As wine makers we are not really creating the wine, but rather the yeast is. In the right environment, the yeast will grow fast and healthy and create a smooth wine, but if the environment is stressful, the yeast will create an inferior product and can release off flavours. As wine makers we like to think of ourselves as yeast farmers and wine alchemists. Our job is to create the right environment for the yeast to thrive in so it can joyfully create a drink we can all enjoy. If we do our job well and create the right natural circumstances and put the right inputs together, a process of alchemy and transformation occurs that leads to delicious one of a kind flower wines.
Wine making
One of a Kind
Wine Alchemy
One of a Kind Twist
From Mead to Flower wine
The fermented beverage from honey, water and yeast has historically been called “mead” and often has honey forward flavours. Spirit Hills has taken a modern approach to wine and mead making and just like with grape wine, it does not refer to the sugar but to the natural source that provides the sugars: flowers. It is the wildflowers of the Canadian Rocky Mountain foothills terroir that provide the nectar. In addition flower petals are used to add both aroma and flavour to their wines just like the grape skin does that for grape wine.
Technically, the Spirit Hills flower wines are a sub-category of “mead” with a similar acidity and Ph as grape wine while providing an extended aroma and a soft velvety smoothness with great length.
One of a Kind Quality
The Relentless Pursuit of Excellence
While Spirit Hills brings you a natural product infused with the flavours of herbs, flowers and berries from the Rocky Mountain Foothills through its artisan crafted wines, it also aims to bring you consistency and the highest of quality. First class finishing and packaging materials allow you to age the wine. At the winery Spirit Hills already ages it’s red honey wine, Saskwatch, in French and Hungarian oak barrels. Spirit Hills also has its own state of the art wine lab and a 1,500 bottle/hour bottling line, just big enough to ensure professional packaging and small enough to apply artisan quality care.
One of a Kind Flower Wines
Hand Picked Harvest
As is now tradition, every year when other farmers are seeding, Spirit Hills already harvests and organizes picking crews for the dandelion flower harvest. The dandelions are picked in the pastures surrounding the winery which have not been sprayed for over 20 years. Pickers first pick the flowers. Then they pluck the flower petals off the flower heads while sitting together chatting and laughing. Every half hour the flowers are collected, weighed and fresh frozen so that the Spirit Hills wine makers have year around access to fresh frozen dandelion flower petals. Because the flavour of the flower can change from year to year depending on the weather conditions, the recipes for each vintage have to be adjusted to maintain as much consistency as possible between vintages.