John Schreiner on wine

Where the grape surplus may be going

2012-05-25T15:37:00.000-07:00

It looks like more wine is being made in British Columbia than we are consuming.

That is a conclusion that can be drawn from the report of the 2011 grape crop compiled by BDO Canada LLP and released by the British Columbia Wine Institute.

The 2011 crop totalled 22,722 short tons and that was 28% higher than the 2010 crop of 17,732 tons. That jump reflects both the production from newly planted vineyards and the somewhat better growing conditions in 2011.

A crop that size should have produced at least 12 million litres of wine and perhaps as much as 14 million litres, depending on one’s assumptions on how many litres can be pressed from a ton of grapes.

According to the Wine Institute’s annual report, sales of VQA wine totalled 8,359,124 litres in the 12 months ended March 31, 2011. While appreciable volumes of wine from British Columbia grapes are sold without the VQA designation, it would hardly be enough to bridge the gap between VQA sales and the likely production from the 2011 crop.

Hence, the inference that some wineries at least might be dealing with a surplus.

There is every reason to expect that the gap between sales and production will be larger this vintage. Additional recently planted vineyards are coming into production. One estimate within the industry is that the 2012 crop could be as high as 29,000 tons with good growing conditions.

A grape surplus should mean lots of moderately priced wines for the foreseeable future. But don’t expect to see a British Columbia version Two Buck Chuck. The wineries can be pretty creative in soaking up the surplus.

Remember that perhaps 10 large producers own the majority of the vineyard acreage in the Okanagan. The major owners of vineyards include Mission Hill, Vincor, the Andrew Peller group and Mount Boucherie Estate Winery. These wineries, and those in the next size tier, all have lots of marketing clout to move their VQA wines. They also have outlets for wines that are surplus to their VQA brands.

The major wineries very likely are blending excess British Columbiawine with the bulk wine imported for the cellar-in-Canada wines. If your favourite CIC wine is tasting a little better, that may be the reason.

There is another sign that the market for British Columbia wine had become more competitive: some producers have sharpened their marketing. Some examples:

* More producers are making private labels for restaurants. Orofino Vineyards in the Similkameen is producing two wines for Vancouver restaurateur David Hawksworth while Okanagan Crush Pad has just launched two wines for the Cactus Club with chef Rob Feeney’s name on the label.

* A growing number of British Columbia wineries are signing up to supply restaurant wines in kegs through Vancouver Urban Winery.

* There is a growing push to release more wines in bag in box, both for the restaurants and for consumers looking for affordable everyday wines at home.

This latter effort has generated controversy because VQA wines can be sold only in glass and not in the boxed format. Summerhill Pyramid Winery was prevented last year from putting VQA on a box even though the wine the box was the same as the wine in the VQA bottle.

More recently, at a Wine Institute tasting, Okanagan Crush Pad was ordered to take down a display of empty three-litre boxes for its Haywire brand of wines. The Wine Institute associates itself only with VQA wine.

Haywire wines are also sold in bottle and have passed VQA, with flying colours. This is exactly the same wine that Haywire puts in boxes or in kegs, in a sensible effort to broaden its market while passing on packaging savings.

Christine Coletta, one of the owners of Haywire, made the argument in a blog – apparently the first one she has written

“Consumers are looking for value, and one way to give them that with 100% BC-grown wine is with affordable and environmentally-friendly alternative packaging, such as kegs (reusable, like beer kegs) and bag-in-box (1/3 the weight of a case of bottled wine),” she wrote. “Both of these alternative packaging options have been gaining lots of traction and many of the Okanagan’s best wineries are getting into the game; however, we can’t label these wines as ‘VQA’, as boxes and kegs are not BC VQA-approved packages.”

The rule that prevents VQA wines from being sold in the box format was put in place at the beginning of VQA two decades ago. At that time, bag in box wines generally contained imported bulk wine and the wine industry did not want to confuse the VQA image.

It is time to update those rules and rely on the British Columbia Wine Authority’s audit powers to make sure no one is cheating. But that probably won’t happen because the rule amending formula demands agreement from too high a percentage of the wineries.

How ironic is that that some good British Columbia wine is likely being blended into some of those cellared-in-Canada box wines!

River Stone Estate Winery’s releases for 2012

2012-05-23T15:02:00.001-07:00

Wine tourists can’t miss River Stone Estate Winery because it is in a red and yellow house at the top of a vineyard just off Tuc-el-Nuit Roadat Oliver. You just can’t get to it from that road: access is via Buchanan Road which more or less borders the south end of the vineyard.

Winery access could be arranged from Tuc-el-Nuit Road, but only at the sacrifice of precious vines in a vineyard just seven acres in size. That is not going to happen. The best and highest use of this site is growing grapes.

Ted Kane, the co-owner of this two-year-old winery, bought the property in 2001 after it had been fallow for 30 years. Eager to get into the wine business, Ted had worried that the best sites in the Okanagan would be snapped up before he could move from Edmonton, where he was a respiratory therapist.

As it happened, he found an excellent site for grapes, a sun-bathed slope with an excellent southern exposure. The local terroir was already proven by the vineyard next door, which is Roland Kruger’s Mistral Vineyard. The Kruger family’s Wild Goose Vineyards produces award-winning Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc from that vineyard.

Ted and his wife, Lorraine (now a doctor in Osoyoos), began planting the vineyard in 2002 and included a small block of Pinot Gris and a smaller block of Gewürztraminer. However, the additional heat units collected by slope of the vineyard led to planting primarily four Bordeaux red varieties – Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Malbec.

The size of each block was determined by the percentage of each variety that Ted wanted for the flagship red that he had in mind. That wine is called Corner Stone. The first release, from the excellent 2009 vintage, is among the wines currently available from River Stone. Judging from the taste of the wine, Ted’s planting decisions (made with advice from a viticultural professional) are working out well.

The debut releases from this winery, some of which I tasted last year, were very good. The same can be said for the newest releases. Here are my notes.

