The Cachet Story

Cachet is a celebration of the last 15 years for Stag's Hollow Winery. It represents all the experiences we have accumulated over these years. These experiences have provided us the opportunity and desire to create something new and exciting.

Cachet Limited Edition wines will be intriguing blends, made from exceptional grapes in a given year. Each Limited Edition will be unique, with no intention of replication in another vintage. Each bottle will be individually numbered by hand for authenticity.

Why would we wish to make one-off wines? Cachet gives our winemaker the freedom to be creative and innovative, utilizing all his past experiences and techniques, as well as experimenting with new ones, to make an interesting wine that he will be proud of……his masterpiece. Once this masterpiece is complete, like an artist, he will start over again with a blank canvas.

The formal definition of Cachet is a mark of quality or distinction, or that which is special and has individuality, superior quality and prestige. This name fits perfectly with what our Limited Edition wines are intended to be.

Limited Edition No. 01

The inspiration for Limited Edition No. 01 comes from the 'new generation' of wines emerging from Spain. It's unique style showcases the high quality and diversity of wines we produce in the Okanagan Valley.

The backbone of Limited Edition No. 01 is Tempranillo. This is the first crop picked from a very special site on the Stag’s Hollow Estate: the "Hollow." The Hollow is rocky and mostly gravel. It was left unplanted for 13 years until a grape was found that would suit the growing profile for the Hollow. That is, a grape that would like extremely hot conditions in the summer, but survive colder conditions in the winter. It would take a very unique red grape to thrive in the Hollow. As Tempranillo is planted at higher elevations in Spain and has a shorter growing season, it was decided it could be a perfect fit.

Estate Merlot forms the second link, joined by Osoyoos Syrah and Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine's unique personality is further enhanced by barrel aging for 18 months in new American Oak barrels sourced from the Navarra wine region of Spain where they were coopered to our exact specifications.

A mere 1500 bottles have been produced.

Limited Edition No. 02

A good winemaker friend of mine once advised me that, "the further that you can go away from the Equator and still ripen the grapes, the more interesting the resulting wines will be". Cachet No. 02 certainly validates his statement. Inspired by southern Rhone blends, Cachet No. 02 uniquely showcases the high quality and diversity of the grapes grown in the Okanagan Valley and the artistry at Stag's Hollow.

The foundation of Limited Edition No. 02 is Grenache, which was grown at a meager cropping level of 1 Ton to the acre at Kiln House Vineyard in Penticton. This is perhaps the most northerly planting of this varietal anywhere. The ripe fruit was 'whole cluster' fermented and afterwards blended with Syrah that was co-fermented with a touch of Viognier and Marsanne. The resulting cuvée was then matured in French oak barrels for 10 months prior to being bottled.

Only 450 bottles of this wine have been produced.