Tasting Note – Old vine Rosemary’s Block is the top tier chardonnay from Quails’s Gate and consistently ranked as one of Canada’s best chardonnays. This vintage doesn’t show quite the opulence of the 2022, but it has the bones. It is a big (14% abv) strcutured chardonnay with all kinds of complexity. There is a reductive/flinty note off the top, with complex, well-woven hazelnut, caraway, lemon curd, toast and peach. It is full bodied, firm and stern, with a seam of minerality. Great acid and alcohol distribution, with excellent to outstanding focus and length. Complete! I would cellar it for a couple of years, and enjoy it into the 2030s

Backgrounder – Rosemary’s Block Chardonnay is from one of the oldest chardonnay sites in the Okanagan, planted in 1977 higher up on the southeast facing slope of Mt Boucherie. It Is named for Rosemary Stewart, wife of founder Richard Stewart. The 2023 growing season saw record sunshine, resulting in a smaller, high-quality crop and the earliest harvest in Quails’ Gate history. The grapes were hand-picked and whole cluster pressed, from selected parcels of clones 76 and 809. Made only from free-run juice it was fermented and aged in new and used French oak for over 9 months, with gentle battonage (lees stirring) and partial malolactic fermentation.

Accolades:  Silver National Wine Awards of Canada 2026