The Face of Wine Making: Taylor Whelan

For the first time ever, the entire grape harvest at CedarCreek Estate Winery in 2021 was organic.

That means every bottle of 2021 vintage wine will also be organic.

"I'm 100% sold on organic," says CedarCreek winemaker Taylor Whelan.

"There's no way I would ever go back to traditional grape growing and winemaking."

Taylor breaks organic into two camps.

First is the land stewardship of eliminating pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizer and bolstering the soil naturally (hello, CedarCreek Scottish Highland cattle and chickens) so the land is left better than when winery operations started.

CedarCreek has 175 acres of vineyards at its Home Blocks surrounding the winery on Lakeshore Road as well as in East Kelowna and the South Okanagan.

The second major benefit of going organic is quality results from stronger vines and more concentrated flavours in grapes that are perfect for winemaking.

"It's a complicated explanation," says Taylor.

"But even if we didn't do it for the environment, we would do it for the higher quality wine. In fact, the wine from CedarCreek has never been better."

That brings us to the new Aspect Collection of Wines and the Aspect Wine Club.

"There was no holding back with the Aspect wines," says Taylor.

"We've taken all the time and attention and spent as much money as we had to to make the best wines possible."

The wines showcase the grapes from CedarCreek's old-vines Home Block vineyards, unique due to their glacial till soils, proximity to Okanagan Lake and cooler summers and warmer winters because of a northwest aspect, the namesake for the collection and club.

The club is free to join and four times a year $350 worth of wine is delivered to you.

Membership also means complimentary and exclusive tastings and events and luxury experiences at the new Aspect Club hospitality area.

For now, the Aspect Collection includes four wines -- Block 2 Pinot Noir, Block 4 Pinot Noir, Block 5 Chardonnay and Block 3 Riesling.

Taylor is also at work on some other extremely limited wines that will be available to members only.

Taylor also wrote the proposals that led to the creation of two additional sub-appellations under the Okanagan appellation.

South Kelowna Slopes includes the vineyards and wineries (CedarCreek, Summerhill Pyramid, St. Hubertus, Oak Bay and Burnt Timber) overlooking Okanagan Lake from Chute Lake to Okanagan Mountain Park.

Again, the northwest aspect of the vineyards, glacial till soils and lake effect of cooler summers and warmer winters results in grapes that craft wines with fresh, bright acidity, awesome concentrated flavours and structured tannins.

East Kelowna Slopes includes the vineyards (some of which are CedarCreek's) and 16 wineries (including Tantalus, Kitsch, Vibrant Vine and SpearHead) along the East Kelowna Escarpment that produce distinctive cool-climate wines from the clay, gravel and sand soils of Mission Creek's outwash fan.