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March 19/08
2006 Gewurztraminer and 2005 St. Laurent are sold out.
February 22/08
New releases: Syrah 2005, Pinot Noir
2005, Cabernet Franc 2005, St. Laurent 2005.
Upcoming Spring 2008 events: Winemakers'
Dinner, Best of the Bench Spring Release, Okanagan Spring Wine
Festival.
December 9/07
More restaurants in Vancouver and
Whistler who carry Nichol wines.
November 28/07
Cabernet-Syrah 2004 is now sold out.
August 30/07
New photos: Lieutenant Governor
presents award for 2004 Syrah; new wine shop views
August 3/07
Syrah 2004 and Impromptu 2004 are now sold out.
Recent awards:
Gold – 2004 Syrah, Lieutenant Governors Award, July 2007
Silver – 2003 Syrah Reservare, Northwest Wine Summit, April 2006
July 8/07
Updated list of Restaurants and Retail
Shops where you can find our wines
July 5/07
New releases: Pinot Gris 2006,
Gewurztraminer 2006, Capriccio 2006
March 21/07
Pinot Noir 2004 is sold out.
March 5/07
New Releases: Pinot Noir 2004,
Impromptu 2004, Cabernet-Syrah 2004, and Syrah 2004.
Upcoming events: Best of the Bench April
17; Okanagan Spring Wine Festival May 3-6.
November 27/06
2005 Pinot Gris is now sold out.
August 21/06
Pinot Noir 2003 is now sold out.
August 1/06
New releases: Pinot Noir 2003 and Pinot
Gris 2005. More Fall events added to Calendar:
Winemakers dinners, Tailgate Party.
June 29/06
2003 Syrah Reservare and 2004 Capriccio
are sold out.
May 31/06
Cabernet franc 2003 is sold out. New
photos added to Gallery.
February 27/06
New releases: Cabernet franc 2003 and
Syrah Reservare 2003
February 21/06
Updated About Us section (formerly
"History"); new events in the Calendar;
more restaurants carrying Nichol
wines.
October 23/05
Syrah 2002 sold out: To be notified about the
Spring '06 release of the much smaller, but very sumptuous
2003 vintage, please subscribe
to our email notification service! (same goes for Cabernet
Franc 2002)
October 14/05
Syrah 2002 wins Silver at Okanagan Wine
Festival; additional restaurants in
Delta and Nanaimo carry Nichol wines.
August 25/05
Updated Current
Releases include Pinot Gris 2004, Impromptu 2003 and Syrah 2002; Georgia
Straight article praises Nichol Pinot Gris 2003; more September
and October events added to Calendar; updated list of restaurants
and retail shops carrying Nichol wines; "Weather
makes the wine" explores why wines differ from year to
year.
June 18/05
Updated Wine Shop hours: Open Daily
11am to 5pm from June 18 to Canadian Thanksgiving.
May 16/05
Effective immediately the Wine Shop will be open
on weekends from 11am to 5pm.
New & Current Releases: Capriccio
2004; Syrah 2000 available to Ontario residents; Winemakers
Dinners June 1 and June 3; more restaurants
and retail stores in Vancouver, Richmond and West Vancouver
carry Nichol wines.
March 9/05
New Releases, Spring 2005: Cabernet Franc
2002 (also available in large size format), Pinot Noir 2002, St.
Laurent 2002
March 4/05
Event Calendar updates, lots of new
events; more retail outlets
carry Nichol Wines; Recipe: Gourmet Sloppy
Joes: Nichol Style from Kathleen; "The
Venerable Barrel": all about oak barrel-aging
January 16/05
Two new restaurants in
Vancouver carry Nichol wines; Event Calendar
updates
January 12, 2005—article
Naramata Bench Wineries Get
Whistler "Over A Barrel"! - article in December 2004
issue of V0H1NO, Naramata's Monthly News - by Kathleen Nichol (PDF
file, 120 KB - get
free Acrobat Reader)
November 22, 2004—Current Releases
New additions: Syrah 2001,
Cabernet Franc 2002. Now sold out: Syrah 2000, Maxine's.
October 19, 2004—Find Our Wines, Accolades
Many more restaurants
added to the list of locations that carry Nichol Wines. New areas:
Sunshine Coast, Okanagan, Kootenays. Accolades:
Syrah 2000 Received 4 stars in Okanagan Life October 2004.
September 15, 2004—Current Releases
New additions: Pinot Gris 2003,
Pinot Noir 2001, Maxine's, Impromptu 2002.