River Stone Pinot Gris 2011 ($19.90 for a production of 284 cases). This is a crisply dry white with citrus aromas and with flavours of apple, pear and green melon. The lively acidity of the vintage gives the wine a tangy finish. 88.

River Stone Malbec Rosé 2011 ($19.90 for 138 cases). The success of the winery’s 2010 rosé ensured that River Stone would keep this in the portfolio. Rosé wines from the Malbec grape are relatively rare. This is a big, juicy rosé with aromas and flavours of plum and black cherry. It has the weight of a light red, with a lingering and refreshing fruit on the dry finish. 89.

River Stone Merlot 2010 ($19.90 for 133 cases). The largest block in the River Stone vineyard is Merlot because, as the winery says, “it thrives in the South Okanaganclimate.” Merlot certainly gets ripe on this site: this wine has 15% alcohol and a sweet, fruity aroma that almost suggests port. On the palate, this big wine has flavours of plum, blackberry, blueberry and fig, with a touch of vanilla and chocolate on the finish. 88, with the potential to grow to 90 with a couple of years in the cellar.

River Stone Cabernet Franc 2010 ($25.90 for 120 cases). This variety also does well in the South Okanaganand has begun to capture a consumer following. River Stone’s wine has the classic brambleberry and peppery aromas of the variety, with flavours of blackberry, raspberry and mocha. Initially, the wine has a youthful firmness suggesting it either should be decanted or, as the winery says, cellared for five to seven years. I sampled it over four days and it improved each day. 89-90.

River Stone Corner Stone 2009 ($28.50 for 349 cases). This is the blend of the four red varietals, with Merlot as the backbone. Aged 14 months in French oak, the wine is built for reasonably long aging (five to seven years) but is showing well now. There are aromas and flavours of vanilla, plum and black currant, opening up to show dark chocolate on the finish. 89-91.

Currently, the winery also offers, in small volume, a 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon and a 2011 Gewürztraminer from its own vineyard. It also sells a wine called Splash, a fruity Pinot Gris made with purchased grapes.

Should a wine review be pointless?

2012-05-22T11:01:00.000-07:00

The gap of more than two weeks before postings is explained by the photograph above: I was in Russia.

This small but striking church is the Church of Prince Dimitrion Blood in a city called Uglich, about two hours northwest of Moscow. Built in 1692, it commemorates the death of the young Prince Dimitri, the son and only heir of Czar Ivan the Terrible. His death, which ended a dynasty and led to the rise of the Romanov Dynasty in 1613, was said to have happened accidentally when the boy was playing with a knife. The more likely explanation is that he was assassinated.

The church, at the edge of a river, is among the sights that attract tourists to cruise between St. Petersburg and Moscow. These are not wine cruises, even if our ship served remarkably good Spanish wines at lunch and dinner and offered a vodka tasting (six anaesthetizing samples) one evening.

However, there was enough leisure to reflect on wine, notably on the spring newsletter from Le Vieux Pin winery which arrived on my Ipad during the cruise.

The winery offered a thought about rating wines which struck me as curious. I have reviewed the winery’s releases twice this year in this blog, generally scoring the impressive wines at 90 points or better. The newsletter reprinted some of the reviews, describing them as “flattering” while omitting my point scores.

Here is the reason:

“ … We debate frequently and passionately whether to include scores for our wines in our newsletter and website content,” Le Vieux Pin writes. “As you know, up until now we have included the scores that are awarded to our wines by critics. We firmly believe that reducing a wine to a single number is an affront to the depth, complexity, passion and soul of a wine. … We may in future include numerical scores in our reviews, but for this newsletter we are going to avoid the practice.”

I agree that reducing a wine to a number would be “an affront.” That is the reason why the number of every wine I review is preceded with text that describes the wine and puts it in context. The numerical rating just sums up a judgment on the quality of the wine. Most wine reviewers operate like that.

A more interesting debate might question the rating scales that are in use. Thanks to Robert Parker and The Wine Spectator, most reviewers have come to use the so-called 100 point scale to rate wines.

In my view, it is far less precise than the 20 point scale developed decades ago by the University of Californiaand still used in some wine competitions. The scoring sheet breaks a wine into categories – a point or two for appearance, four or five points for aroma, and so on. It forces the critic to pay attention to key individual properties of a wine. The sum of these is the final score of the wine. An 18 point wine is generally the equivalent of a 90 point wine.

But tell me: would you buy a wine if the shelf talker said that John Schreiner had awarded it 18 points? Or three stars out of five, or six out of seven, or whatever other rating system exists. Not likely, because the North American consumer reacts almost exclusively to the 100 point scale.

Of course, the 100 point scale is a bit of a sham. You can pass a school exam with 50 or 51 points. Wine, on the other hand, needs to score at least 75 to pass, if not 80. I can’t recall seeing a review of a wine that scored only 80. I think we all would consider that such a score signifies a drinkable wine but nothing more.

So the 100 point scale really is just another 20 point scale, but one that does not separate individual properties of a wine. The scores reflect the benchmarks of quality that experienced reviewers recognize (most of the time).

In the past year, I have raised my scoring threshold to rate more wines 90 and above and fewer in the mid-80s. That compensates for the perceived shortcomings of the 100 point scale. Why not score a good wine 92 to 94, even higher, if I judge the quality to be there?

And when I “reduce” a wine to 95 points, be assured that the text will support my reason for that score.

Would I score a wine 100? Yes. Last year, I tasted an Austrian dessert wine that was so perfectly balanced, with such clean, elegant flavours, that I could not find any reason to deduct anything from a perfect score.

Whenever I open a wine to rate it, I start from an optimistic position. I have judged with people who approach every wine, looking for its faults. I approach every wine, looking for its qualities.

And when I find them, I will describe them and score them.

Quails' Gate spring releases include medal winners

2012-05-06T20:38:00.000-07:00

Photo: winemaker Grant Stanley

In the recent Pacific Rim Wine Competition at Orange County in California, Quails’ Gate Estate Winery came away with two gold medals and flour silvers.

