Celebrities back Bordeaux-inspired blend
I enter the tasting room, and my eye goes to the wall lined with LP record covers: Andrea Bocelli, Beethoven, Edith Piaf.
Winemaker’s Cut owner and winemaker Michal Mosny has a deep love of the arts and is a passionate believer that “the soothing power of music extends to plants and helps to establish balanced, healthy vines.”
He’s honouring that belief in his Winemaker’s Cut wines by playing classical music in the vineyard. Thirteen speakers have been erected throughout Deadman Lake Vineyard while the grapes ripen under the South Okanagan sun. The power of music extends into the cellar.
“In the cellar, the fermentations were smoother and more predictable,” he says.
But Mosny isn’t making music alone.
The Slovenian-born winemaker has partnered with Jason Priestley, Hollywood actor-director whose starring roles include Beverly Hills, 90210 and Private Eyes, and media broadcaster Terry David Mulligan in the creation of a new label, Q&A.
This premium project focuses on a single red wine sourced from some of the top vineyards in the Okanagan Valley.
It’s not Priestley’s first foray into the B. C. wine industry. More than a decade ago, the British Columbia-born actor turned his passion for wine into a serious commitment when he joined the ownership group of Black Hills Estate Winery in 2007. The team grew Black Hills into one of the South Okanagan’s leading wineries, anchored by its flagship Nota Bene red blend. The winery was sold to Andrew Peller Limited in 2017.
“After the sale, I continued to search for exceptional terroir capable of producing a peerless Bordeaux-style blend,” says Priestley. “Throughout this journey, I merged paths with Terry and then Michal. Together, we questioned what we already know, over and over again. After looking everywhere, all roads lead to one answer, and the answer is once again in the Okanagan.”
Q&A focuses on a single red wine, a Bordeux-inspired blend. The 2020 vintage ($50) is a blend of 45 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, 38 per cent Merlot, 13 per cent Cabernet Franc and four per cent Petit Verdot.
Mosny is a master with oak, and aging the wine in neutral, French and Slovakian barrels has brought rewards. The wine is drinking beautifully now with silky tannins. The multi-layered wine presents deep red fruit balanced with dark spice notes of cloves.
The connection between Mosny and Priestly and Mulligan began across the ocean.
“I heard about Canadian wine for the first time from Terry and Jason’s international television show, Hollywood and Vines TV, and it quickly became my passion,” says Mosny. “They are the reason why I decided to move here with my wife in 2012 and make wines in the Okanagan Valley.”
For Mulligan, the Okanagan has always been the answer. “It all started with a question: what is next for this wine-producing paradise?” he says. “Having asked countless more questions of myself and to the guests as a show host, I am happy to have found the answers with Jason and Michael, and we are thrilled to share this project with you.”
Mosney finds his new partners share his vision and philosophy towards wine.
“Both labels reflect our curious and detail-obsessed demeanour,” he says. “We leave no stone unturned in finding what we seek. If the answer does not exist, it is the opportunity to make the calls for ourselves.”
Find Q&A at the Winemaker’s Cut tasting room in the District Wine Village at Oliver or online at qa.wine.
