Marichel Winery

Fantastic wines with an exceptionally friendly and accommodating atmosphere. We should have bought more but we'll certainly be back!

Made a special trip out to Naramata just to taste the wines from Marichel. It's not often you see a winery taking it's viticultural and winemaking inspiration from an established international wine region and actually doing it justice, but Marichel is doing just that. Syrah and Viognier, that's it, that's all. Faith in what he grows and pride in what he makes. Thanks for the fantastic wines and even better conversation. Be back again!

Well, this is confusing. It’s Marichel, not Marechal. I don’t know where the name derives from, but it’s not related to the varietal. Marichel doesn’t even harvest Marechal Foch; their specialty is Syrah. It makes me wonder where the name came from. If the winemaker is named Marichel, it would be simultaneously both an amazing coincidence and an irony. I actually know a chef with the last name “Kitchen”. It happens. My girlfriend and I were on vacation through Okanagan wine country. Over six days, we visited sixty wineries. That’s sixty wineries, not an exaggeration. We ended the trip with 120 bottles acquired. And apparently one does not visit Naramata without patronizing Marichel. As friends discovered our journey, no winery was recommended more. I totally understand why. Don’t be led astray by claims of an epic décor, like some monument to viticulture—this is one of the more lackluster looking wineries in the region. The tasting room features a single picnic table. A picnic table. We almost missed the location twice. No, the reason to visit Marichel is their commitment in doing one thing really, really well. That says something about competing wineries. Many of them, even the estates, go for the “shotgun” approach, offering a chaotic scattershot of different wines, whites and reds, to cover all their potential customer palettes. I noticed after my trip those smaller wineries with larger selections seldom had a single bottle that spoke to me (not literally, as that would be a condition), but when specializing in one or two varietals, generally they do well with those bottles. For Marichel, harkening back to the aforementioned irony, it’s Syrah. Marichel presents itself as the wine equivalent to Scientific American (the magazine; I know that’s closely becoming an oxymoron). There’s no pandering to the viticulturally-challenged. Marichel drops some mean knowledge beats on their websites and makes no attempts to explain them to proletariats. They grow only two grapes, Rhone varietals. When describing their Syrah, they claim it’s made up of “scions and rootstocks, with Clone 7 on 3309 predominating.” Yeah, I didn’t understand any of that either. Marichel doesn’t make Côte-Rôtie Syrah, Barossa Shiraz, or Viognier from Condrieu…because…that’s apparently important. “And while we adore Cold Heaven Viognier from California, Tarawara Shiraz from Yarra Valley, and Hermitage Syrah from the Rhone… they’ve all been done.” I’m a massive geek, and even I wanted to scream “NEEERRRRD!”. They obvious love wine and want to share that passion with everyone. It’s no wonder their Syrahs are so well renown. Okay. I’ll buy two. The other aspect of Marichel I appreciate is that often, the individual poring the wine is the winemaker himself. A delightful fellow and obviously one that knows his craft. This makes the claims on the website even more authenticated. They also bottle a viognier, but in the end, it was their Syrah that spoke to us, that speaks to a lot of people. If you enjoy that varietal at all, you owe it to visit this place and snag a few bottles.

Summary: I don't know wine but I left with a bottle I liked I drive my wife around the wineries on the Naramata Bench every year.This year it wasn't in my father-in-law's red Miata because my bro-in-law was in town. So, we went in his Alberta-covered, cracked-windshield Jeep. Redeeming qualities: hardtop off, great stereo. Anyways, we stopped at Moraine along the route. I loved the entrance and small deck patio with gorgeous views of the lake. The wine tasting room had a beautiful wood table with long benches and a large, open Italian kitchen feel. The fellow manning the place was very personable and my wife and her brother BS'd with him about North Vancouver where- as it turns out- they all grew up. After having to listen to them prove to each other that they lived there, we tasted 3 of their wines. I loved the rosé so I grabbed a bottle of that while my bro-in-law picked up 2 bottles of a red. Overall, great stop... and departure as we left with Rage Against the Machine cranked on the stereo and my wife shaking her head.

Such a good experience. Lots of greenery .. it made us feel like we were sitting in France. Highly recommend.

Our favourite winery along the Naramata Bench, by far. It was recommended to us by Upper Bench winery. The lady working at Marichel in the tasting room that day was amazing (blonde lady, born in England). Can't recommend this place enough. Beautiful location and tasting room and the views were incredible. We will be back!

Just love the wines here. The Lone Wolf Syrah is brilliant now and the Estate Syrah is showing great promise for being spectacular with another 3 years of cellaring to soften the great tannins. Always look forward to each new vintage when they come out.

Visited last Friday with my Parents and Husband. It was our favorite of the day and we took home some of all the wines (a first for us). The beautiful tasting room was overshadowed by Elizabeth who was kind, knowledgeable and fun all rolled into one. Best part was her insider tips on other wineries to try based on our preferences. I can't say enough good things.