FraSER VALLET, BC
Alex found himself in Vancouver in 2005 where he immersed himself in the city’s burgeoning hospitality industry. Here, Alex was introduced to wine and his unbeknownst lifelong passion to understand the elusive nature of fermented juice. As a sommelier he got bitten with the notion of wanting to dive deeper into what makes this magical juice so damn delicious. Instead of picking the tracks for guests, he wanted to learn how the music was made.
In 2019 Alex found himself back in Vancouver, splitting his time in the city’s restaurant scene and the Okanagan, planning his next moves for Thorn & Burrow. For the 2019 harvest, Alex linked up with the darlings of the local low intervention scene, ‘Scout Vineyards’, where he produced his recently released 2019 Thorn & Burrow Gewürztraminer and Chardonnay. 2020 was another big year where he partnered with the team from Twin Sails Brewing to ramp up production and start searching for a place to call home for Thorn & Burrow.
~2022 RIESLING~
The fruit here is sourced from a 26-year-old vineyard on the upper benches of Summerland, planed in sandy loam. Desemmed grapes spent just 24 hours on skins in open vessels, then pressed into tanks for an extended rest on heavy lees. The wine was racked just once post-fermentation, and has zero additions.
Zesty lemon forms the backbone of their lightest skin-contact wine to date. Loads of tangerine skin, Asian pear, jasmine, lemon drop candies, and underripe guava round out the aromatics, with electric fresh acidity keeping things lighter on the palate. Splash decant or swirl for your best experience.
Riesling 750ml | SKU +306966 | $23.00
~2022 ROSÉ~
Pink wine made from Gewurtztraminer, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Siegerrebe. The white grapes saw 5-7 days skin contact (with partial carbonic maceration), while the black grapes had just 1 day of skin contact.
Fermented in a mix of stainless steel and neutral oak barrels, everything was left to rest on heavy lees for 9 months before racking & blending into stainless steel tanks til bottling.
Rosé 750ml | SKU +306975 |$25.00
~2022 RG+~
Riesling from an organic vineyard in Osoyoos, Gewurtztraminer from a conventionally farmed vineyard in Summerland, plus a smattering of German aromatic varieties from our favourite field-blend plot in Abbotsford (Siegerrebe, Kerner, Madelaine Angevine, Madelaine Sylvaner).
The Abbotsford fruit was co-harvested and fermented for 5 days on skins, while the Gew had 7 days and the Riesling had 6 or 12 days of skin contact. Everything was lightly pressed into neutral oak barrels, then rested on primary lees for 9 months. Racked into steel prior to bottling.
Super fun and expressive, on the nose you’ll find lively notes of fuzzy peach candies, ripe nectarine, burnt lemon rinds, and dried spiced apricots. The palate follows through with added tropical five alive juiciness, orange zest and nuanced jasmine tea. Soft textured with delicate tannin, medium bodied & dry.
RG + 750ml | SKU +306980 |$23.00
~2022 SYRAH RIESLING~
Syrah and Riesling grown on the same 15-year-old certified organic vineyard, in Osoyoos.
SYRAH RIESLING 750ml | SKU +306972 | $26.00
~2022 CARBO SYRAH ~
From a hot, dry, and sandy vineyard site in Osoyoos which has been certified organic for over 15 years.
The best bunches of our pick this year were specifically hand-sorted and destined for this wine. The grapes were placed in steel tanks and then blanketed with CO2 twice a day for a week, for ultimate carbonic maceration. After 7 days of this (in which inter-cellular fermentation took place) the grapes were pressed back into steel, where they remained untouched for 9 months resting on primary lees. Racked once several weeks prior to bottling.
Carbo SYRAH 750ml | SKU +306963 | $26.00
~2021 CHARDONNAY~
Fruit sourced from Mercier vineyard. An organically certified site on the west side of Oliver in the southern Okanagan Valley. 29-year-old vines on a fluvial bed of soils that were deposited during the last glacial period. They are mostly a deep brown colour and stoney with gravelly, sandy loams.