Hester Creek Joe’s Block 2023 – The Okanagan’s Mystery Grape

There are wines you taste and immediately know what grape you are drinking.

And then there is Hester Creek Joe’s Block.

This is one of the most intriguing wines at Hester Creek because nobody can quite tell you what the grape actually is.

The story goes back to Joe Busnardo, the Italian immigrant and Okanagan wine pioneer who established the property in the 1960s.

In 1968, Joe brought vine cuttings back from Europe, in his suitcase actually, and planted them in the South Okanagan.

He was one of the first people in the region to plant European Vitis vinifera, long before the Okanagan became the wine region we know today.

Some of those old vines have a particularly mysterious identity.

Joe's Block is made from one of them.

So, what grape is it?

This is where the story gets interesting.

DNA testing has been done on the vines, but the result doesn't give us a clear answer.

The variety remains undefined.

There has been speculation that it could be Merlot, or perhaps some type of Sangiovese clone.

But these are only theories.

And apparently, Joe isn't giving away the answer.

Hester Creek winemaker Mark Hopley also doesn't believe it behaves like Merlot in the vineyard.

The way the vines grow and perform doesn't match what he would expect from Merlot.

That makes Joe's Block one of those rare wines where the mystery is actually part of the attraction.

You are drinking a grape that has been growing in the Okanagan for decades, but we still don't know exactly what it is.

Hester Creek Joe's Block 2023

The 2023 vintage opens with an aromatic nose of cassis, plum and dark berries, followed by baking spices and herbs.

There is plenty of dark fruit, but I also noticed something less pleasant on the nose.

There is a slight moldy or musty character that made me wonder about the quality of the fruit.

Once you taste it, however, the wine becomes much more interesting.

There is good acidity, giving the wine a slightly tart edge that keeps the dark fruit from becoming heavy.

The palate is quite tannic, with a firm structure that gives the wine plenty of grip.

The fruit is distinctly dark-fruited.

Plum, cassis and blackberry are joined by savoury flavours reminiscent of black olive, adding an interesting Mediterranean character.

The finish is long and warming, with a touch of cherry stone that stays on the palate.

At 12.6% alcohol, it is also considerably more restrained than many big Okanagan reds.

The wine has body and tannin, but it doesn't rely on high alcohol to create weight.

A wine that needs food

This is not my favourite wine to drink on its own.

The tannins and savoury character make it much more successful with food.

A steak, grilled beef, lamb or a hearty mushroom dish would give the wine something to work with.

The acidity would cut through richer dishes, while the tannins would soften against protein.

The 2023 also made me wonder whether it simply needs more time.

There is enough structure here to suggest that another year or two in the bottle could help the tannins integrate and allow the dark fruit to become more expressive.

It certainly feels like a wine that could benefit from some additional maturation.

I had tasted the 2022 vintage previously, and I preferred it.

The 2022 was a better year for the wine, showing more balance and expression.

The 2022 vintage scored 89 points with me.

An experiment within Hester Creek

There is another interesting part to the story.

Joe's Block is something of an experimental project, developed by Hester Creek's lab manager Marie-Christine, who comes from France.

It is a chance to work with these unusual old vines and see what they can produce without forcing the wine into a conventional category.

And I think that is exactly why this wine is worth tasting.

It isn't necessarily about getting the highest score.

It is about tasting a piece of Okanagan wine history.

These vines are connected to the earliest days of European grape growing in British Columbia.

Joe Busnardo planted European varieties here at a time when the modern Okanagan wine industry barely existed.

Hester Creek itself was originally established on the property as Divino Estate by Joe in the early 1980s before the property was sold and eventually became Hester Creek.

Today, the winery still has those historic vines and continues to explore what they can produce.

That makes Joe's Block more than just another red wine.

It is a little piece of the Okanagan's past, and perhaps one of its remaining mysteries.

My verdict

The Hester Creek Joe's Block 2023 is a full-flavoured, tannic red with cassis, plum, dark berries, herbs and savoury black olive.

The acidity is good, the finish is long and warming, and there is plenty of structure.

For me, though, the 2023 vintage lacks some of the balance and finesse I found in the 2022 (89 points).

There is also that slight musty character on the nose that takes away from the overall impression.

I scored it 80/100.

I would definitely serve it with food rather than drink it on its own.

And if you have a bottle, I would be tempted to give it some more time in the cellar.

But more than anything, I would recommend tasting it because of the story.

A mystery grape planted by an Italian pioneer in the Okanagan in the 1960s, DNA tested but still unidentified, and now made into a small experimental wine by Hester Creek.

You don't get many wines like that.

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