Intentions for 2022

Hi Sperling friends, 

With a blanket of snow covering the vineyard, January is a good time to reflect and plan.  Each new year brings a refreshed vision along with new challenges and opportunities. Before getting absorbed in the “new”, we like to review our established principles and restate our intentions.

Our Intentions

• With care, dedication, and work, we aim is to produce wines that reflect where they’re grown (terroir) and the year in which they were grown (vintage variation). Our family has been farming this land for 135 years, so we know our terroir, and know that we play a role in the terroir. We have immense respect for the land our great-grandparents chose for us, and a strong sense of responsibility to work in ways that allow nature’s forces to develop even better conditions for future generations. Organic and regenerative farming practices focus on improving and rehabilitating the land beyond the status quo.

 

• Allowing terroir and vintage variation to shine through in the bottle is an important part of our winegrowing and winemaking. This means adapting to the growing conditions and unpredictability of Mother Nature. Upon reflection of past vintages and thinking about the 2022 harvest, winemaker, Ann Sperling, jokingly states that this year will be the best ever! In all seriousness though, Canadian winemakers are adaptive.  At the 50th parallel and a desert-like climate, we're on the edge of vinifera grape growing. There's no other wine region like ours...in the universe! We have gained all our winegrowing experience through vintage variation, so we constantly think about how we can do things better, how we’ve succeeded and how we may be called upon to adapt.

 

• Looking to Spring – Something new to add to your summer wine list – Orange Vidal! From the Labyrinth, we’ve made a new orange wine, to be called “Flint”. Why FLINT? Joining our line-up of gemstone-named natural wines: Amber, Ruby, Perle… Flint promotes strength and courage (good qualities in these difficult times), inner peace, and restful sleep. FLINT was used in early times to make tools, knives, and other useful things that helped homo sapiens succeed. The characteristic to create sparks (for lighting fire) is unique. Flint is also a type of quartz. We use quartz crystals in biodynamic Prep 501 (horn silica) to bring light and lightness to the farm and balance earthly forces. And finally, a fun fact: Clear wine bottles are known as "flint" - we love to use light weight flint bottles for our natural wines since they support our values (lower carbon foot-print and recyclable) and support our wish to be "transparent" in all that we do. Watch for more info to come on this wine.​

Celebrate life's little moments...