• Inaugural vintage, 97 Points - Steven Spurrier, London
  • Rarely do the forces of nature, human vision and artisanal craft conspire to create something radical.
  • "The Okanagan Valley is a magical place to grow and produce world class Pinot Noir"
    - Gregory V. Jones, PhD.
    Research Climatologist Specializing in Viticulture

Place

Wild. Elusive. Welcome to the northern part of British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, one of the most breathtaking places on our planet to grow grapes. Ancient volcanic and glacial soils settle amongst precipitous hillsides. The area is blessed with warm days, cool nights and the lowest rainfall and humidity of any wine-producing region. Our unique latitude and altitude conspire to yield a dramatic viticultural landscape which produce intense and balanced fruit. This is winemaking on the edge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Geography

Striking. Rugged terrain and a pristine, deep lake define our region. The Okanagan Valley, British Columbia is the wine world's best kept secret. Here, latitude and altitude synthesize to form something truly unique.

Growing Conditions

Intense. The warm and dry climate is optimal for the Pinot Noir and Riesling that we grow. This is a desert in the rain shadow of the Cascade/Coastal Mountains where the weather is extreme. Warm days, cool nights and bone dry harvests with vast daily temperature swings and penetrating light. This is an austere yet rewarding place to grow magnificent fruit.

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Growing Conditions

"The main control on the ability to grow quality wine grapes in any global region is climate. Varieties such as Pinot Noir for example produce best when grown in cooler climates like the Okanagan Valley while others do better in warmer climates."
- Gregory V. Jones, PhD.
Research Climatologist Specializing in Viticulture
  Average daily
hours of sun *
GDD - Growing
degree days **
Average daily
temperature *
Annual
Rainfall
Okanagan Valley 9.1 1350 10.2 °C 300 mm
Burgundy 6.7 1300 10.2 °C 725 mm
Willamette Valley 8.4 1250 9.8 °C 1100 mm
Central Otago 7.6 1100 9.5 °C 637 mm

* during the growing season
** the sum of the monthly average temperatures

Okanagan Valley

Average daily hours of sun *
9.1
GDD - Growing degree days **
1350
Average daily temperature *
10.2 °C
Annual Rainfall
300 mm

Burgundy

Average daily hours of sun *
6.7
GDD - Growing degree days **
1300
Average daily temperature *
10.2 °C
Annual Rainfall
725 mm

Willamette Valley

Average daily hours of sun *
8.4
GDD - Growing degree days **
1250
Average daily temperature *
9.8 °C
Annual Rainfall
1100 mm

Central Otago

Average daily hours of sun *
7.6
GDD - Growing degree days **
1100
Average daily temperature *
9.5 °C
Annual Rainfall
637 mm

 

 

 

Geology

Challenged. Our narrow and steep hillsides were created over 50 million years ago. Volcanic in origin, and then carved over millennia by glacial activity. The land is wild, granite-strewn and laced with quartz. The soils are wind blown and sparse. All of this imparts depth and character to the wines.

"Even coming from New Zealand, the landscape and intense environment here took me by surprise. I thought to myself that wines from this area could truly be remarkable."
- Shane Munn, Winemaker

Simes Vineyard

The Simes Vineyard is a uniquely north-facing with granite-based soils, both making it quite marginal and challenging. This leads to cool, fresh and bright aromatic characters in the wines. The Vineyard is heavily sloped with Pinot Noir at the top and Riesling (the last parcel picked every year) at the bottom. One of our hidden treasures.

Simes Vineyard
2014 Pinot Noir
Simes Vineyard
2015 Riesling

 

 

 

Naramata Ranch Vineyard

No place better exemplifies the quote "Pinot likes to grow in beautiful places". Breathtaking beauty, dramatic landscape and substantial elevation change. This is our most climatically and geologically diverse site. Red granite rock is literally on the surface above granite bedrock, with no grass or cover crop. The boniness and grit challenge our vines to reach extraordinary levels. This is the site of our oldest and gnarliest Riesling vines, along with five stunning distinct blocks of Pinot Noir settled in a variety of separate micro climates.

