Sports analogies don’t often coincide with wine writing, but a recent hat trick earned by CheckMate Artisanal Winery is a triple feat worth cheering for. Consecutively, for the third time, CheckMate’s Little Pawn Chardonnay has received a wine score of 100 points by iconic Canadian wine writer John Schreiner, who boasts a lifetime of knowledge on Canadian and B.C. wine.
Say what you will about wine scores— not all the gold emblazoned numbers on bottles hold equal merit in terms of earnest or even unbiased scoring—this type of acknowledgement year in and out from a wine authority such as Schreiner holds significance, not just for CheckMate, but for B.C. wine as an industry.
Graham Nordin, GM of Iconic Wineries of British Columbia tells about how, after the initial feelings of excitement and pride that everyone at CheckMate felt after receiving news of the third 100-point score, what really stood out was the sense of validation for what they already knew to be true: CheckMate wines belong shoulder-to-shoulder with great wines around the world.
CheckMate Artisanal Winery is tucked into the beautiful landscape of Oliver, B.C., and specializes in Chardonnay and Merlot exclusively. With less than a decade under its belt, the winery boasts vines that date back 40-plus years, with five focused and unique vineyard sites that each tell a specific story of South Okanagan time and place.
For Little Pawn, this hat-trick story expresses from the confines of Jagged Rock Vineyard, planted in 1999 with vines that face west on the foothills of the Black Sage Bench, containing sandy and porous soils. When water drains away quickly, it results in small grape clusters that hold massive concentration of flavour. Thanks to the warm western-facing slope and the sunny climate in Oliver, these concentrated flavours burst with ripeness. Think ripe peaches and tanger- ines, big creamy texture, toasty warmth, and a crisp, spicy finish. Though it is called Little Pawn, this is a big, big wine.
With one perfect score, you can say it was a good vintage. A second score you might call luck. But three perfect 100-point scores mean you are looking at excellent winemaking, and Philip McGahan does B.C. proud with very natural winemaking efforts: manual harvesting, wild fermentation, and zero fining or filtration—there is even word that we will see organic certification in the near future. There is nothing trendy about these wines, though. As “new world” as they may be, they scream old world in style, and boast a power and balance that is rare in B.C. wine.
Struggling to remember visiting this remarkable winery? There has, in fact, been no permanent tasting room (though you may have experienced the temporary pop-up) to visit—until now. Nordin says CheckMate’s done it in reverse, building a great winery reputation first and then following with the buildout of a new winery and tasting room. At the helm of the project’s design is Tom Kundig, a now-famous architect who once-upon-a-time designed Mission Hill Family Estate, sparking the beginning of a long-running collaborative relationship between Kundig and wine mogul Anthony von Mandl, who says, “I’ve had the privilege of working with Tom … since the mid-1990s. We know each other so well that Tom has permission to take his architecture and design to new places that others might not be willing to embrace. This is a remarkable relationship rooted in deep trust and mutual respect which has enabled us to create extraordinary things together.”
Adds Kundig: “We drew a lot of inspiration from the CheckMate brand and the idea of a classic chessboard, including the graphic black-and-white skin; inside, a custom screen between the entry and the tasting room is presented as an abstracted chessboard, continuing that theme. The cantilevered tasting room deliberately frames views across the vineyards, to the valley and mountains beyond, making sure the guest experience is linked to the natural surroundings.”
The final product—an astonishing visual experience that vividly showcases the land, with floor-to-ceiling glass walls that let you see all five vineyard sites from the main room—deserves a perfect score in and of itself. But, per- haps most importantly, it finally, finally gives visitors a chance to taste through CheckMate’s wines—an experience that one can only “triple” hope includes the member-exclusive Little Pawn. —Laura Starr
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