Vincor to launch new joint venture wine internationally
Staff Writer - April 18, 2004
The first wine produced by aFranco-Canadian joint venture will be released this month.
Vincor, Canada’s largest winery, and Groupe Taillan, the giant Bordeaux shipper, entered into a joint venture five years ago to make wine in British Columbia's southern Okanagan Valley. The partnership planted 60 acres of vineyard including all five Bordeaux red varieties.
This month, the results of their work is to be launched into the international market at a series of events in key Canadian cities as well as in New York, London and Paris.
The 2001 vintage is branded Osoyoos Larose, from the the name of the vineyard location, Osoyoos, a southern Canadian area just few miles north of the US border, and Château Gruaud Larose, a Bordeaux estate owned by the French partner.
The original vines were prepared in Bordeaux, at Mercier Nursery and planted by hand, much closer together than is usually found in Canada, to produce a lower yield and more concentrated fruit quality. The trellising was designed to allow easy air movement and maximize sun exposure.
The wine, a blend of 66% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Cabernet Franc was made by Bordeaux winemaker Pascal Madevon and aged in one- and two-year-old French barrels for sixteen months. French enologists Michel Rolland and Alain Sutre consulted on the project.
Total production is of 2,200 cases and will sell for $35 in Canada, $35 in the United States, €30 in Europe and £20 in England.
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