News

Nuvo Magazine - "The Must-Have Advent Calendars of the Season"

"With gift shopping, cookie baking, and tree decorating in full swing, navigating the world of advent calendars is not for the faint of heart. We’ve made a list and checked it twice: from coffee to beauty, NUVO has curated Advent calendars that promise to deliver festive fun.

...

Moon Curser Wine Advent Calendar

Over at Moon Curser winery, it’s all elves on deck wrapping the brand’s wine Advent calendar, featuring 12 mystery bottles. Moon Curser makes wine from varieties like touriga nacional and dolcetto (both super rare for the Okanagan) so they’re the perfect pick for the oenophile. This year’s box includes current releases (including some that are sold out) plus library wines from the cellar. Mooncurser.com"

Read full "Must-Have Advent Calendars of the Season" article.

Castanet - Award-winning B.C. wines abound in 2022

"...The Platinum Awards held by Great Northwest Wine, covering wines from the Pacific Northwest, recently wrapped up. The competition is only open to wines that have prior gold medal wins.

B.C. took home a handful of platinum awards. Moon Curser Vineyards in Osoyoos gathered a few for some varietals that rarely have a starring role in the Okanagan—the 2020 Touriga Naçional, 2020 Malbec (both bold reds) and the 2021 Arneis, a white wine common to Italy’s Piedmont region...."

View Allison Markin's article Award-winning B.C. wines abound in 2022

TheWineDiva.ca/WineScores.ca - 2022 Releases, 9 wines rated 90+ Points

To view Daenna Van Mulligan's full review, click on the wine.

Moon Curser Contraband Syrah 2020 - 92 Points

Moon Curser Dead of Night 2020 - 92 Points

Moon Curser Touriga Nacional 2020 - 92 Points

Moon Curser Arneis 2021 - 92 Points

Moon Curser Tempranillo 2020 - 92 Points

Moon Curser Viognier 2021 - 92 Points

Moon Curser Syrah 2020 - 91 Points

Moon Curser Roussanne Marsanne 2021 - 90 Points

Moon Curser Heist Rose 2021 - 90 Points

Moon Curser Malbec 2020 - 89 Points

Moon Curser Petit Verdot 2020 - 88 Points

Moon Curser Moonlit 2021 - 88 Points

The Vancouver Sun - Anthony Gismondi: B.C. wine for the week of Oct. 27 - Moon Curser Arneis 2021 - 89 points

Moon Curser Arneis 2021, Osoyoos, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 

89 points

"Arneis is a somewhat rare white variety from Italy’s Piedmont region. Moon Curser has released several quality versions of its Osoyoos East Bench Arneis, and 2021 is another."

Read Anthony Gismondi's BC Wine for the Week review here.

John Schreiner on wine - 'Moon Curser's original wines', 12 wines rated 90+ points

"Moon Curser Vineyards produces no Pinot Gris, no Chardonnay and no Gewürztraminer even though these are three of the most widely grown varietals in the Okanagan. With a few exceptions, Chris and Beata Tolley, owners of this Osoyoos winery, did not plant many of the popular grape varieties. For the most part, their wines are made with varietals that few other wineries, if any, are growing. That may have struck some as commercially risky. However, the Moon Curser portfolio is exciting, never boring and usually delivers surprises..."

Overview of John's ratings:

95 points

Moon Curser Dead of Night 2020
Moon Curser Touriga Nacional 2020

93 points

Moon Curser Roussanne Marsanne 2021
Moon Curser Petit Verdot 2020
Moon Curser Contraband Syrah 2020

92 points

Moon Curser Arneis 2021
Moon Curser Viognier 2021
Moon Curser Heist Rosé 2021
Moon Curser Tempranillo 2020
Moon Curser Malbec 2020
Moon Curser Syrah 2020 

90 points 

Moon Curser Moonlit 2021

View full wine reviews and article by John Schreiner - "Moon Curser's original wines".

Gismondi on Wine - Moon Curser Malbec 2020 - 91 points

"Moon Curser Malbec 2020 - 91 Points - 16 3/4 / 20

Osoyoos, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada. A thin-skinned grape, malbec adores heat within reason. Thus, it is well suited to the south Okanagan and its Osoyoos East Bench home. At Moon Curser, 2020 is described as an "unforgettable season" that "allowed for fantastic flavour development and balanced accumulation of sugars and acidity." Post its stainless steel ferment, the wine is aged in 225L barriques (25% new). It is a juicy mix of spice and blueberries streaked with violets, earth, and a touch of milk chocolate. Attractive, warm and spicy, this will have many fans. Barbecue ribs come swiftly to mind. The tannins are dense and long but should only be a mid-term interference. Very well done.

