanagan wines? “Definitely purity of fruit, vibrancy and refreshing acidity,” Alter adds.
Family ethos
Each estate in the family-owned collection has its own unique personality but the common thread that runs through them all is, says Alter, wines that are “reflective of site, and reflective of the region.”
Producers also share a common respect for “the energy and tension” of the Okanagan, “that tug between the acid profile of the fruit and the texture of the wines.”
Below, db looks at three of the group’s premium wine estates.
Mission Hill Family Estate
Mission Hill is the patriarch of the family, the founding member and one of the very first wineries of the Okanagan Valley. With its beginnings etched in 1981, it is “an icon winery of Canada,” explains Alter, and one that “set a vision for the Okanagan Valley.”
Producing wines across its Reserve, Terroir, Legacy and Icon collections, Mission Hill Family Estate crafts high-end single-varietal Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah from grapes grown in exceptional sites spanning the Okanagan, as well as elegant Bordeaux blends.
But the real jewel in its crown is its top expression Oculus.
“Oculus is the wine that has the greatest trajectory,” says Faulconer. The current vintage is the 2020, a selection of 15 different vineyard blocks for “completeness and depth”, comprising Merlot (50%), Cabernet Sauvignon (20%), Cabernet Franc (20%) and just a touch of Petit Verdot (less than 6%).
Looking to the next vintage, Faulconer expects that “Cabernet Franc will take on more relevance in the Oculus blend” due to strategic replantings following the 2024 frost. One of the key changes in the valley following the climatic incident is that growers are taking out Merlot and replacing it with star performer Cabernet Franc.
Martin’s Lane Winery
If Mission Hill is the patriarch, then Martin’s Lane Winery, with its six-level, gravity-flow winery and modern architecture, is “the cool rockstar” in the family mix, says Alter.
“We’re a very small, very focused winery solely making Riesling and Pinot Noir,” explains Kurt Simcic, director of viticulture for Martin’s Lane, and another top international recruit, having moved to Okanagan from New Zealand, where he worked for producers including Cloudy Bay in Marlborough.
Martin’s Lane has at its fingertips a treasure trove of radically different vineyard parcels, from rugged and exposed to high elevation and both north and south-facing plots, as well as a rare collection of 28-year-old vines planted in lake-bottom soils rich in clay and silts.
This rich palette gives the winery plenty of options with which to craft succulent, tropical, bright Rieslings and wonderfully layered Pinot Noirs, aged in stainless steel tanks and oak foudres.
Its 90 acres (36ha) of vineyards are also home, says Simcic, to a rabble of wildlife including “bears, elk, rattlesnakes and Californian Big Horn sheep, which are impossible to keep out of the vineyards. No matter what kind of fencing you put in place they will always find a way through!”
An inside tip? Simcic calls 2022 “one of the best Pinot Noir vintages” in Okanagan Valley history. “Our Pinots age really well,” he adds.
CheckMate Artisanal Winery
Next to the patriarch and the rock-star, we add another seat at the table; CheckMate, the “high-achiever” of the family collection.
“CheckMate is very much a Chardonnay house and aims to make not just the best Chardonnay in the Okanagan, but wines that can sit among the greatest Chardonnays of the world,” says Alter excitedly.
“With white wine you have to be extremely technically precise,” he explains, hence the producer’s ‘high-achieving’ trait. And one could not get more precise in terms of terroir than CheckMate’s tiny vineyard area – just seven small blocks spanning a few acres – with some consisting of just a handful of rows.
Because of this, winemaker Kayley Barss explains, production is extremely limited to just a few thousand cases of wine per year, and all are Chardonnay.
“We are quite unique to be a winery in BC focused on Chardonnay,” she says, or as the producer puts it, CheckMate took “a groundbreaking gambit” when it decided to zero in on the variety.
“We have a wide array of clonal materials and soils, so are very much showcasing how Chardonnay expresses itself across the whole of Okanagan Valley,” she adds.
CheckMate’s house style is to embrace the abundant aromatics that Chardonnay can express, depending on whether grapes are sourced from the “mineral, relatively cool-climate of the north of the valley” or from the south, “which can be like a desert, with tumbleweed, sage brush etc.”
“We really lean into that,” says Barss. “We do whole cluster pressing, and build a lot of texture while maintaining the acid line that runs through the wines.”
Completing the group’s estates are Cedar Creek Estate Winery, Road 13 Vineyards, Red Barn at Jagged Rock and Liquidity Wines.
The next step
So, Iconic Wineries of British Columbia has brought top talent in, replanted its vineyards where needed with healthy, top-performing vines, and is diving into export markets with buoyed enthusiasm.
