Covert Operative: Welcome to your Spring 2023 “Mission”
Although the days are still shorter than the nights, and Old Man Winter keeps hanging around, signs of spring are appearing, and with it, new life on the farm. Some early arrival lambs were born in the first weeks of February and watching them kick up their heels and play lightens our hearts. See them on our Instagram page: Covert Farms Family Estate (@covertfarmsfamilyestate) • Instagram photos and videos
This January, we launched our first annual “Wine Vault” Library sale with great success. Gene diligently puts away cases of each vintage, and continually undertakes the monumental task of assessing them, so that we know when to release to our Wine Club and newsletter subscribers. We have compiled a handy vintage chart, for those of you who have the self-control (and space) to hold onto wines for aging and want to know how they are progressing. It’s always a tense moment, having that “should I open it now?” conversation with yourself, and we hope that we can help take the guesswork out for you. We will be updating older vintages and filling in any that we haven’t assessed yet. We have THE BEST homework ever! Wines do reach their peak though, and we’ve included in this shipment the option to try some that have reached their aging potential and should be consumed within the year. Treat yourself to taste what time can bring to a well-crafted wine, without the agony of waiting.
We’ve had a few people asking how our vines fared during the extreme cold this winter. The good news is that, while we did have some primary bud damage, our vineyards fared better than most in the south Okanagan. This is largely due to our regenerative agricultural practice; leaving the ground covered protects the soil microbiome, in turn allowing more nutrients to the vines for resiliency during extreme weather (drought or cold). Below is a picture of how we use our cattle to aerate and fertilize between the rows, allowing cover crops to flourish, which in turn provide micro-nutrients to the vines.
Our cattle grazing the vineyard, part of regenerative viticulture. Feb 2023
Did you know? We age our Grand Reserve Roussanne for 5 years before release, to bring out the viscosity and weight that age brings to the wine.
2018 Grand Reserve Roussanne 100% Roussanne
Taste profile: lemon zest, gooseberry, wild grass, baby’s breath, star anise, orange blossom, white peach. Harvested Oct 12, 2018 brix 25, hand harvested at 2.5 tons per acre and hand sorted, neutral barrel fermented and aged 9 months. From Coyote block, planted 2009, glaciofluvial sedimentary soil, elevation 415-420m, drip irrigation
Certified Organic Vineyard, Salmon Safe, Vegan
pH 3.34, TA 6.57, RS 3.72, Alcohol 14.0%
50 cases produced
We are in love with Edible Adventure spice mixes from Aman Dosanj; read more about her story here:
My Story – [the paisley notebook] (you can order these on her site or from us on-line with your wine!).
Here’s a recipe to go with your 2018 Grand Reserve Roussanne.
malabar_tabloid.jpg (2000×1294) (paisleynotebook.com)
Our Wine Lounge and Farm opens for the 2023 season on Wednesday April 5, and we hope you can visit us! We are open Wed-Sun 11-5 for tastings. Hands-On Harvest Tours are available weekends, then daily starting late May. Contact Zola soon if you haven’t booked your free tour for club member sign-up. Spots fill up quickly! For those that want to come for a visit, know the farm but don’t want a formal tasting, we have introduced our “Flights at the Farm” tasting; a sampling of the new releases, but more time for you to visit with friends and family. This year we will have our own organically home-raised beef, pork and chicken for sale at the wine lounge, and feature it on our charcuterie “Farmer Boards”.