This is one of the earliest international wine competitions in the season. Quails’ Gate will go on to compete in many more this year and, as usual, will bring home a host of awards.

The Pacific Rim awards: gold for both the 2010 Chardonnay and the 2010 Pinot Noir in the “under $25” category. Silver for the 2010 Pinot Noir (under $25); for 2010 Stewart Family Reserve Chardonnay; for the Dry Riesling 2011; and for the Optima 2010 dessert wine.

Quails’ Gate is one of those Okanagan producers so reliable that you don’t need my scores before you buy the wines. But here they are anyway.

Quails’ Gate Chasselas Pinot Blanc Pinot Gris 2011 ($18.99 for a production of 10,237 cases). This wine is a blend of 40% Chasselas and 30% each of the other varietals. The winery has the oldest planting of Chasselas – a Swiss white variety – in the Okanagan. A few vintages ago, winemaker Grant Stanley began blending it with Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris, partly to make a more interesting white and partly to reduce the size of the portfolio. As the production indicates, the wine is hugely popular. This one brand is bigger than most wineries in B.C.

The wine begins with an appealing aroma of tropical fruits and flowers, leading on to tangy flavours of pink grapefruit and lime. There is a slight touch of residual sugar balancing the acidity and adding weight on the palate. This is a delicious summertime white wine. 90.

Quails’ Gate Gewürztraminer 2011 ($16.99 for a production of 4,627 cases). This is an attractively understated Gewurz, with delicate aromas of rose petals, spice and citrus; and with flavours of grapefruit and lychee. The wine has just enough residual sugar (10 grams) to plump up the fruitiness without taking away from crisp finish. 89.

Quails’ Gate Chenin Blanc 2011 ($18.99 for 3,843 cases). Quails’ Gate is believed to be the largest producer of Chenin Blanc in British Columbia. Only a hand full of wineries has this varietal, alas, for it is a great wine with shellfish and other seafood. It is a tangy, racy wine with dramatic aromas of lime and lemon and flavours of lime, grapefruit and tart apples. The minerals and the fresh acidity give the wine good structure and weight. While this is drinking well already, it will age superbly, developing a richness of flavour and texture in four or five years. 91.

Quails’ Gate Dry Riesling 2011 ($16.99 for 4,404 cases). This bone-dry Riesling, very good now, will age over the next decade to great elegance. It begins with lime and green apple aromas which also are expressed in the flavours of lemon, lime and minerals. The bright acidity makes the wine savoury and mouth-watering, with a tangy finish. 90.

Quails’ Gate Rosé 2011 ($14.95 for 4,245 cases). This is blend of 85% Gamay Noir, 10% Pinot Noir and 5% Pinot Gris. The red grapes were crushed, with the skins left in contact with the juice overnight to extract colour and flavour. Then the juice was racked and fermented cool, like a white wine. The wine begins with aromas of strawberry and cranberry. On the palate, it has flavours of strawberry, rhubarb and pink grapefruit, with a tangy, refreshing finish. 90

Quails’ Gate Pinot Noir 2010 ($25 for 9,000 cases). Fairly dark in colour, the wine begins with aromas of sour cherry and spice. There are flavours of cherry and chocolate. The winery’s notes speak of a silky texture but I think the texture is still firm and a little closed – nothing that time won’t resolve. The wine has only been in the bottle since December and will benefit with another six to 12 months of bottle age. This won gold in the “under $25” category. 88.

Township 7 goes to the Stampede

2012-05-03T10:05:00.002-07:00

Photo: Township 7's Mike and Lori Raffan

Township 7 Vineyards & Winery has pulled off a coup by being selected to produce the official wines for Calgary Stampede’s centenary this summer.

The Stampede got samples from a number of wineries and, after tasting them, settled on a Chardonnay and a Merlot from Township 7.

The Centennial Chardonnay is $21.99 and the Centennial Merlot is $26.99 in British Columbia, where the wines are available at Township 7’s wineries in Pentictonand in Langley. The wines, selling for a couple of dollars less in Alberta, are available in several leading Albertaprivate wine stores. They will also be sold on the grounds at Stampede Parkin Calgaryduring the Stampede, which takes place during the first two weeks of July.

Calgary is familiar stomping ground for Township 7 proprietor Mike Raffan. A Vancouver native, he lived in Calgary from 1998 until he bought Township 7 in 2006. In Calgary, he was a partner in the launch of several restaurants, including three Milestones restaurants.

Mike says that he has “great memories of all the fun Stampede activities and of the exceptional Calgarian spirit.”

Township 7 is getting into that spirit in a big way. During the Stampede, it will host a number of food and wine seminars in Calgary.

As well, it plans Stampede parties at its two wineries. There will be a “Western Roundup Anniversary” at the Penticton winery on July 7 and 8, complete with barrel tastings with winemaker Brad Cooper. There will be country music and barbecue food paired with the Centennial wines.

On the following weekend, there will be a comparable party at Township 7’s Langleywinery, this time including a $20-a-ticket country and western concert on the evening of July 14. The winery is encouraging guests to break out their western attire and get into the spirit with Township 7.

Meanwhile, Township 7 has just released two excellent reserve wines. Both are in limited quantities and should sell out quickly.

Township 7 Reserve Chardonnay 2008 ($24.99 for 228 cases). The grapes in this wine are a blend of Similkameen and Black Sage Road fruit from two excellent vineyards. Winemaker Brad Cooper, something of a Chardonnay specialist, aged the wine 18 months in French oak.It is a big, rich Chardonnay, with aromas of tangerine and buttery oak. On the palate there is great spoonful of tropical flavours - tangerine, guava -supported by, but not overwhelmed by the oak. 90

Township 7 Reserve 7, 2008 ($34.99 for 217 cases.) This is a blend of 75% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Cabernet Franc, aged 25 months on French and American oak. It is a big, ripe wine, beginning with a dramatic aroma of black currant and vanilla. On the palate, there are flavours of black currant, plum, chocolate and vanilla. The texture is rich and concentrated and the finish is very long and satisfying. 91.

