Moraine Winery Pinot Noirs -Three Recent Vintages
2020...21...22
Moraine is a family-owned winery and vineyard in the Naramata Bench Sub- GI overlooking Okanagan Lake, located just minutes from the city of Penticton. The winery owners here are the husband and wife team of Oleg and Svetlana Aristarkhov. They relocated from Alberta, where they had lived for 15 years, bought a vacation home and planted a small vineyard. When a nearby winery ironically called Zero Balance went into receivership they purchased the property and it’s small existing vineyard.
Since Moraine made their first vintage of pinot noir in 2012, the wines have always been in good hands. A series of prominent Okanagan winemakers have been involved over the years. Michael Bartier was the original consulting winemaker followed by Jacqueline Kemp. In the Summer of 2018, Dwight Sick, previously at Stag’s Hollow Winery took over.
The current winemaker Amber Pratt has headed up the winemaking since 2019. Amber worked vintages at Road 13 and Black Hills in the Okanagan. In her first winemaker role at C.C. Jentsch Cellars in 2013, she received awards for wines made with syrah, malbec and Bordeaux blends varietals including the Regional Trophy for Best Red Wine in North America at Decanter Asia in 2015.
Moraine’s vineyards are named after their two daughters, Sophia and Anastasia. A third vineyard is named after their grand-daughter Lily. The four acre vineyard called Sophia was planted by the owners Svetlana and Oleg in 2010.
The Wines:
Moraine Estate Winery Sophia Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022
In The Glass
Interesting notes of cherries, sweet baking spices, dusty red earth, caramel and strawberry on the nose with a touch of pomegranate. Earthy delights of tart, mildly intense strawberry and pomegranate with a dusty/savoury finish, moderate alcohol and an enjoyable, persistent finish. C+ ~ 88
In The Winery & Vineyard
Made with 100% pinot noir grapes from the winery's Sophia estate vineyard, it was spontaneously fermented in small 1-ton vats and kept in 40% new oak barrels for eight months. Alcohol 12.8% | Acidity 5.7 g/L | RS 1.9 g/L | PH 3.7 | 767 cases produced.
Moraine Estate Winery Sophia Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021
In The Glass
Begins with lovely nuances of bramble fruit, distinct blackberry juice and skin along with herbal and baking spice notes. All this is confirmed on the flavours, with savoury, continuous, riper blackberry along with some earthiness, mixed sweeter spices and some barrel notes. Well balanced and in some of its bearing, reminds me slightly of Cowichan Valley pinots. Showing well. C+ to B- ~ 89
In The Winery & Vineyard
Made with 100% pinot noir grapes 100% destemmed whole berry from the winery's Sophia estate vineyard. It was spontaneously fermented in small 1 ton vats and matured in oak barrels for ten months.
Alcohol 13.0% | Acidity 5.7 g/L | PH 3.74 |
Moraine Estate Winery Reserve Pinot Noir 2020
In The Glass
Begins with some good, darker red fruit intensity with a touch of plum. Flavours of pomegranate, slightly austere earthy fruit with some baking spice barrel notes and and some slight tannic friction. The linear, cherry fruit intensity really shines through here and maintains steadily through a long balanced finish. C+ to B- ~ 89
In The Winery & Vineyard
From the estate Sophia vineyard this is 100% pinot noir from clone 777 and is vinified 75% destemmed whole berry and 25% whole cluster. The grapes went though an extended cold soak and were wild fermented. It overwintered with some exposure to French oak and was bottled unfined and unfiltered. It won a gold medal at the 2023 Wine Align National Wine Awards.
Alcohol 13.5% | Acidity 7.1 g/L | RS 2.6 g/L | PH 3.68 | 181 cases produced.
This is the second time that Moraine has released a reserve pinot noir, the other was in 2018 (see review here).
Moraine Pinot Noirs Current Vintage & Availability