Tantalus Winery visit: What to expect & is it worth your time.

How we selected this winery

In case you are wondering, seeking an answer to this question is not what prompted our first visit to this winery. It was a reference to Tantalus as a premier Riesling and Pinot Noir winemaker found in one of those authoritative, everything-wine books that made us put this winery on the to-do list.

Unless you plan to chug wine rather than drink and enjoy it, you should always think about food to serve with your wine. In our books, both Riesling and Pinot Noir are the darlings of food pairing. Both of these wines are incredibly versatile when pairing them with food. But unless you have easy access to Burgundy, Alsace and Germany, finding a good Riesling or Pinot Noir may be a challenge. That is why when an authority on wine says that they stumbled upon a good Riesling and Pinot Noir in our neck of the wood, we pay attention. 

Tantalus Winery, brief history

Tantalus Winery can trace its origin to 1927 when the local horticulturist JW Hughes planted table grapes at his property known as Pioneer Vineyard. In 1934 Hughes sold the vineyard to his worker, Martin Dulik, originally from Czechoslovakia. Three generations of Duliks are the not-so-secret figures behind what is currently known as Tantalus Vineyards. It was Dan Dulik’s foresight to plant 5 acres of Riesling clone in 1978. Together with grapes from the Pinot family, these vines formed the core of their winery, known as Pinot Reach Cellars.

Arguably the 5 acres of Riesling, old-growth Pinot Noir grapes, as well as a potential to grow more of the same quality grapes on the property, were the major contributing factors behind the decision of the current proprietor, Eric Savics, to buy Pinot Reach Cellars when it was put for sale in 2004. Curiously enough, Eric Savics’s background is not in wine. He is an economist by education and a stockbroker by profession. If Eric is as good at picking stocks as he is at picking winning vineyards, we can only regret not being his customers. 

It seems that everything is done right at Tantalus Winery and Vineyards; whether that be removing the not well-suited to the site varietals and replanting the vineyards; pursuing biodynamic grape growing practices, or hiring purists and perfectionists, such as Tantalus’s current winemaker David Peterson.

Tantalus Winery visit, what to expect

The 48-acre property of Tantalus Winery is characterized by gently sloping vineyards and breathtaking views of Okanagan Lake. It is not surprising that the wine-tasting room, even though slightly dated, takes full advantage of such a unique location. When the weather is nice, expect to be able to do the wine tasting outside on the patio just off the tasting room.

The true pièce de résistance of the Tantalus wine tasting room is a permanent display of Native Art, wooden masks by the renowned Tahltan-Tlingit artist Dempsey Bob.

Eric Savics, the proprietor, commissioned a mask for every wine produced at the winery. You can also see these masks featured on the wine labels, which makes them quite distinct.

There’s an ever-increasing fee for those who wish to partake in wine tasting at Tantalus. As is typical of Okanagan wineries, they try to make it more palatable by taking a couple of dollars off the wine purchase price.

Wine tasting at Tantalus is usually curated by a wine educator who helps patrons with the wine selection for their tasting flight. Wine educators can also answer questions about the Tantalus wines, vineyard and winery. All Tantalus workers we met during our many visits to the winery seemed genuinely proud of the wine made here and, in general, interested in wine.

If you decide to go, this place can get busy around the Spring and Summer long weekends. You may want to plan your trip accordingly or make a reservation.

If all you are after is purchasing their wines, you can simply drop by during their regular business hours, no reservation required.

Wine tasting at Tantalus, you get what you pay for

Until recently, the lineup of wines at Tantalus included Rieslings, Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. Each of these had its own entry-level wine as well as a flagship wine. These entry-level wines are nothing to write home about and, except for Chardonnay, are widely available through provincial liquor stores. They are comparably priced to what entry-level wines are priced these days, $25 +/-

Their flagship wines are something else entirely. They are known to showcase the best of both the grape and the terroir.

Take their Old Vines Riesling as an example. In our books, it is as classic as they make them. If there was a hall of Riesling fame, this wine should have been an inductee from the day they started making it.

If you are looking for a steely, classy dry Riesling with a distinctive nose of petrol, look no further. This is it! But don’t take our word for it. Consider this, Tantalus Vineyards 2018 Old Vines Riesling was awarded the BC Lieutenant Governor’s Wine of the Year Award. That is saying something!

At the height of the Covid pandemic and especially when the pandemic started to wane down, Tantalus got creative with their wine lineup.  We are talking introduction of such specialties as the premium-priced Den’s block Riesling and curiosities, such as Riesling Lab. The last one, a very approachable, reasonably priced experimentation wine ($21), clearly serves as a creative outlet for Tantalus’s winemaker, David Peterson. It also makes for a lovely, albeit simple, summer wine.

More surprisingly, Tantalus introduced something called Piquette. While they billed it as a winery’s foray into experimentation and sustainability, in the simplest of terms, Piquette is an attempt to use the grape leftovers and squeeze more money out of every single grape. The beverage is made by re-fermenting grape skins and stems after the wine pressing is finished. It has the same alcohol level as your average beer. And we thought the days of calorie counting and low alcoholic beverages were way behind us!

Tantalus Winery. The wine we took home with us

To make sure we do not go overboard and stay focused on the prize, we have a rule to never buy more than one bottle of wine on our winery visits. This strategy keeps us focused on picking the wine that will not disappoint long after the excitement of a winery visit is gone. It’s worth nothing, that later on, we may order a lot more bottles winery direct! 

Whenever we visit Tantalus, our usual choice of wine defaults to either Old Vines Riesling or Old Vines Riesling Brut. No matter the vintage, these choices never fail to impress. Our decision is usually guided by three factors. Firstly, we consider the potential food pairing for our selected wine. Secondly, we think of the occasion when we may enjoy our chosen bottle. And yes, the price tag does play a role.

Creamy dishes and red meats aside, Old Vines Riesling has been the saving grace wine for us when nothing else seemed to work with the food that we put on the table.

Bottom Line

When you have been bitten by a wine bug, planning winery visits is always exciting.

It is not unheard of to feel anxious about a much-anticipated trip when your plans include unknown wineries. Will it be worth your time? While everyone’s interests and expectations are different, here’s our candid opinion about Tantalus Winery. Hopefully, it will be of help when you make your plans.

If you are looking for a bargain, you are not likely to find it here. Tantalus’s wines are priced fairly. The higher the price, the better the quality of the wine you will get when you buy from them. On the positive side, you can be sure you get what you pay for.

While Tantalus did not offer winery tours at the time of our last visit, we found their staff to be quite knowledgeable and able to answer any questions you may throw at them, whether that be about the origins of the winery and the vineyard, the specifics of their wines, their vinification practices or about other notable wineries in the area.

The conversations we had with Tantalus wine educators are among the most enjoyable and memorable. Nothing beats discussing the merits of the wine with like-minded people!

We’ve been visiting Tantalus every year since we discovered them in 2016. After these many years, we still see value in our annual visits, even if to taste their new vintages. Perhaps we’ll book their Bees & Barrels Tour and Tasting this year.

We started the story of Tantalus the winery with the legend of Tantalus the God. After pondering the “what’s in the name?” question, we can safely deduce that the intent has always been to associate Tantalus, the Winery, with Tantalus, the God who brought the drinks of Gods to people. Considering the consistent quality of the wines made at Tantalus Winery, they picked a very fitting name. However, some of the latest introductions to their wine lineup, such as the Piquette line of wines, make us wonder if Tantalus, the God is back to his old tricks. This time the tease, it seems, is for the people, not for the Gods, to see beyond the well-established brand into something that can hardly be called wine. This too shall pass, or so we hope.