Twenty three camels remembered in wine

2012-05-01T14:45:00.000-07:00

Photo: Rolf de Bruin and Heleen Pannekoek

In 1862, a resident of Lillooet named John Callbreath had the bright idea to import 23 camels as pack animals for the Cariboo gold rush.

It proved to be a fiasco, as the CBC’s Mark Forsythe and Greg Dickson wrote in their book, The Trail of 1858. “The trail mules and horses were terrified of the Arabian interlopers, and stampedes often ensued with supplies flying everywhere; some animals fell over the cliffs to their deaths. It got so bad the government outlawed camels on the Cariboo Trail.”

This history has now found its way onto an excellent white blend called 23 Camels, made by Fort Berens Estate Winery, the first and, so far, only winery in Lillooet.

During the gold rush, Lillooet was briefly the largest city north of San Francisco. When Dutch immigrants Rolf de Bruin and Heleen Pannekoek established their 20-acre vineyard and winery there in 2009, they dipped into local history. First, they named the winery for a Hudson’s Bay post that was set up at Lillooet, but never completed. And they were attracted to the unlikely story of the 23 camels for a wine they are making exclusively for restaurants.

John Callbreath was “a pioneer,” Rolf and Heleen write on the wine’s back label. A century and a half later, they are the new pioneers in Lillooet by opening up what their consultant, Harry McWatters, calls Canada’s newest wine region.

Fort Berens has just released its first two estate-grown wines, a rosé and a Riesling. The latter wine has just won a gold medal and “best in class” at the recent Pacific Rim International Wine Competition in California. What a way to introduce a new region!

Rolf and Heleen were in high-powered consulting and banking careers in Hollandwhen they decided in 2005 that they want a change of lifestyle and career by entering the wine business. Fluent in English, they began looking at vineyard property in the Okanagan. In took them three years to get their immigration papers sorted out and by that time, vineyard prices were sky high.

One of the viticulturists they spoke with directed them to Harry McWatters, the founder of Sumac Ridge and now an independent consultant. It turned out that Harry had recently been in Lillooet to look at grape growing trials then being sponsored by the province. He thought there was excellent potential – and vineyard land was very reasonable in price.

Photo: Harry McWatters

Following his advice, Rolf and Heleen leased property there and planted 36,000 vines in the spring of 2009. The varieties chosen are Riesling, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. All are doing well although there is still a question mark about Merlot, a vine susceptible to winter kill.

Growing conditions in the Lillooet and Lytton areas are somewhat like those of the south Okanagan – hot sun-soaked days and cool nights. The average frost-free days at Lillooet total about 183 days. There is some concern that winters might be colder than in the Okanagan, killing vines. However, Harry notes that the hard cold comes later in the season in Lillooet, meaning that the vines have had time to go into protective hibernation.

A handful of other vineyards have now been planted in the area. “I would love to see more wineries come to the area,” says Heleen. Not that Lillooet is especially isolated: it is a little more than an hour from Whistler (via the picturesque Duffy Lake Road) and three hours from downtown Vancouver.

With Rolf and Heleen needing to make a living, they began selling Fort Berens wine since the fall of 2009 with wines made from Okanagan grapes. The strategy has paid off. The winery, now making about 2,200 cases a year, has its wines in all of the VQA stores and in many restaurants.

Okanagan winemaker Tim DiBello (formerly with CedarCreek) supervised their initial vintages. Last fall Bill Pierson, who was Tom’s assistant at CedarCreek, became the fulltime winemaker for Fort Berens.

In 2011, when Fort Berensgot its first harvest from the Lillooet vineyard, the estate-grown fruit provided 40% of the production. Rolf expects that, by 2013, the vineyard will provide 80% of the grapes they need. They will buy grapes from other vineyards in the area, if those grapes are available, showcasing this emerging wine region.

But they may never quite wean themselves from some Okanagan fruit. The winery needs Cabernet Sauvignon for its Meritage blend and that is a long-season variety unlikely to succeed in Lillooet.

Here are notes on the current releases.

Fort Berens Riesling 2011 ($17.99 for a production of 175 cases). The wine begins with honeyed floral aromas. On the palate, there are flavours of lime and grapefruit, with just a touch of sweetness to give additional lift to the fruit flavours. The wine is drinking well now (see the gold medal) but there will be further development here with more bottle age. 91.

Fort Berens Pinot Gris 2011 ($17.99 for a production of 275 cases). This wine, made with 35% estate grapes and 65% Okanagan grapes, won a bronze medal at the Pacific Rim competition. The wine is crisp and refreshing, with aromas and flavours of citrus, apples and pears. 88.

Fort Berens White Gold 2010 ($24.99 for 98 cases). This is a Chardonnay; White Gold signifies an upper tier of quality. Half of this wine spent six months in new French oak while the remainder was in stainless steel. About half of the wine also went through malolactic fermentation. All of this detailed fussing paid off. The wine retains lovely aromas and flavours of citrus supported subtly by hints of oak and by buttery flavours and texture. 90.

Fort Berens Pinot Noir Rosé 2001 ($17.99 for 90 cases). This is 100% from Lillooet grapes, the first small harvest (1.6 tons) of Pinot Noir. The juice spent 48 hours on the skins to extract a vibrant colour and lots of flavour. The wine begins with aromas of strawberries and cherries. On the palate, there are flavours of sour cherries, raspberries and cranberries. There is a hint of spice on the crisp, dry finish. 88.

Fort Berens 23 Camels 2011 ($N.A.). This is a delicious blend of Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Riesling, finished in the apple-fresh style that screams wine by the glass … the perfect restaurant wine. It is crisp but also fruity, with floral and herbal aromas and with flavours of citrus, melon and apple. 90.

Marimar Torres shows her wines in Vancouver

2012-04-29T16:52:00.002-07:00

Photo: Marimar Torres

A member of Spain’s best-known wine family, Marimar Torres moved to San Francisco in 1975 to promote Torres wines in the United States.

