Foxtrot Vineyards

About

Foxtrot Vineyards is a small family-owned and operated winery. The winery specializes in ultra premium Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and has received praise from top sommeliers and international wine critics alike.

Location Description

Located on the Naramata bench in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia.

Features

  • Creating wines with exceptional balance and structure and show great beauty and long life.

Additional Information

  • Meeting / Conference Facilities:
  • Caves:
  • Wedding Facilities:
  • Picnic Facilities:
  • Dog Friendly:
  • Winery Tours:
  • Wine Tasting:
  • Art or Architecture:
  • Organic / Biodynamic:
  • Awards:
  • Wine Club:
  • Lodging / Bed & Breakfast:

Winemaker

Gustav has been the winemaker at Foxtrot Vineyards since its first vintage in 2004. Before landing in the Okanagan valley Gustav spent two years studying engineering at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. Once in the Okanagan he worked with various top wineries while at the same time enrolling in the Okanagan University College’s winery and viticulture program. It was here he met his wife Nadine.

Nadine joined Foxtrot Vineyards following the 2005 harvest. In the spring of 2007 she enrolled at Lincoln University in Christchurch, New Zealand and in the winter of 2008 graduated with a B.Sc. in viticulture and oenology. While in New Zealand Nadine was able to meet and consult with many of the top Pinot Noir producers in the country and bring this knowledge back to Canada.

Nadine and Gustav both spend much of their time in the vineyards during the growing season ensuring they have the best possible grapes to work with come harvest time. At harvest they use all of their combined knowledge, the best in old world and new world techniques, and state of the art technology to produce the best possible wines

History

Every year, just in time for harvest, Foxtrot has had a resident Black Bear around the vineyard. Sometimes he has been known to make an appearance at picking time and pickers would comment that it looked like he was dancing when standing up on his hind legs. At the winery we have come to affectionately call him Fred.

When it came time to design our label we enlisted Bernie Hadley Beauregard of Brandever Designs to assist us with coming up with a design. We wanted a label that told our story and conveyed a sense of place. Thus on the front label you will see an image illustrated by Michael Halbert, of our vineyard at harvest time and a bear asking a picking girl to dance the Foxtrot with him, gramophone in hand, harking back to the era the dance was most popular. Many people ask, what does the quote on the back mean?

The Quote:

The Foxtrot dance made its debut in 1914 and from the late 20’s through the 1940s was the most popular fast dance in North America. The vast majority of records during this time were Foxtrots.

In 1933 MGM studios made a musical movie, starring Joan Crawford, called Dancing Lady. For one of the dancing scenes involving the Foxtrot in the movie they loaned a dancer for a few days from neighbouring studio RKO pictures. Of the screen test the tester wrote, “Can’t act, slightly bald, also dances”. The actor was of course none other than Fred Astaire one of the preeminent and most influential dancers of his time. The picture became a big hit and Fred Astaire went on to have a successful movie career.

The Team

Torsten and Kicki Allander:

Foxtrot Vineyards was started by Torsten and Kicki Allander, who believe that the key to producing world class wine is total control over the grape growing and winemaking process from start to finish.

To this day, both remain an integral part of the family business, with Kicki spending her days in the estate vineyard meticulously cultivating the vines, and Torsten overseeing quality control.

Anna-Marie Allander Lieb:

Anna-Marie recently joined the family business after a career in commercial real estate. Anna-Marie works alongside Torsten and is excited to contribute to the expansion of Foxtrot Vineyards. She holds a B.Sc. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

Practices & Techniques

We encourage native cover crops which are drought resistant to grow in our vineyard. These help prevent erosion and improve soil structure and water infiltration. All grape stems and skins remaining after fermentations are composted and later reintroduced into the vineyard returning valuable nutrients and organic matter to the soil.

Drip irrigation is used throughout the vineyard delivering water to the vines roots versus overhead irrigation which water the whole vineyard. This form of irrigation also allows us to water each block individually. By walking the vineyard regularly we are able to monitor vine stress allowing us to water more judiciously and only those vine rows that need it.

Farming in a sustainable manner requires diligence and providing individual attention to each vine. This results in a labour intensive system of canopy management and during the growing season we will make several passes through the vineyard removing new shoots, training vines onto our trellising system, removing lateral shoots, and leaf pulling. By doing this, we are able to ensure a balanced canopy with good light and air exposure. This practice naturally minimizes undesirable molds and rot.

Estate Vineyards / AVA

Foxtrot’s home vineyard is situated on the upper Naramata Bench with the old lake level cutting through the middle of the vineyard. This means there are two distinct soil types in our upper and lower vineyard sections. The lower blocks are alluvial in make up and yield fruit with softness, perfume and rich berry qualities. The upper vineyard consists of glacial till, contributing spiciness, rich structure and concentration.

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Hours

By appointment.

Address

RR1 Site 9 Comp.15
Naramata, British Columbia V0H 1N0
Canada

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