Winemaker's dinner with VinAmité - A 17 yr old vineyard brought back to life.
Cuisine et Chateau is pleased to present
An Evening with VinAmité Winery
With guest’s speakers and winemakers
Ray & Catherine Coulombe
September 15th, 2017 – 6pm
It all begin when Ray and Wendy Coulombe bought the 17 year old vineyard along with the house on the property in 2009 while the vineyard was dormant. The vineyard had been abused despite its quality plants, used primarily for bulk grape sales to wineries up and down the valley. They brought down the tonnage of wine grapes from 5 to 6 tons per acre down to 1 to 2 tons per acre as they cut down the water supply slowly over a three year period along with a massive change of pruning techniques, shoot thinning, etc. over the same period and by 2013, the Coulombe family had altered the vineyard to quality grapes.
2013 was their first vintage, and by early Spring 2014, they built and outfitted the winery building at the edge of the vineyard in time for they inaugural 2014 estate harvest.
For the first time in its history, the grapes did not leave the vineyard and their 2015/2016 vintage are presently preparing themselves in the winery below their Tasting Room and Wine Lounge.
Ray Coulombe's daughter Catherine moved to Oliver from Montreal just as they made their first 2013 vintage and she is now fully integrated in the process of winemaking and has become general manager of the retail operation: from grape to bottle to wine enthusiast tables.
And then the awards...
They were gratified in total to receive three Golds, four Silvers and a Bronze medal for their second vintage to wine blind tasting awards from the BC wine awards and the by-invitation-only awards program out of Oregon USA including Washington, Idaho and BC.
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"Our wines for the coming vintage will be even more interesting. We will introduce a new more aromatic white wine, a blend of Gewürztraminer, Orange Muscat and our Pinot Gris called “Chanson d’amour”, and a Petit Verdot, in total a portfolio of small handmade lots of 8 wines, three whites and five reds, with something for every taste bud that also satisfies my years of learning and interest in wines, ever since my father let me have a small glass of wine with dinner starting at the age of 10, over 60 years ago. My trips to Europe were wine explorations starting in my early 30s. The love of wine continues, and its endlessly fascinating discovery process." Ray Coulombe, Winemaker