Naramata Ranch Vineyard
2014 Pinot Noir
Naramata Ranch Vineyard
2014 Riesling

 

 

 

Fritzi's Vineyard

This tiny vineyard comprises one single parcel right at the foot of a dormant volcano. White rock, including quartz form the bedrock, imparting a distinctive minerality in the wines. Named after Anthony von Mandl's year old mother, this heritage block faces south east, creating a sun sink which encourages intense fruit that is remarkably challenging to pick, but it then rewards us handsomely.

Fritzi's Vineyard
2014 Pinot Noir
Fritzi's Vineyard
2014 Riesling
Fritzi's Vineyard
2015 Riesling

 

 

 

Shane Munn

Winemaker

Intuitive. Detail-obsessed. Shane Munn has extensive winemaking experience from regions all around the world. From his native New Zealand, to Burgundy and Barolo, as well as North America, this experience offers both breadth and depth to his thinking. Shane embraces the art and authenticity of wine, which he marries with a strong analytical background (degrees in both mathematics and winemaking), focusing on the most minute details in the vineyards and the winery. A bit of an enigma, Shane is also highly creative, and has a diverse range of interests.

"This project is a dream... the vineyards, the location, the winery and the vision. (This is) the most exciting project in the world of wine that I know of"
- Shane Munn, Winemaker
Shane Munn, Winemaker
Kurt Simcic, Viticulturist

Kurt Simcic

Viticulturist

Kurt is the closest thing to a grape whisperer that we've seen. A native of New Zealand, he shares the passion for the soil and detail obsessiveness with Shane – the two were in synch from the first day they met. Kurt has had a long and specialized career in farming and nurturing organic grapes for premium wines, particularly super high end Pinot Noir. He believes in a single vine approach to viticulture: paying attention to every single last detail of every single vine in order to grow the very best possible grapes. He believes that the vines should be grown naturally, respecting the land and the variability that each season brings.

Kurt has been developing and farming vineyards for decades. For the last 10 years, all of his work has been with organic properties.

"I'm stoked to be working in such a stunning place. There is really no where like it."
- Kurt Simcic, Viticulturist

Tom Kundig

Architect

American Tom Kundig is a rock star in architecture. He's bold, creative and sets trends across many fields. He's won pretty much every award in his field, and his work has featured in publications from the Times (NY), to the Financial Times (UK), and the Wall Street Journal. He's on the Architectural Digest AD100, and Wallpaper*150 : an individual who inspires the way we live, work and travel.

One of Tom's passions is mountaineering, which strongly influences him. Landscape looms large in his work, as does risk-taking. He opts for tough and rustic materials that evoke nature and weather over time.

"Martin's Lane... where inspiration was made possible by the incomparable and intense landscape and the abundant rough, natural materials."
- Tom Kundig, Architect
Tom Kundig, Architect
Anthony von Mandl, Proprietor

Anthony von Mandl

Proprietor

Bold. Creative. Relentless. Anthony von Mandl is a visionary with a deep appreciation for beauty, art and whimsy. When no one knew where it was or how to pronounce it, he recognised the potential for British Columbia's Okanagan Valley to emerge as a world-class wine producing region. He has spent his life making it so.

This project was conceived from the ground up to grow and craft truly exceptional Pinot Noir, leaving no stone unturned, and seeking foremost experts and partners from all around the world. Anthony recruits and inspires everyone to join him on his exhilarating journey.

Some say his is an audacious goal. We say bravo.

  • Winery

    Unconstrained. Anthony von Mandl conducted a global search to assemble a diverse team of experts to help build the most radical pinot noir winery. From New Zealand to Italy, Germany to Oregon, Washington to Spain, France to California, each expert in his/her field was selected to realize the creation and construction of this vision. The six-level gravity winery, carved and hidden within the steep, striking landscape is the result of these collaborations.

  • Winery

    LEVEL ONE - Grape receiving

    Hand harvested fruit from individual vineyard selections are transferred into cool rooms. Every grape is meticulously hand sorted and falls gently into small fermenters.