In 1986, backed by the family, she planted Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines in the Sonoma Valley. Marimar Estate Vineyards and Winery released its first wines in 1991 and has gone on to become one of Sonoma’s leading boutique producers.

Last week, she was in British Columbia to get more of her wines into this market. She already has a peripheral connection to British Columbia: her winemaker is Napaconsultant Bill Dyer, who made the first seven vintages at Burrowing Owl Estate Winery and subsequently consulted on several vintages for Church & State Wines.

The Torres family’s history in wine began in 1870 when Jaime Torres returned to Spain with a Cuban fortune and teamed up with a brother to launch the business. Jaime is remembered today for building the world’s largest wine vat (600,000 litres). It was destroyed when the winery was bombed during the Spanish Civil War.

The winery was rebuilt in 1940 by the leader of the family’s next generation, Miguel Torres, to whom the honorific “Don” was applied through much of his life, perhaps because he was hard-driving and somewhat imperious. He was still influencing the business when he died in 1991 at age 81, having been succeeded by his son, Miguel A. Torres, Marimar’s brother.

Miguel A., who was born in 1941, studied enology in France. When he joined the family business in 1962, he persuaded his father to plant Cabernet Sauvignon, along with other French vinifera. The winery’s reputation moved to a higher level in 1979 when a Cabernet Sauvignon from Torres won top honours in the so-called wine Olympics in Paris.

According to a recent article in the Irish Times, Miguel A. was “frustrated by the length of time it took his own father … to hand over the reins.” So he laid down a policy that managing directors should retire at 70. He has not retired yet himself. But when he does, there are two family members being groomed. His daughter, Meriea, is the winery’s technical director, and his son, Miguel Torres Jr., is running the major winery that the family established in Chile in 1979.

By basing herself in California, Marimar (who was once married to wine critic Robert Finnegan) has carved out a respected and independent place in wine while acknowledging the family heritage and its Catalan roots.

The first vineyard planted in Sonoma, 60 acres in size, is called the Don Miguel Vineyard. A more recently planted 12-acre vineyard is called Doña Margarita, for her late mother. Both have adopted organic viticulture in 2003 and are moving toward biodynamic methods.

The winery, which opened to the public in 1993 and has a capacity of 15,000 cases, is designed like a Catalan farm house.

And in the family tradition, Marimar, who was born in 1945, is being joined in the California winery by daughter Cristina, an economics major at Princeton University.

This is also a literate family. Marimar has written two cookbooks: The Catalan Country Kitchen and The Spanish Table: The Cuisines and Wines of Spain. Her brother, Miguel A., has written a number of highly-regarded books on Spanish wine.

While the Torres wineries in Spainand in Chilehave developed large portfolios of varietals and blends, Marimar Estate is tightly focussed just on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. That reflects the varieties best suited to the two cool vineyards, which are six and 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean.

The cool growing conditions show through in the vivid and fresh fruit flavours of the wines.

Here are notes on the wines that can be found in various private wine stores in Vancouver(such as Legacy, Kitsilano Wine Cellars and Dundarave Wine Cellars). The prices shown here are suggested retail prices in California. Expect the Canadian prices to be somewhat higher.

Marimar Estate “Acero” 2009 Chardonnay (US$29). This is an exceptional unoaked Chardonnay, vibrant with aromas of lime and tangerine and with flavours of tropical fruits, including tangerines. Acero is Spanish for steel, the wine having been fermented and aged in stainless steel. 90.

Marimar Estate “La Masía” 2009 Chardonnay (US$35). La Masía is Catalan for farm house. This is a barrel-fermented Chardonnay, with notes of honey and tropical fruit on the nose and with flavours grapefruit, stone fruit, apples, hazelnut and spice – a very complex and satisfying wine. 92.

Marimar Estate “Dobles Lías” 2008 Chardonnay (US$45). The name means double lees – the wine had extended lees contact in the barrel, resulting in a toasty and rich texture. The flavours recall honey and marmalade with subtle oak notes. 90.

Marimar Estate “La Masia” 2007 Pinot Noir (US$39). This is a bright, charming Pinot Noir, loaded, as the winery’s own notes say, “with black cherry flavours.” I also found raspberry and mocha. 90.

Marimar Estate “Mas Cavalls” 2007 Pinot Noir (US$44). Mas Cavalls is Catalan for horse farm because the winery also has an equestrian centre near the vineyard. This is a stunning Pinot Noir, with rich layers of flavour – black cherry, wild strawberry, spice, even earth notes. It is what the critics would call “barnyard” and that is positive. 92.

Marimar Estate “Cristina” 2007 Pinot Noir (US$49). This wine is a special selection of 20 barrels that the winery believes shows the best of the terroir of the Don Miguel Vineyard. It is rich on the palate, with black cherry, plums and blackberry flavours. The texture is classically seductive. 93.

Tinhorn Creek's compost pile and other good deeds

2012-04-28T10:57:00.001-07:00

Photo: Tinhorn Creek's Sandra Oldfield

On your next visit to Tinhorn Creek Estate Winery, walk to the northern border of its Golden Mile vineyard and look over the edge. You will see the winery’s compost field.

While this is not the most photogenic feature at the winery, it is a key part to Tinhorn Creek’s focus on sustainable winegrowing.

During the past six years, the winery’s sustainability initiatives have been gathering momentum, part of its policy to reduce its carbon footprint. Some examples:

* In 2004 the winery began releasing beetles to control a particular weed (the beetles eat the stems), replacing herbicides. Also in 2004, the winery became involved in a major project to restore the antelope brush habitat in the south Okanagan.

* A trial program with snake fences, begun at Tinhorn Creek, is now widely used in the south Okanagan to safeguard people from snakes – and to protect the endangered snakes from people. These are low fences, low enough to step over, that prevent snakes from slithering into the vineyards. There is one, for example, at the top end of the winery vineyard, ensuring that snakes stay in the grassland on the hillside.

* The winery is believed to be the first in the Okanagan to convert to biodiesel for its farm machinery.