September 14, 2004—Find Our Wines
Many more restaurants and retail shops
added to the list of locations that carry Nichol Wines
August 9, 2004—Accolades
Jurgen Gothe praises 2002 Nichol
Pinot Gris in August 5 Georgia Strait
July 13, 2004—Naramata Bench Tailgate Party
September 11th, 2004
Tickets: $65.00 + GST
To order tickets call the Naramata Bench Winery Association at
1-888-88-BENCH (1-888-882-3624).
Don't miss the wine event of the season—the 1st Annual
Naramata Bench Tailgate Party. After the hectic pace and heat of the
summer, experience a unique evening out on the beautiful Naramata
Bench enjoying cool jazz, delectable local foods, vintage cars and
the regions best wines including the newest releases. Please reserve
your tickets early, as availability is limited. We hope you can join
us for this special event!
April 28, 2004—Silver and Bronze at All Canadian Wine
Awards
Nichol's Pinot Noir 2001 recently won Silver at the 2004 All
Canadian Wine Awards in Toronto. Cabernet Franc 2001 was awarded
Bronze. See Accolades.
March 14, 2004—Naramata Bench Spring Release April 20; new
releases
The Naramata Bench Spring Release—April 20, Vancouver
The first time ever that the Naramata Bench wineries will be in one
place, each with "Best of the Bench" Spring
Releases (one red, one white where possible). Most will be the first
release, and of limited production.
Each winery will have their best spring release wine complemented
with food from a specific restaurant—for Nichol Vineyard, it
will be the Syrah 2000 with Bis Moreno Restaurant (& Kobe beef).
Other restaurants include Vij's, Lumiere, and the Naramata Heritage
Inn. Winemakers and/or Proprietors will be serving the wines.
Also at this event will be a limited production of collector
cases of the 'Best of the Bench' wines. Part of the proceeds from
the event and the 'Best of the Bench' wine cases will be donated to
the Naramata Volunteer Fire Department.
News release, ticket order form and Best of the Bench order form
available on Event Calendar listing.
Our Wines: New Releases
Cabernet Franc 2001 and Syrah 2000 now available for ordering.
Limited supply. (See Our Wines.)
February 16, 2004—October Wine Fest at Fresco Restaurant
In October, come & celebrate Wine Fest at Fresco Restaurant —
the Okanagan's only Four Diamond Award winning restaurant. Chef Rod
Butters pairs local ingredients with the exclusive wines of Nichol
Vineyard from Naramata. See Event Calendar for
details.
January 12, 2004—Expanded History of Nichol Vineyard
Read a more detailed history of Nichol
Vineyard, by Colette Nichol.
January 5, 2004—new retail outlet
Sheraton Wall Centre Wines now carries Nichol wines, located in
downtown Vancouver.
November 2003—Nichol website launched!
You can now keep up to date on what's happening at Nichol
Vineyard with a click of your mouse. Learn about the current
and recent releases and where to buy
them, check out upcoming events in your
area, and enjoy one of Kathleen's latest recipes.
Our online order contact form is handy
for placing an order or requesting information about a particular
vintage.
If you're planning a trip to Naramata, our visitor
page will help you get here. Whether or not you visit, don't miss
the visual tour of vineyard and winery in our Photo
Album, filled with captivating images from Photography
by Chris. You can also discover the history of
Nichol Vineyard and its owners and find out what makes this small
winery unique.
Remember to bookmark our site and visit often!
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posted on this site.
Weather makes the Wine
A frequently asked question is whether a wine is
the same as the previous year's wine. The answer is always
"no", because the weather is never the same two years in a
row, which makes wine so interesting.
As "winegrowers", that is, winemakers
who grow their own grapes, we have an intimate relationship with the
weather. The progress of the seasons going back 16 years is embedded
in our memories.
For example, 1996 turned bitterly cold in late
January, after a mild winter, causing severe bud damage. The
resulting crops throughout the Okanagan were light in colour and
high in acid, however patience paid off and Nichol Vineyard's
"'96s" are coming around, 9 years later!
On the other hand, 1998 was extremely hot, so hot
on our property that it actually slowed down the ripening of our
grapes, so in 1999 we installed overhead irrigation to cool the
vineyard on very hot days.
2003 was even hotter, for longer, highlighted by
"the fire". The grapes that year were very small and
concentrated, with more tannin and colour than usual due to
proportionately more skin than juice in the fruit. Wines from '03
are big in colour and flavour, but also more tannic, and like the
'96s will take years to "come around". But the wines from
those two years are totally different, which is how we like it!
There is now a technical method called "micro
oxygenation" which involves pumping minute doses of oxygen into
wine in order to soften it, enabling a winemaker to achieve greater
consistency between vintages. We call that boring!
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