News
Wood Wire & Fire - Live Jazz in the Labyrinth Vineyard
Join Sperling Vineyards Friday, July 16 for an outdoor evening with warm, rich and punchy jazz with Wood, Wire & Fire. Relax under the tent in our Labyrinth Vineyard and enjoy a bottle of our organic wines.
The trio will perform from 5:30 pm to 8 pm. Picnic tables available or bring your own lawn chair.
$20 per ticket
Jul 15, 2021 at 2:26 PM
PermalinkSummer Heat in the Vineyards
Hi Sperling Friends,
Here we are, already past the summer solstice. During these long days, the vines grow quickly, showing lush green hues to contrast the drying grasses on the mountainside slopes. As the temperatures on the valley floor warm up, everything is in full bloom and will be setting fruit for the fall harvest. See the stages in our organic Labyrinth Vineyard.
Watch the Labyrinth Grow
If you look closely at the images, you’ll see that flowering is mostly complete and we’re at the fruit set stage of growth. Missing is the wonderful perfume of the multitude of tiny grape flowers that flooded the vineyard air last week. Most of the little, round, will-be berries have lost their flower caps, and now the inflorescences are forming into grapes that will soon swell into grape clusters.
We haven’t had much rain this season and are entering a record-breaking heat wave. This makes for dry growing conditions earlier than normal. One relief is that fungal disease pressure is low, reducing the amount of spraying we have to do. Instead we’re paying attention to excessive dryness. The Okanagan is an arid region so we’re equipped with irrigation but our regenerative agriculture and organic practices are key to conserving water, and maintaining our cool-climate wine characteristics. Organic matter in the soil that we’ve encouraged through compost additions and constant soil cover with clovers, grasses and native plants, absorbs and holds moisture, so that any rainfall or irrigation we provide is channeled into the soil and then held there rather than running off or evaporating in the heat. Bare soil can be 15-25 degrees hotter than soil covered by vines plus cover-crop. Our vineyard on the East Kelowna Slopes is characterized by deep mineral-rich soils, and our old vines have rooted deeply accessing soil nutrients and moisture at depths of over 2 meters.
While we humans and our pets may feel like melting in the 40 degrees Celcius heat, grape vines are adapted to our climate. At approximately 35 degrees Celcius, the vines employ a conservation mechanism that minimises physiological activity and conserves water. However, extended periods of drought, combined with heat stress, can result in wines lacking vibrancy with low acidity.
A feature of our blessed terroir in the Okanagan is an extreme diurnal temperature shift - that’s the difference between night and day temperatures. Thankfully for people and grapevines, nights cool off by as much as 20 degrees from daytime highs. We’ve farmed this site for over 135 years and know that respect and stewardship will be rewarded with wonderful wines. We’ll keep you posted on vineyard developments.
You're Invited!
We’d love to welcome you to the winery where you can wander the labyrinth, see the vines for yourself, and of course, enjoy our delicious wines. As restrictions ease, we continue to offer an outdoor experience in the shade - in the middle of the labyrinth, on the veranda, or in the wide-open Heritage room.
It’s not a scientific fact, but we speak from experience when we say summer is more enjoyable in the middle of the vineyard with a cold glass of Rose or Bubbles! Keep in mind that our vineyards are certified organic so you can feel safe knowing you’re not brushing up against, or breathing in, pesticides or herbicides when you visit.
Book your visit online. We strongly recommend making reservations so we can prepare an exceptional and safe tasting experience. Tastings are available daily between 10:30 am and 6:30 pm with a range of 4 different tasting options priced at $10 - $20 per person.
Make your reservation online & choose your flight!
Check out our wine clubs and how you can access our exclusive club wines, special offers and events. Not local or not ready to venture out? Order on-line, with convenient and affordable delivery options.
Spring at Sperling
Happy spring Sperling friends!
Can you feel it? The warm sunshine, the garden dirt under your nails, the bottle of rose in the backyard in the lingering daylight? We feel it. We see it in the vines. The buds have burst and slowly the brown is turning to green and the grapes will soon be taking up their home in the vineyards. It feels SO good to welcome visitors back to the winery. We wanted to start a blog to keep you up to date with what’s happening at the winery.
Introducing: Watch the Labyrinth Grow
In this time where free travel isn’t available to all of us, we wanted to bring the vineyard and winery to you. We will be doing a blog post once a month, we’ll include the Labyrinth Vineyard growth progress so you can see the vines develop month by month. After the winter slumber, the vines start to wake up, the sap begins to flow and before long, the buds push through, promising another year’s harvest.
When you are able to visit the winery, we invite you to linger a bit longer and wander the Labyrinth Vineyard, enjoy wine and a picnic in the middle of it. We created this labyrinth to allow guests to wander the organic Vidal vines freely, while visiting with one another.
