2014 Charme de L'ile
Vancouver Island wines are bringing a new kind of sparkle to the market. The Wine Islands Growers Association (WIGA) has registered “Charme de L’ile” as a region specific trade name for sparkling wines produced on Vancouver Island using exclusively Vancouver Island grapes.
The name plays with the name of the process used to make the wines, the Charmat Method, which uses stainless steel tanks for a second fermentation before bottling. The carbonation is entirely natural, resulting from the natural decomposition of sugar from added yeasts. This is the same technique used to make Italian Prosecco.
“We have a cold climate for growing most grape varieties that makes it challenging to produce consistent quality for still wines, but even in our worst years our numbers are excellent for sparkling wine development,” says Daniel Cosman, the winemaker for Unsworth Vineyards.
Unsworth Vineyards is home to Vancouver Island’s first and only pressurized fermentation tank and counter-pressure bottling line. In addition to making their own product, they are bottling for Averill Creek, Enrico Winery, and Saltspring Island Vineyards.
“We are most certainly competing with each other, but collectively the best wineries in any wine producing region are getting together despite being competitors and pooling their resources and their knowledge to enhance the image of their region,” says Cosman.
So far the investment is paying off. Charme de L’ile has exploded on to the local wine scene, and is selling well on the Island and beyond.
“It is such an amazing success that we can barely keep the product in stock. We have produced numerous batches and have become recognized in BC as the top Charmat producer,” Cosman adds. “Unsworth is paving the road for Vancouver Island to become known as a region which produces noteworthy sparkling wines.”