Southwest of the town of Oliver, this is the home vineyard of CheckMate. From here, you look across the Bench, down the valley towards Lake Osoyoos and into the United States. To the west, you are dominated by Mt Kobau and to the east you see the magnificent rock formations that sit above Black Sage Bench. The views are majestic, and the mountains are awe-inspiring.
The predominantly gravelly and sandy loam soils that define this site originated from fluvial fan deposits of the mountain above. The soils on the Golden Mile Bench clump nicely in your hand, contain large rocks and large boulders, with fine loam helping to retain moisture. This allows the vine roots to tap down deep into the soils where there is abundant moisture and draw the best from the soils, including wet stone and mineral characters. The moisture in the heavy soils keeps the vines cooler in summer, a factor enhanced with the steep slopes of Mt Kobau which block afternoon sun late in the afternoon. This combines to make this one of our coolest sites, allowing the fruit to hang longer and develop more flavor. The cool site also preserves the acidity in the wine.
These factors impart an exotic character to the wines while preserving the grape’s natural acidity, delivering beautifully complex and elegant wines.
Complexity + Elegance