Photo: Tinhorn Creek's compost field

* The winery – like a growing number of its peers -- has been ramping up a program to compost every residual, from spent grape skins and seeds to food wastes from its restaurant. The compost then is put back onto its 130 acres of vineyard, much of it on sandy soil on Black Sage Roadthat benefits from the addition of the compost.

“We have a never-ending supply of land that can accept the waste that we generate from the process of making our product,” says Sandra Oldfield, the winery’s president and winemaker. “It means we don’t have to ship our waste out.”

It is not always the easiest way to deal with waste. For example, it would be cheaper to take restaurant waste to the local landfill. Tinhorn Creek has developed a method of fermenting these wastes before mixing them into the compost. That eliminates the odours that could attract bears and also annoy winery visitors.

* The winery has numerous programs to conserve water in its processing and in its vineyards, water being a precious commodity in the dry Okanagan. Currently, the winery is well into a four-year $1 million conversion of its overhead irrigation system to drip irrigation. Drip is so much more efficient that it can reduce the amount of water put onto the vineyard by as much as 75%.

“There are huge cost savings in putting in the drip system from an operational point of view and an environmental point of view,” says Andrew Moon, the winery’s viticulturist. “Grape vines don’t like having water thrown on top of them. They start getting diseases. Converting to drip cuts down the opportunity of those diseases getting into the vines. We don’t have to spray as much.”

* The winery has an extensive health and safety program developed over the last two years by a committee of the employees. The employees actually identified 900 workplace hazards – everything from dealing with confined spaces to avoiding repetitive strains. This initiative has changed the entire culture at the winery, and for the better.

“Employees are where it is at,” Sandra says. “Wine is just a by-product.”

That is just for starters. The winery uses energy efficient light bulbs, paperless faxes, and recycled packaging products whenever possible. This is a winery that is truly serious about have a light footprint on the environment.

Tinhorn Creek is certainly not alone among Okanagan wineries in working to be green, but it seems to be in a leading position.

A bean counter might ask whether wine consumers will reward Tinhorn Creek’s laudable efforts by buying its wines. I don’t think Tinhorn Creek is engaged in good works in the expectation of gaining more sales; the management here is not cynical. However, the rising green sensibility in society in general is certain to translate into better sales for those wineries making an effort at being good citizens.

Here are notes on current Tinhorn Creek releases. With the exception of the rosé and the new white blend, most of the Oldfield Series wines were released last fall and may have been reviewed here. I have another opportunity to taste them this spring, however. Oldfield Series is the winery’s designation for its reserve tier.

Tinhorn Creek Pinot Gris 2011 ($17.99). In this vintage, the winemaker tweaked its most popular white by letting 30% ferment in small stainless steel barrels and putting it through malolactic fermentation. When assembled with the other 70%, this portion softened the acidity and broadened the palate. The wine is still a bowl full of fruit brimming with pears and apples. 90.

Tinhorn Creek Gewürztraminer 2011 ($17.99 for a production of 3,640 cases). This is one of the winery’s drier Gewürztraminers, showing classic spicy aromas and flavours of grapefruit. This is a very good wine with seafood. 88.

Oldfield Series 2Bench Rosé 2011 ($22.99). The third vintage of Tinhorn Creek’s rosé, it is made in greater volume that in previous years because the vintage gave the winery more Cabernet Franc best suited for rosé. This wine is crisp and dry, with aromas and flavours of raspberry. It is a light, refreshing wine looking for a picnic. 88.

Oldfield Series 2Bench White 2011 ($22.99 for a production of 1,091 cases). This wine, which will be released June 1, is complex blend of 52% Chardonnay, 31% Sauvignon Blanc, 11% Viognier and 3% each of Sémillon and Muscat. It begins with attractive citrus, herbal, grassy and tropical fruit aromas; it delivers lovely fruit flavours and has a refreshing, zesty finish. 90-92.

Oldfield Series Merlot 2008 ($27.99 for a production of 1,200 cases). This elegant Merlot begins with aromas of red berries and vanilla. It delivers flavours of blackberry, plum, chocolate and vanilla. 90.

Oldfield Series Syrah 2008 ($34.99 for a production of 528 cases). This wine begins with aromas of pepper, meat and plum and delivers flavours of plum, fig, game meats and pepper, all with a polished texture. 90.

Oldfield Series 2Bench Red 2008 ($34.99 for a production of 731 cases). This is 40% each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and 20%, Cabernet Franc, aged almost 20 months in French oak barrels (a mix of new and used). This is still a wine for cellaring, with its backbone of grippy, earthy tannins supporting flavours of black currant and chocolate. 90.

Black Hills opens $1 million wine shop

2012-04-26T17:01:00.000-07:00

Photo: Black Hills wine shop

On June 8, Black Hills Estate Winery is opening a $1 million wine shop right on Black Sage Road.

It will be a welcome improvement in the wine touring experience. Initially, Black Hillsopened in 2001 in a large Quonset hut. The tasting room, when it was open, was a couple of planks over several barrels.

When a modern winery was built several years ago, it was sited well downhill from Black Sage Road. It was a bit of a hike down to the winery; and the climb back up to the road took away one’s breath, especially if you were carrying your wine purchases.

The new wineshop is “on the level”. It is a few hundred yards south of the winery on a 14-acre vineyard that Black Hills purchased last year. The wine shop, which is just at the edge of the road, sits on a knoll with a grand view of the valley.

Black Hills has had a tasting room open at the current winery location. But improved access of the new wine shop will enable the winery to ramp up what it will be offering visitors. Tutored tastings of five wines conducted by a so-called wine evangelist will be available at $20 a person. Plans are being made as well to offer occasional vertical tastings of Nota Bene and other Black Hills wines.

The proposed wine shop hours are 10 am to 6 pm from spring to fall. Appointments will not be necessary but are advisable when the wine touring season gets busy.

Black Hills has just released its new wines for this season. The initial offering of Nota Bene 2010, the flagship red blend, is technically sold out at the winery. However, Black Hills always holds some back for special releases later in the year. As well, you can usually find some in private wine stores. Just this week, I spotted Nota Bene 2008 in a wine store in the airport at Calgary.

