Prediction: This Will Be Canada’s Cult Pinot Producer

When I look at Spearhead, I see shades of famed California producers Kosta Browne and Williams Seylem.

Our wine industry is so young that it’s often tough to get perspective on just what’s going on. Which wineries are going to become morph into the powerhouses, and which ones are going to fade away? But if I had to wager on which winery will have a lock on being our cult pinot producer—I’d go with Spearhead. It’s not just that their pinot is good—there are numerous producers (Meyer, Mirabel and Foxtrot spring to mind) that make great pinot—but it’s the meticulous, dogged approach that sets them apart.The new releases dive deep into their specific vineyards sites (Golden Retreat, GFV Saddle Block, Coyote) in a way that’s vocative of the great California Pinot producers 25 years ago. As those wineries were growing people began to flock to wine made from distinctive vineyards that aligned with their tastes: some richer, some more stoney and it really began to expand who consumers thought about the effect of terroir on Pinot in California.Controlling the winemaking variable allowed the specifics of the site to sing and I think with Spearhead you’ll see the difference between a Summerland Pinot (Golden Retreat) and one from Southeast Kelowna (Gentleman Farmer) and one from West Kelowna (Coyote) all created from the seriously able hands of winemaker Grant Stanley.It’s all so impressive and reminiscent of California that I fear that it may also be one of the first Okanagan wineries to adopt that other American hallmark—the waiting list.