It’s the most wonderful time of the year…
Did we put that song into your head? Do you have the holiday spirit? We do!
Last weekend we kicked off the holiday season with our fellow Bottleneck Drive wineries for Light Up the Vines, by opening our wine shop for holiday entertaining and gifting purposes.
Our operations manager Julian Scholefield, who is also president of the Bottleneck Drive winery association, was very pleased with the results of the weekend event.
“The 2nd Annual Bottle Neck Drive Light up the Vines was a great success,” he shares. “Okanagan Crush Pad welcomed hundreds of visitors through our doors on both Saturday and Sunday, greeting almost everyone with a glass of our newly released The Bub sparkling wine.”
“We were delighted to welcome many visitors from our own community,” he adds, “but equally thrilled to see people that made the drive from Kelowna and Oliver to visit Summerland’s wineries.”
If you missed out on this past weekend, don’t despair: Okanagan Crush Pad will be open for the following two weekends, Thursday through Saturday from noon to 5pm.
Meet The Bub
As Julian mentioned, the winery team is so proud that the release of our first Haywire sparkling wine The Bub was stealing the show last weekend.
A fine 1982 cuvée was the first thing to cross the lips of The Bub, born in 1988. As a child, she went by the names The Bub, Bubba, Alibubba, and the Bubster, but today she prefers Alison. However to fondly remember the celebration of her arrival 24 years ago, Haywire’s first release of sparkling wine is made in her honour.
The Bub is made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes grown in a cool mountain vineyard site near Oliver, bottle-fermented and aged in the classic method.
Hand Disgorged
Our head winemaker Michael Bartier is the master – he popped the tops off The Bub to expel the spent yeast and ready the wine for its top up and capping with a crown cap. The crown cap is the closure of choice as we want to ensure this wine tastes just as Michael intends.
Ready for release just in time for the holidays, only 50 cases have been made and the finished wine bursts with crisp and elegant green-apple – a lively expression of Okanagan freshness.
Hand Labeled
Seen here is winery owner Christine Coletta, who as you can see is toasting the completion of The Bub while simultaneously labeling the bottles, again by hand.
Over to you…
These bubbles will make you “smile” all on their own, or try our friend chef Roger Planiden’s trick of drizzling extra virgin olive oil mixed with a drop or two of truffle oil on fresh salted popcorn – a simple, elegant holiday offering.
You can purchase the limited production The Bub at the winery, order from The Bub herself or purchase at Marquis Wine Cellars in Vancouver.
Join THE Club
And we could not leave off without sharing the news about our brand new wine club!
THE Club @ Crush Pad is live!
Exclusive benefits include:
- 20% off on all case orders shipped directly to your door
- 10% discount on any winery purchases less than a case
- Access to your Concierge @ Crush Pad, who will help you with your Summerland vacation planning, with advice to enhance your wine experience
- Front-of-line access to limited-edition wines and first rights to new releases
- Special Club Member-only preferential shipping rates for all orders
- Invitations to exclusive THE Club @ Crush Pad member-only events
- Complimentary behind-the-scenes VIP tour and a glass of Haywire's limited-release sparkling wine The Bub for the member and up to three guests when they visit Okanagan Crush Pad
- Email updates which include news, notes, recipes, and food-pairing suggestions by OCP's wine guru David Scholefield
New members are invited to join today by creating a personal online account at okanagancrushpad.com/THEClub. This easy-to-use portion of the website was created by the talented team at filmrobot.com.
Membership indeed has its privileges! Welcome to THE Club @ Crush Pad!
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