Photo: Graham Pierce

Here are my notes on the releases.

Black Hills Nota Bene 2010 ($53 for a production of 3,300 cases). As usual, this blend is anchored with Cabernet Sauvignon, at 57%, with Merlot at 32% and Cabernet Franc at 11%. The Cabernet Sauvignon contributes a touch of mint to the aroma and flavour, complementing the cassis aroma. The wine has luscious flavours of black currant and plum, with long, ripe tannins. The wine finishes with a polished elegance. 92.

Black Hills Carmenère 2010 ($50 for a production of 300 cases). This wine has become the other cult red wine at Black Hills. Made from vines planted in 1999, it was the first Okanagan Carmenère and remains one of a very few examples of this late-ripening variety. The wine is so eagerly sought that Black Hills converted its entire (small) Chardonnay planting to Carmenère. More Carmenère will be planted in the recently acquired vineyard, to increase total production to about 1,000 cases a year.

This is an interesting and complex red with aromas of pepper and red berries. The pepper carries through to the palate, along with flavours of plum, black cherry and chocolate. The alcohol is a moderate 12.2%, as it was in 2009, a much warmer vintage. This seems to be a variety that develops flavour before packing on the sugar. 90.

Black Hills Syrah 2009 ($35). In his notes on the wine, Graham Pierce, the winemaker, accurately describes this as an “exuberant wine with aromas of raspberry, cherry cola, blackberry and chocolate.” On the palate, it has the classic flavours of a South Okanagan Syrah – deli and game meats, plum, fig, mocha and vanilla. It is a big, satisfying red. 91.

Black Hills Alibi 2010 ($25). This is 75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Sémillon. “I don’t want to make a one-dimensional New Zealandstyle of Sauvignon Blanc,” the winemaker says. The Sémillon was fermented in oak puncheons before being added to the blend. The wine begins with herbal and citrus aromas. On the generous palate, there are flavours of apricot, pineapple and grapefruit. The tangy finish is clean and refreshing. 90.

Black Hills Viognier 2010 ($25 for 700 cases). The wine begins with a dramatic and fruity aroma – pineapple, grapefruit, peach – and delivers that bowl of fruit on the palate. The wine also has a crisp spine of minerals, and perhaps a touch of the tannin that resides in the skin of this white. The finish goes on and on. 91.

A boutique trio and their wines

2012-04-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

Photo: Clos du Soleil's Spencer Massie

For wine lovers, one the most anticipated signs of spring is the release of the new wines.

In recent weeks, I have been at several release events. Because the notes are beginning to pile up, I have grouped three boutique winery tastings into this posting. Many are wines from 2011, a vintage with surprisingly good whites and rosés.

The first was a tasting of 2011 wines from sister wineries Le Vieux Pin and LaStella, both owned by Enotecca Winery & Resorts. These are two boutique wineries in the south Okanagan, both with premium wine portfolios and, occasionally, bold pricing because it is expensive to make premium wines. The whites and the rosé are more moderately priced.

These are my notes.

Le Vieux Pin Vaïla 2011 ($25 for 989 cases). This dry Pinot Noir rosé has developed such a cult following that one fan has already ordered nine cases for hopefully a great summer. It begins with a lovely rose petal and salmon hue; it has aromas of rhubarb, grapefruit and strawberry and flavours of strawberry. 90.

Le Vieux Pin Sauvignon Blanc 2011 ($35 for 535 cases). Think of a subdued Loire style Sauvignon Blanc, with herbal aromas and flavours along with the varietal’s characteristic gooseberry and grassy notes. The finish is dry. About 24% of this was fermented in French oak with weekly lees stirring to add to the rich texture. 89.

LaStella Leggiero Un-Oaked Chardonnay 2011 ($25 for 340 cases). The grapes for this wine are from 20-year-old vines at the Inkameep Vineyard. Fermenting and aging this wine in stainless steel preserved the pure and focussed fruit flavours. The wine is crisp like Chablis, with apple and citrus flavours.

LaStella Vivace Pinot Grigio 2011 ($25 for 960 cases). This wine begins with alluring aromas of pear and guava. On the palate, it has juicy flavours of pear and kiwi, with a finish that goes on and on. 92.

LaStella La Stellina Rosato 2011 ($25 for 560 cases). This is an off-dry rosé made with Merlot that was picked with rosé in mind. The hue is dark; the aromas show notes of plum and earth; it tastes of plums and black currants. The touch of residual sweetness gives the wine a fleshy texture. 90.

Clos du Soleil Winery is a boutique winery in the SimilkameenValley with a Bordeaux focus on the wines it makes. The winery is owned by four couples but the public face is Spencer Massie, a retired – but still youthful – naval officer who has graduated from passing the port to a serious winery.

If the winery still flies below the radar screen, that is because it has not had a tasting room until this year. Even then, an appointment is a good idea because the individuals who look after the wineshop also have vineyard and winery duties.

Here are my notes.

Clos du Soleil Rosé 2011 ($17.90 for 390 cases). The varietal in this dry rosé wine is Cabernet Sauvignon. The raspberry and cranberry notes on the nose transform to strawberry and cherry flavours on the palate. The finish is crisp and refreshing. 90.

Clos du Soleil Capella 2010 ($24.90 for 535 cases). This is a crisp, disciplined Sauvignon Blanc, with herbal and grassy aromas and flavours and with a dry finish. 90.

Clos du Soleil Pinot Blanc 2011 ($18.90 for 180 cases). This is a departure from the Bordeaux theme here, because, for the second year in a row, the winery has been able to purchase excellent fruit from one of its Similkameen growers. The wine is varietally classic – apple aromas and flavours, full on the palate, with minerals on the backbone. 88.

Clos du Soleil Signature 2009 ($39.90 for 275 cases). This red blend incorporates all five Bordeauxred varieties in a full-bodied wine with aromas of black currants and vanilla and with flavours of fig, black cherry, vanilla and chocolate. This is a wine for cellaring. 91.

