The chardonnay summit is reached with Quails' Gate's signature release, a.k.a. the Stewart Family Reserve made with fruit from the chosen sites, meaning best and oldest vineyards in the Okanagan Valley. Volcanic soils of Mt. Boucherie are key in this top shelf chardonnay, whole-cluster pressed and aged for 10 months in a mixture of 35 percent new and (65) neutral French oak. Bâtonnage is carried out, as with all the chardonnay, to effect a texture commiserate with the QG style and no other Okanagan estate expresses this specificity. Close maybe, but not precisely like the kinship of these chardonnay and the family resemblance is uncanny. The vintage is really quite ideal for the SFR. Stock up on 2022s folks - They are the cream that rises to the top for great producers who face greater challenges in too many unfair Okanagan vintages. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2024. Score - 94. (Michael Godel, winealign.com)

Quails' Gate's 2022 Reserve pinot noir pours a relatively deep red colour and offers a ripe and dense set of aromatics in the darker fruit spectrum, black cherry, black raspberry, with a dusting of sweet oak spice, cinnamon and nutmeg. The palate is fullish and rather firm, even tannic for the variety, with serious extraction, a long way from prime enjoyment I'd say. The palate is puckering for now, also supported by firm acids. Length and depth are good. It's a bit of a bruiser, tough and chewy; try after 2027. Tasted October 2024. Score - 91. (John Szabo, MS, winealign.com)

Quails' Gate is a leading light in BC Pinot Noir and consistently delivers wines that combine ripeness and finesse. This one is stylish and approachable, with strawberry, raspberry, sour cherry, oak spice and an earthy undertone. Try it with roast duck.