The South Okanagan desert-like terroir has consistently produced amongst some the world’s best wines. Nestled on the famed Black Sage Bench in Oliver, Le Vieux Pin is one of the Okanagan’s most prestigious estates. Named for the old pine trees dotting its vineyards, Le Vieux Pin has received numerous well-deserved accolades over the years for its exceptional wine portfolio and for its celebrated wine maker, viticulturalist and partner, Severine Pinte.
On June 9, 2023, Severine was bestowed with the esteemed Order of Agricultural Merit by the Consul General of France Nicolas Baudouin. Severine can now add knighted to her illustrious resume. Severine was honoured with the 140-year-old distinction, which praised her for crafting wines using traditional winemaking technique steeped in French history, while combining that with utilizing high environmental and sustainable standards, something that is becoming critical in order to deal with the impact of climate change on viticulture.
Since 2010, this consummate professional has brought her extensive French knowledge of the wine making process to craft exceptional Le Vieux Pin wines. Severine comes with an impressive and lengthy viticulture pedigree. A graduate of the illustrious ENSAM (Ecole National Superior Agronomic of Montpellier), prior to joining Le Vieux Pin in 2010, Severine had already amassed an impressive 14 harvests, as well as eight years of vineyard management.
in her pursuit of new challenges, Severine left her post in France’s Languedoc region to come to the Okanagan because it is a dynamic, young wine region full of potential and the young vines were already showing an enormous potential.
Today, Pinte is also the head viticulturist and executive winemaker at the award-winning sister winery: La Stella. If that isn’t enough to keep this dynamo going, Severine is a board member of the BC Wine Grape Council, and member and chair of the Sustainable Winegrowing BC certification program.
Founded in 2005 by Sean Salem and his wife and partner, Saeedeh Salem, Le Vieux Pin in quick order unveiled its inaugural vintage that same year. In 2006, its second vintage yielded a wine that was so uniquely special there was a “Eureka moment” for the team. A single parcel of 14-year-old Cabernet Franc vines in its Golden Mile vineyard, dubbed La Feuille D’or (the golden leaf), yielded a wine that was so extraordinary, thus was born the winery’s reserve tier, Equinoxe.
Severine Pinte honored as a Knight of Agricultural Merit for winemaking excellence.
Along with its award-winning Cabernet Franc, in 2008 two more wines made it into the exclusive Equinoxe portfolio – a Merlot from the same Golden Mile vineyard, and a Syrah from a second vineyard further south in the Golden Mile, both of which showed exceptional promise, and quickly garnered rave reviews. Two of Canada’s the foremost wine authorities and critics, Anthony Gismondi and David Lawrason have both proclaimed that Equinoxe Syrah was the best Syrah they had ever tasted in Canada.
The Equinoxe flagship Syrah has been acclaimed by master sommeliers such as Anthony Gismondi and John Szabo, who have both touted its praises with: “this masterful, structural red is entirely in balance, with rivers of wild blackberry, black cherry, espresso, iron, and cracked peppercorn” and “Le Vieux Pin’s top end Syrah cuts a particularly dashing figure in 2017, perfumed and finessed, yet tightly wound.”
Isn’t it time you discover Le Vieux Pin wines?
