2015 Alibi
Current Vintage: 2015
First Vintage: 2003
Bud Break: April 7, 2015
Veraison: July 16, 2015
Oak Regime: Semillon barrel fermented in Puncheons
Barrel Age: N/A
Harvest Dates: September 10, 2015 avg.
Bottling Date: March 14, 2016
Final Blend: 75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Semillon
Alcohol: 12.5%
“Black Hills Alibi 2015 is a classic Bordeaux-style 75/25 blend of sauvignon and semillon. It combines fruit aromas of pear, peach and melon with savoury notes including fresh sweet clover, lovely plush texture, a core of flinty minerality, and a crisp green apple finish. This is a serious, complex wine with excellent structure and potential for age. It is made in a reductive style that evokes great white Bordeaux, which can be challenging for the uninitiated, but in fact the compounds that produce them play an important role in preserving freshness and building texture and complexity. (Decanter’s top ranked 2015 white Bordeaux is Ch Smith Haut Lafitte, ‘vinified on the limit of reduction’; no Canadian wine has received more acclaim than Norman Hardie’s ‘intentionally reductive’ Prince Edward County Chardonnay). An extraordinary wine that represents a new phase in the ongoing evolution of BC wine.”
Graham Pierce, Winemaker
“The 2015 vintage experienced record-breaking weather. An early spring put us three weeks ahead of 2014. The dry weather continued as the Okanagan experienced its driest June on record. A beautiful warm summer led into a cool period in September that helped balance the ripeness of the fruit and develop those complex flavours we look for. The rest of the fall was warm which allowed for a long hang time for the fruit.”
Steve Carberry, Winegrower