A labyrinth is a circular and purposeful path that is an ancient symbol representing wholeness. This labyrinth was inspired by our family matriarch, Velma, our head winemaker, Ann Sperling’s, Mom. The circular path allows you to walk without thought or need to check direction, fully relaxing into the surrounding environment. Soak up the energy of the labyrinth and the vineyard. This path is situated with a beautiful view of the mountains and surrounding area.
NEW: Wine Clubs!
Over the winter we launched two NEW wine clubs focusing on small lot, limited edition wines, and all your Sperling favourites for cellaring & sharing. The Labyrinth Wine Club is our choose your own adventure club, offering 2 x 12 bottle shipments per year. You choose from our organic wines from each of our Sperling Series; some for the cellar, some for celebrating & some for today. The Vision Club is for the wine geeks, collectors, and interesting wine lovers. This club offers 6 bottles, 3 times a year, including library wines, exclusives, single barrel experiments and all of Ann’s favourites.
Both clubs offer special perks and we have some exciting club exclusive events in the works. You’ll save 10% off all of your purchases and enjoy no additional shipping fees on your club shipments. Be sure to sign up soon, there are limited club spaces available.
Next Up: May Long Weekend
Starting June 7 we are open 10-7, daily. For the May long weekend at the winery, we will be open Saturday - Monday from 10am - 7pm. We'll be pouring some exciting wines. We’ll have special offers available in person and online, including:
- The Naturiste: Pet Nats (Ruby & Speritz) and our Amber wine, plus chocolate bar $100 +tax
- Organic Market Series: Market White, Market Red & Speritz 2018 x 2 of each $120 +tax
- A fun vertical or two. (Hint, if you love Chardonnay, you won’t want to miss this!)
We are very family friendly with a play structure for the kiddos visible from the tasting area. You can review our COVID-19 safe tasting options here. We ask you to please make your reservation in advance. Grab your mask and come on by! We can’t wait to welcome you.
AM 1150 - Ann Sperling Interview
Listen to our Proprietor & Winemaker Ann Sperling discuss the latest happenings at the winery, our inclusion on the Regeneration Canada Map and why it's an important step in farming.
Regeneration Canada - Map
"We are part of this organization to help get the word out about farmers who are committed to grasslands, permanent cover crops, and farming that benefits the environment (not degrades it). Our treed perimeters, bushes and permanent cover crops sequester carbon from the atmosphere unlike conventional agriculture with tillage that releases CO2." Ann Sperling
The map has 3 objectives:
Let people know about good farming practices
Where they can find products made with regenerative practices
Peer to peer learning from other farmers
BC Food & Wine Radio - Kasey & Anthony interview Ann Sperling - Guy Lafleur
BC Food & Wine Radio - Kasey & Anthony interview Ann Sperling - Guy Lafleur "60" Brut
This week, JS Dupuis, beverage manager of Homer Street Cafe joins us with cocktails for our holiday bubble; Ann Sperling, winemaker and crush junkie talks about Sperling Vineyards collaboration with Guy LaFleur and their “60” sparkling wine; we speak to Ross Wise MW about how Okanagan will look like in 2050 and Tony chooses 4 wines you’ll want to buy with your neighbours.
Podcast - Good Wine Gal (Barb Wild), Ann Sperling & Mark Shipway
Listen in as the Good Wine Gal (Barb Wild), Ann Sperling & Mark Shipway discuss Sperling Vineyards wines over Zoom.
The Good Wine Gal Zoom tasting contained the following wines:
- Blanc de Blancs 2013
- Organic Speritz 2018
- Old Vines Riesling 2016
- Organic Pinot Noir 2017
- Organic Old Vines Foch Reserve 2017
- Organic Late Harvest Riesling 2017
Purchase yours today, and taste along with the podcast!
4 -Mother-Daughter-Run Business in Canada You'll Love - Canadian Living Magazine
We were thrilled to be included in this wonderful article about Mother-Daughter-Run businesses in Canada by Canadian Living Magazine.
4 Mother-Daughter-Run Businesses in Canada You'll Love
We're in great company here! Please be sure to look them up in your community.
Cheers!
2020 Terroir Symposium Speaker Feature
2020 Terroir Symposium
"For the past 14 years, the Terroir Symposium has brought the world's leading innovators in the food, tourism and hospitality space together to share ideas, make connections and create change." Terroir Symposium
Read Ann Sperling's Biography as a Featured Speaker at the 2020 Terroir Symposium.
Q & A with Legendary Canadian Wine-grower Ann Sperling - NUVO Magazine
Rod Phillips interviews our Head Winemaker & Proprietor, Ann Sperling, for NUVO Magazine.
Q & A with Legendary Canadian Wine-grower Ann Sperling