Experiencing Unexpected Hospitality

July 10th 2021, it was around 2pm under a scorching sun. We picked up some delicious taco and burrito from this nice little stand, El Sabor De Marina, drove to Checkmate, then ate the food in the parking lot in front of their newly finished tasting room. There were still some finishing touches going on around the building but it’s definitely coming along very nicely. Tom Kundig, the lead architect who also worked on the new winery at Martin’s Lane, designed the building using very thoughtful plays with bright and dark elements like a chessboard (of course). Last year’s pop up tasting room, although still has a premium feel, had a different grassroots vibe to it which I also enjoyed.

You know that unease feeling when visiting any prestigious establishment? There was none of that at Checkmate Artisanal Winery. The hosts were unexpectedly friendly and considerate. They poured nicely chilled sparkling juice for our two young daughters and sat them at a separate table to play so my wife and I could enjoy our tasting. One of the hosts, Allie (sorry if I misspelled your name), also often checked in with our daughters to make small talks. While we strongly believe that parents should always be 100% responsible for the behaviours of their kids anywhere, it was definitely heartwarming and a relief to see that our daughters were well taken care of too. One of the tasting room managers, James, took us through behind the scenes tour to show us what they were working on to take the tasting experience to the next level. There’s a catering kitchen, a club member exclusive tasting patio, a private dining room still in renovating phase, a spacious gravity-led winery, and a maturing room filled with beautiful aroma from the wines still aging in barrels.

The staffs working at Checkmate are all genuine wine lovers — I think that’s the most important thing. Sounds like a given right? “If you work in the wine industry, you must be very passionate about wine.” It’s actually not that surprising but still appalling to see how often that’s not true in many places. if our encounters with any bottle is tainted by un-excusable negative memories, it would be detrimental to our perspectives of even the most amazing wines. One can build the most beautiful tasting room, winery, and even craft amazing wines — many of them in Okanagan Valley — but what Checkmate also has going for them is the human element that is actually rarely seen by other wineries we have visited thus far in the Okanagan Valley.

Artisanal with a Purpose

Phil McGahan, an Australian lawyer who turned his passion to the art of winemaking, worked at Williams Selyem Winery in Russian River Valley before joining the team at Checkmate. Focusing on gently guiding the entire process, Phil is great with highlighting regional characteristics, the Terroir, through Chardonnay and Merlot by allowing nature take its course. While these are arguably two of the most popular grape varieties, I guarantee you that you have not tasted them quite like the ones at Checkmate. We tasted 5 Chardonnays and 3 Merlots, they all show great complexity and structure and all have stories to tell!

Chardonnay

The grape variety that started it all were planted almost half a century ago. Dekleva and the neighbouring Combret vineyards lend their fruits and DNAs to some of the deeply concentrated yet elegantly complex Chardonnays out of the winery.
All their Chardonnays were hand picked at night to retain as much fruit and acidity as possible. Whole bunches were hand sorted, closely inspected, gently pressed with extended skin contact. Some portions of these Chardonnays also went through “wild ferment” where indigenous yeast strains in the area were allowed to work their magic to bring out nuances and add more character to the wines.

Merlot

For those who are still heavily influenced by the 2004 “Best Adapted Screenplay” Academy Award willing film, Sideways, I want you to try, even if temporarily, to be rid of your perceptions of Merlot.

Sourced from specific plots in the southern Okanagan Valley, these Merlot clusters were hand picked, gently destemmed, then meticulously sorted for the best quality. These berries went through 100% wild ferment with extended skin contact then aged for almost 2 years in 100% French Oak.