  • Winery

    LEVEL TWO - Pinot Noir Fermentation

    Carefully selected and sorted parcels are spontaneously fermented in small, mobile fermenters.

  • Winery

    LEVEL THREE - Pinot Noir fermentation/settling

    Traditional Concrete vessels naturally regulate fermentation and refine the tannin structure. Pinot Noirs briefly settle here before transfer to the barrels in the cellar below.

  • Winery

    LEVEL FOUR - Riesling Fermentation

    Direct from the press, free run riesling juice flows beneath the winery and fills these vessels by gravity prior to fermentation.

  • Winery

    LEVEL FIVE - Assemblage/Blending

    The final resting place prior to bottling. The wines harmonise here for up to one month before bottling.

  • Winery

    LEVEL SIX - BOTTLING

    Finally. All wines are gently bottled by gravity completing the life of the wine in our 100% gravity winery.

  • Winery

    BARREL CELLAR

    All barrels are filled by gravity. Here they rest, unhindered for about 16 months. All French oak, all tight-grained. Climate controlled in the perfect environment.

Grape Crush Red Fermentation Lower Fermentation Settling Level White Tanks & Bottling Barrel Room Level Six

100% Gravity

Designed and built to produce world class Pinot Noir. The pinot noir grape is extremely delicate, and nurturing top pinot noir requires skill, experience and vision. Using gravity alone in the winery minimizes external influence on the grapes, and allows the essence of the magnificent fruit to shine. And so to make this happen, our winery was carved into the steep hillside, harnessing gravity alone to enable the most gentle winemaking approach. Entering the winery from the vineyard on the top level, the fruit flows through fermentation, into barrel and on into bottle each time using gravity alone to move them down a level of the building, and simultaneously down the hillside.

Winemaking Philosophy

I like to wander the three tiny estate vineyards every morning to get to know and check on the individual blocs. Kurt and I will often do this together. I take a micro view of the vineyard and think about wines right down to the single block or vine. I consider my winemaking approach gentle and guiding. We use gravity alone, and five simple movements in our 6-level winery. Our wines are tended, harvested and crafted by hand. We don't interfere. We don't use a single pump. We believe this brings out elegant and complex expressions of Pinot Noir and Riesling.

"I see my challenge as harvesting the amazing light, and allowing each bottle to represent pure nature"
- Shane Munn, Winemaker
Shane Munn, Winemaker

The Result

Complex. Textural. Diverse. Three Estate Vineyards. Three Pinot Noirs. Three Rieslings. The wines have already been awarded between 93 and 97 points by Steven Spurrier, the man who put Napa on the map in 1976.

"Our wines capture each vineyard's unique and distinct geology, aspect, elevation and micro-climate amplifying the subtle differences of each site in a way that is unmatched in the Valley."
- Shane Munn, Winemaker

RARELY DO THE FORCES OF NATURE, HUMAN VISION AND WINEMAKING CONSPIRE TO CREATE SOMETHING RADICAL. NEVER BEFORE HAS IT BEEN POSSIBLE TO EXPERIENCE IT QUITE LIKE THIS.

Architecture

Raw. Rugged. Fractured. With its sun-scorched earth and jagged rocky hillsides, this is a place where the elements reign. The building is an expression of the raw, exposed environment, using materials designed to weather, age and reflect the natural roughness and beauty.

The building's form is conceived as a fracture down the middle opening the interior spaces to daylight while one side follows the slope down the hillside, and the other follows the horizon.

Project Redhead

The Pinot Noir grape is the result of a remarkable series of genetic mutations that have evolved over generations. Anthony von Mandl was intrigued by the interesting coincidence that both pinot noir and redheaded humans, another genetic mutation, both represent only approximately 1.9% of their respective populations. He commissioned artist and cultural icon Douglas Coupland to create a sculptural project entitled ‘Redhead', to celebrate the opening of Martin's Lane. The project involved a global search for the man who most resembles Vincent Van Gogh, followed by the creation of... Vincent.

For more information, www.IamVincent.com

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