TASTED BY: ANTHONY GISMONDI"

View Moon Curser Malbec 91 points by Gismondi

Gismondi on Wine - 2022 Releases, 6 wines rated 90+ Points and more

To view Anthony Gismondi's full review, click on the wine.

Moon Curser Contraband Syrah 2020 - 91 Points

Moon Curser Touriga Nacional 2020 - 91 Points

Moon Curser Malbec 2020 - 91 Points

Moon Curser Dead of Night 2020 - 90 Points

Moon Curser Syrah 2020 - 90 Points

Moon Curser Petit Verdot 2020 - 90 Points

Moon Curser Roussanne Marsanne 2021 - 89 Points

Moon Curser Arneis 2021 - 89 Points

Moon Curser Viognier 2021 - 89 Points

Moon Curser Tempranillo 2020 - 88 Points

Moon Curser Heist Rose 2021 - 88 Points

Tasting Room Radio - July 2, 2022 - "Checking in with The Neighbourhood!!"

Interview with Beata & Chris Tolley – Owners of Moon Curser, starts at ~37:17 to 53:30.

You'll hear updates on the 2022 growing season from Chris. Starting at 41:28 they chat about a small selection of Moon Curser's LARGE portfolio. Terry speaks about his favourite wine from Moon Curser's portfolio this year and he said it was Roussanne Marsanne. "I just love it. I just love it. I love it, I love it, I love it and if you keep making it on that level, it will just get better and better and better and better and it will become one of your true signature wines." Starting at 46:36 hear about Moon Curser's Syrah and Contraband Syrah and Chris and Beata speak about vintage variation.

Listen to "Checking in with The Neighbourhood!!"

Canada's 100 Best - "Digging deep in the Okanagan"

"BC's Best Wineries

There is a lot to be said about B.C.’s maturing winemaking prowess and its incredible diversity across nine geographical indications (GIs). A focus on the Okanagan Valley and its growing number of sub-GIs — most notably in the Naramata Bench region — reveals convention-bunking winemakers centered on microclimates, soils, clones, oak, yeasts, and non-interventionist viticulture — all in hot pursuit of ultimate terroir expression. —

Moon Curser Vineyards

Dolcetto, Arneis, Syrah, Malbec, Tannat, Touriga Nacional… It’s all here on the East Bench of Osoyoos in the South Okanagan. “We were crazy people when we started. We didn’t know much,” says Chris Tolley. But they are getting- ting a lot right, particularly with Syrah, bottled as single-vineyard and blended wines. That Arneis is a treat, too — tasted off the vine and from a 2014 bottle, it’s remarkably textured, with citrus, savoury, and spice."

Discover BC's Best Wineries here

winebc.com - "Behind the Label"

"This winery opened in 2006 as Twisted Tree Vineyards. Four years later, proprietors Chris and Beata Tolley changed the name to the more dramatic Moon Curser. The drama carried through to labels evoking an earlier history when Osoyoos was centre for gold mining.

During the gold rush, American miners sought to smuggle gold back across the border in the dark of night without paying taxes or duties. The smugglers would curse the moon if it exposed their activities. On its back labels, Moon Curser puts these words in the mouth of a smuggler: “Damn you moon for lighting my run tonight. This gold is mine and no border agent is going to tax me.”

The labels, which mimic shadow and light, anchor Moon Curser and its wines in the history and the terroir of Osoyoos.  The pick, the mule, the saddle bags and the gold nuggets are references to the mining and smuggling on the last. Other elements on the labels are drawn from nature in the South Okanagan, such as ponderosa pines, deer, foxes and even small bats.

The labels are a fun and engaging way to reference the terroir which the winery exploits to grow varietals rarely grown elsewhere in the Okanagan, if at all. “We believe they thrive in our Osoyoos vineyards is because they are growing in the southernmost, hottest and sunniest place in all of the Okanagan,” Chris writes.

The varietals include Arneis, Carménère, Dolcetto, Tannat, Tempranillo and Touriga Nacional. “I love the diversity,” Chris says. “I love the affirmation that this valley is capable of doing a wide variety of wines.”"

Discover the inspiration and stories behind award-winning BC wine labels.