Talking terroir at Stoneboat Vineyards

Stoneboat Vineyard's Tim Martiniuk explains the "mystery of the stone"

We first visited Stoneboat Vineyards last year, when they were still glowing from receiving a coveted Lieutenant Governor's award for their 2006 Pinot Noir. When we travel back to the Okanagan, there are some places we have to make a stop, and Stoneboat has been added to this list.

The family-run operation is situated in the heart of the south Okanagan on the Black Sage Bench. Stoneboat's focus is the fussy Pinot Noir grape, and they've succeeded in making some well-priced award winning wines from it.

This time we visited the winery, they were 2 hours away from another visit from the Lieutenant Governor Steven L. Point and his entourage of consular officials. In spite of the controlled chaos, and the commotion in a nearby office, Stoneboat's marketing guy Tim Martiniuk took the time to pour for us.

All we can say is "Wow!" Stoneboat Vineyards wines just keep getting better each year. Duet 2007 and their award-winning Pinotage 2007 are stand-outs for us.

In the above video clip, Tim explains the "mystery of the stones" that make Stoneboat Vineyards terroir so unique. It's a short clip, and an interesting bit of background on this young winery.