Photo: Winemaker Kathy Malone
The good news from Kathy Malone, the winemaker at Hillside Winery, is that Hillside’s vines, for the most part, survived the 2024 freeze and should produce a crop in the 2025 season.
This is consistent with the experience of most Naramata Bench vineyards. The nearby Okanagan Lake moderated that cold spell enough that most varietals pulled through, perhaps with the exception of Syrah, which suffered generally. Hillside’s Syrah block endured 25% vine death.
In the 2024 vintage, Hillside was able to pick just enough Pinot Gris from its Naramata sources to make one barrel of wine. As well, Kathy made a small amount of unoaked Pinot Gris from Washington State juice. Aside from that Hillside purchased no fruit from U.S. growers.
“Fortunately, Hillside has a deep portfolio to help tide us over the shortfall of 2024,” Kathy writes.
Here are notes on three examples from that inventory.
Hillside Below The Road Rosé 2023 ($35 for 150 cases). This wine is for the wine club and half the production has been sold. The wine is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, fermented on older French oak barrels with lees stirring. The result is a serious and textural rosé that flirts with being a light red wine. There are flavours of red plum and strawberry. The finish is long. 91.
Hillside Heritage Cabernet Franc 2020 ($40 for 345 cases). There are just 100 cases of this wine left. It recalls what a fine vintage that 2020 was on the Naramata Bench. The wine is concentrated in texture and flavour. The aromas of blackberry, raspberry and sweet tobacco are echoed on the seamless palate. 91.
Hillside Mosaic 2018 ($70 for 280 cases). Hillside’s flagship red, Mosaic is blended to taste and not to a strict varietal formula. Consequently, this is the first time in Mosaic’s 16-year history that Malbec is the leader, with 35% of the blend. The wine also has 29% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Petit Verdot. Aging was in French oak (43% new). It is an elegant wine with aromas of spice, blackberry and cassis. The texture is polished, with long, ripe tannins. The flavours reflect the lifted notes of sweet fruit typical of Malbec. 93.
