Orange and natural wine lovers rejoice! The much awaited pre-order for this year’s allotment is here!

Since last year’s release I’ve been getting texts, emails, and DM’s about when y’all can get more of the skin-contact Pinot Gris orange wine from BC’s burgeoning natural wine superstar, A Sunday in August. That time is now! But don’t hesitate, we need to have all your pre-orders in by Friday for a shipment to arrive in July…just in time for August!

A Sunday in August was started by Mike Shindler in 2016 to make small-batch natural wines in BC that he wanted to drink: beautiful, pure, and adventurous. For Mike, wine should be honest, creative, unique and fun. It should make people feel food without spoiling the planet. They're proud to be a part of the growing community of responsible makers and consumers around the world focused on products with integrity. These are sunny, fresh and funky wines that delight with beautiful labels by local Canadian artists and friends of Mike and his wonderful wife Sam.

2019 was a challenging vintage in BC. Heavy autumn rains increased disease pressure and the team had to pick quickly and meticulously hand-sort the grapes - only keeping the best and leaving up to 75%. Although heartbreaking to lose what would have been beautiful juice, their diligence paid off and they're delighted with their 2019 offering. They experimented with co-ferments, maceration and for the first time piquettes! As always Mike is seeking magical balance, texture, ripeness and acidity. Right now we just have the skin-contact Pinot Gris available to order, their most recognizable and beloved wine. And we will offer this one more time in the fall!

Their skin-contact Pinot Gris is $45.99 a bottle in cases of 12 and offered by pre-order on a Private Stock Order to arrive in July. If you’re not familiar with Private Stock Orders, click this link for a rundown on this type of ordering. If you’re interested in any please hit the contact page and shoot me and order before Friday. I’ll confirm, submit the order, and then I’ll be in touch when it arrives in July to charge and deliver. See below for technical details on the winemaking and click the link to see more on their website.

Technical Details:

Super bright magical summer wine. Light crop of Pinot Gris so we co-fermented with Pinot Blanc and Gewurztraminer to give it extra acidity, pop and floral tones.
Location: Okanagan & Similkameen Valleys, BC
Farming: Organic & organic non-certified
Ingredients: Pinot Gris, 15% Pinot Blanc, 8% Gewurztraminer grapes, sulphur

Winemaking:

Semi-carbonic whole berry maceration
90% 3-4 days; 10% 7-days on skins
Élevage for 6 months in stainless steel
Full natural malolactic fermentation in December 2019
Unfined, unfiltered and naturally fermented with ambient yeasts
Bottled with some lees

SIDE NOTE:
If this is new to you and you’re not already one of their hardcore fans, here’s a couple things you should first understand about this wine, and other natural wines like it:

1) What the heck is Orange Wine?? It’s not wine made from oranges, it’s white wine made the way red wine is, fermented on it’s skins. Most white wines are made by crushing the grapes after harvest into juice and then pressing off the juice right away into a separate tank for only the juice to ferment on its own. That’s how you get clear or slightly yellowish white wine. Conversely, red wine grapes are crushed and then the juice is left to ferment with all the skins and seeds in the tank. This extracts the colour, tannin, and flavour from the skins. And that skin-contact during fermentation is how red wine becomes red. So orange wine is just the same thing but with white grapes, and because white grape skins have very little pigmentation and colour to them it becomes orange instead of red. It’s a very historic winemaking method that’s had a comeback in the last 10 years.

2) Most fully natural wines are made in such small quantities that they’re not consistently available in stock. In fact, they’re often mostly pre-sold on allocation or sell out quickly and there’s no more until another shipment arrives, or until the next vintage of the wine. So if you’re a fan of any of these specific wines, you really need to jump on it when you see it available!

3)) Orange Wine has been getting a lot of hype in the last couple years as its been building popularity, and a lot of people are curious and want to try it out. This can be difficult because this style of wine is (generally speaking) made by these smaller natural wineries, so there isn’t consistent supply and it’s rarely cheap. I sometimes have clients ask for Orange Wine under $20, and I have to break the bad news to them that any orange wine doesn’t really exist in Ontario at all for less than $20. The cheapest one I’ve ever seen was $24, and they easily go up to $70. So all that to say that Orange Wine from natural producers is a bit of a moving target for availability and is generally a more premium priced wine made in super small lots. For more on Natural Wine in general, click here. If you’re just curious to taste some, my best suggestion is to jump on a case when you see it, and then split it with some friends who are also curious so you don’t have to take all 12 bottles it alone!