2012 Équinoxe Chardonnay
Équinoxe: equal day, equal night. Equal heat of the day, equal cold of the night. Equal new world, equal old world.
After three atypical vintages in a row, 2012 is a return to a more typical growing season in the South Okanagan Valley. After an initial scare of unusually high record rainfall in late spring the remainder of the growing season was an absolute dream come true. Mid July till late fall gave us very hot days combined with typical cold desert nights. Growing degree days for the South Okanagan were above average and certainly much higher than 2010 and 2011. One of the hallmarks of this vintage was extremely uniformly ripe and clean grapes with minimal need for sorting (quite the opposite of 2008 and 2010). The resulting wines are more fruit forward with round structure thanks to plenty of sunshine and heat units; the cool nights resulted in excellent, piercing aromatics and bright acidity in the wine.
Many factors contribute to the majesty of this wine: low yields, old vines, cool micro climate, cool fermentation
and ageing “sur lie” in the finest, most nuanced, French oak barrels. Severine cared for these 3 barrels like her own children and crafted a Chardonnay that is both feminine and structured. This is a wine that merits cellaring and will please the palates of those who gravitate to the legendary wines of upper Meursault hills in Cote d’Or.
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Meat-Based
Delicate dishes like pan-seared trout with lemon & dill or halibut cheeks with garden vegetables pair incredibly well and allows this wine to show everything it has to offer.Plant-Based
Light salads on a warm summer day or a variety of roasted squashes with pine nuts are pairings that would let this wine showcase itself very well.
