Coolshanagh Vineyards

A meeting place for family and friends
“Coolshanagh” is a Gaelic word that means a “meeting place of friends.”

Coolshanagh was the name Judy Stothert’s family, which has roots in Scotland and Ireland, used to identify their homes. This went on for multiple generations in celebration of the friendship between family and friends. Winery owners Judy and Skip Stothert love celebrating family traditions, so when they started their vineyard in the Okanagan, they named it “Coolshanagh”.

The first hectare of Chardonnay was planted in 2004. Planted almost entirely to Chardonnay, with small amounts of Pinot Noir, Coolshanagh Vineyard sits seven kilometers north of Naramata, British Columbia between what was the ancient west coast of North America and Okanagan Mountain. Distinct regional flavours emerge from this fertile calcium carbonate-loaded soil, made up of fractured glacial bedrock.

Coolshanagh Vineyard grapes were originally sold to other wineries, but in 2012 owners Skip and Judy Stothert launched their own wine made exclusively from grapes grown on their unique property. Made at Okanagan Crush Pad in Summerland by the skilled winemaker Matt Dumayne, the Coolshanagh Chardonnay beautifully expresses its north-Naramata terroir.

Coolshanagh produces a small batch Chardonnay (~750 cases), sourced only from estate fruit, and 75 cases of estate grown Pinot Noir. Wines that echo Burgundy were the initial inspiration, however, the ultimate Coolshanagh wine style that emerges specifically expresses and reflects the terroir of the Okanagan Valley and of the diverse soil of Coolshanagh Vineyard.

The Coolshanagh Chardonnay is a fruit-driven wine with stunning minerality that expresses Naramata. The use of large oak barriques, concrete vats and lees aging all contribute to the subtlety and expressiveness of this singular wine.