But how can it guarantee availability given the increasing frequently frosts occurring in BC? According to Alter “being family owned, with a long-term mindset” is critical to this.
He says: “Yes, we have a lot less wine than we would have done three years ago, and we probably won’t be at full production again until 2032, but we are not just making decisions to appease the objectives of one financial year. It’s about a vision, not just a bottom line. We are prioritising where wines gets allocated, with the UK, Germany and the Nordics in our sights, as well as Japan and Hong Kong.”
The group’s new focus “is to have our wines appreciated among global wine consumers. And to do that we need to be present in the great wine markets of the world.”
Discover the wines
Patrick Schmitt MW tried a selection of wines produced by Iconic Wineries of British Columbia. Read on for his tasting notes.
Fritzi’s Vineyard Riesling 2023
Winery: Martin’s Lane Winery
Region: Okanagan Valley (West Kelowna)
ABV: 13.5%
RRP: US$75
Grape varieties: 100% Riesling
“Aromatically, this is enticing, with waxy floral notes with classic Riesling characters of petrol and ripe peach. In the mouth, there’s an initial hint of sweet yellow fruit, complemented by Jasmin, Kerosine and crisp apple. Firm acidity follows a broad core of lime juice. Lingering, lively, layered and persistent, finishing dry, bright and zesty with plenty of fresh citrus. Youthful now, with a characteristic dry Riesling razor-sharp edge, but built to age – and with time this wine will mellow.”
Fool’s Mate Chardonnay 2021
Winery: CheckMate Artisanal Winery
Region: Okanagan Valley
ABV: 14.1%
RRP: US$115
Grape varieties: 100% Chardonnay
“An inviting classic Chardonnay nose, featuring cashew, pear, melon and grilled peach. The palate is rich in ripe yellow fruit, with real depth balanced by freshness and a juicy lemon finish. Cream and peanut, with a hint of popcorn and a toasty edge. Good texture and breadth, lifted by bitter grapefruit pith for a clean, youthful character, helped by subtle chalky phenolics. Lingering, lively and layered – not heavy, this is an energetic style, despite the ‘old school’ aromatics. A really very good example of its type. And a wine that could be cellared – though delicious now.”
Naramata Ranch Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022
Winery: Martin’s Lane Winery
Region: Okanagan Valley (Naramata Bench)
ABV: 13%
RRP: US$90
Grape varieties: 100% Pinot Noir
“A pale ruby red with a lovely array of aromatics, including slightly stewed, sweet ripe red cherry, a hint of vanilla cream, blood orange, subtle florals and wild, dry herbs. The mouthfeel is medium to light weight, with fine, dry tannin and real freshness. Orange zest and a hint of rhubarb mix with dried herbs, a subtle note of ripe stems, and a core a red cherry and tomato concentrate. Toasty oak and dark chocolate emerge on the finish. Lingering, dry and refreshing, with a mouth-watering bite. A very good lighter style of red.”
Terroir Collection Cabernet Franc 2022
Winery: Mission Hill Family Estate
Region: Okanagan Valley
ABV: 14.5%
RRP: US$70
Grape varieties: 86% Cabernet Franc, 9% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon
“A deep ruby wine with intense aromas of dark berry fruit, blackcurrant and cherry. The palate is rich in cedarwood and dark chocolate complementing concentrated dark and red berry fruit – blackberry, mulberry – and dry, fine tannin. Some warmth and peppery spice, with subtle strawberry notes. Lingering, layered and refreshing, finishing with cedar, stewed cherry and a cigar-box edge. Lovely, firm structure and a mouth-watering, finely tannic finish. Fully ripe but medium in weight – a serious, delicious red, that’s hard not to drink.”
Oculus 2020
Winery: Mission Hill Family Estate
Region: Okanagan Valley
ABV: 14%
RRP: US$220
Grape varieties: 49% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot
“This deeply coloured red has a serious nose bursting with deep ruby stewed dark berry fruit, cedar and a hint of laurel. The palate is grippy, medium weight, with cedar, cigar box and dark chocolate over dark berry fruit, stewed blackcurrant and cherry, and a note of cherry stone. Lingering and layered, less about overt fruit than fine-boned structure. Fully ripe but never sweet, with a mouth-watering finish carrying masses of dry tannin and white pepper spice. Age-worthy, with subtle evolution already showing and plenty more to give. Elegant – almost Italian in structure. Serious and fine, as well as age-worthy, while remaining accessible and easy-to-like now too.”
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