Clos du Soleil Winemaker’s Reserve 2009 ($58.85 for four barrels). This is a blend of 50% Merlot and 25% each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The wine is big and concentrated. It presents a core of sweet fruit flavours – plum, fig, mocha, vanilla – supported elegantly with long, ripe tannins. The wine is definitely built for the long haul; the winery estimates 10 to 15 years of development. 92.

Alto Wine Group of Okanagan Falls is a custom crush winery that serves several labels. Alan Dickinson, the lead partner at Alto, has a label called Synchromesh which emerges from his family’s long interest in motor cars. His father, John, used to race in Britain; and the Dickinsons remain active in British car circles in Vancouver, as well as in wine.

Alan and John recently hosted a tasting of new releases for the friends of the family who have discovered the wines.

Here are my notes.

Synchromesh Amelia Block Gewürztraminer 2011 ($30 for 23 cases). This wine got its name when Alan’s partner, Amelia, asked that he spare the remaining block of Gewürztraminer after frost had wiped out many of the vines. Good call. The wine is delicate and fresh, with notes of grapefruit on the palate and with minerals and white pepper on the finish. 88.

Synchromesh Riesling 2011 ($30 for 41 cases). At this stage in its development, this is a tangy, well-balanced white with citrus notes and aromas. But to understand where this wine is going, you need to taste the spectacular 2010 Riesling to see how much richness and depth and kerosene characters develop when this German-style Riesling gets to age. 88-90.

Synchromesh Pinot Noir Rosé 2011 ($20 for 125 cases). This begins with a vibrant strawberry hue and aroma. On the palate, there are flavours of cherry and strawberry. The wine shows the silken texture of Pinot Noir. 88.

Synchromesh Tertre Rouge 2010 ($35 for 70 cases). If you are a motorsport fan, you will know that this wine is named for a corner at the Le Mans racing circuit in France. The wine is 66% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc and 13% Cabernet Sauvignon. I know the math does not add up but it is on the website. “New” math certainly does not interfere with the taste of the wine, a delicious drop with sweet fruit on the mid-palate – flavours of black currant, blueberry and chocolate. 89-90.

CedarCreek marks 25 years with its 2011 wines

2012-04-19T13:59:00.000-07:00

Photo: Winemaker Darryl Brooker

Darryl Brooker, the Australian born winemaker who joined CedarCreek Estate Winery in the spring of 2010, has now begun to release the wines from his second Okanagan vintage.

Both were challenging vintages but the evidence is in the glass that Darryl, who was new to the Okanagan, was on top of both – especially 2011. Even though that spring was late and cool, the rest of the year had conditions that produced superb aromatic whites and Pinot Noir, the flagship wines at CedarCreek.

CedarCreek president Gordon Fitzpatrick quietly beams with pride releasing wines like that in 2012. The winery is celebrating its 25^th anniversary this year and wouldn’t mind making a splash.

You could argue that the winery is even older. Under its founding owners, it opened in 1980 at Uniacke Wines. The winery struggled – they all did in the early years – until Ross Fitzpatrick bought it late in 1986, relaunching it the following year as CedarCreek.

Ross, a successful mining executive and later a senator, had grown up in the Okanagan and was returning to his roots. His son, Gordon, joined the winery in 1996. That was a baptism of fire: 1996 was such a cold and late vintage that Gordon recalls picking Riesling grapes during a November snow storm.

Over the years, CedarCreek has employed legendary winemakers. Kelowna-born Ann Sperling made several good vintages before moving to Ontarioin 1995. (She is back working with Okanagan wineries again, including family-owned Sperling Vineyards.)

In 1998 the winery recruited Kevin Willenborg from the Louis M. Martini Winery. He is believed to have been the first graduate of the University of California’s renowned winemaking school at Davis to work in the Okanagan. When he went back to Californiain 2000, he was succeeded by Tom DiBello, another UC Davis graduate.

Tom stamped a style on CedarCreek in the 10 vintages he spent there. The winery was

Canada

’s winery of the year twice during that decade.

No wine had more of Tom’s fingerprints than its Ehrenfelser. An aromatic fruit bowl of a wine, it has a cult following.

Darryl, of course, had never made Ehrenfelser before coming to CedarCreek. Born in Canberra in 1973, he made wine in Australia, New Zealand and Ontario before coming to the Okanagan. Around the world, there is only a modest acreage of Ehrenfelser, a vinifera cross developed in

Germany

and named for castle ruin near Rüdesheim.

Soon after arriving at CedarCreek, Darryl started hearing consumers telling him: “Don’t ruin the Ehrenfelser.” When he made a drier style in 2010 than the previous examples, “that’s when the death threats started to roll in.”

He is joking but he also listened to the consumers. The 2011 version has a little more residual sugar and less acid than 2010, resulting in more punch to the fruity aromas and flavours. It is still versatile with food while delivering the expected basket of fruit.

CedarCreek’s followers are now awaiting the release of the winery’s 2010 Pinot Noir because Darryl made changes in the choice of barrels and in the general style. Those wines should be released by this autumn.

And keep on eye on future Pinot Noir and Chardonnays. The winery will be building a new crush facility dedicated to these varietals.

Meanwhile, here are notes on the 2o11 releases to date.

CedarCreek 2011 Riesling ($17.90 for a production of 1,355 cases). Darryl had grapes available from two mature blocks: from vines planted in a Westbank vineyard in 1979 and from vines planted on CedarCreek’s vineyard near Kelowna in 1991. He decided to pick the grapes on flavour, not on the numbers. So this wine ended up with 10.8% alcohol, 12.2 grams of acid per litre and 18.45 grams of residual sugar. He also fermented the wine very slowly, at cool temperatures, for about 60 days. The result is a tour de force with tangy lime and grapefruit flavours, with weight on the palate and with superb balance. As good as it is now, it will age very nicely for another two or three years. 91.

CedarCreek 2011 Ehrenfelser ($18.90 for 1,140 cases). There will certainly be no death threats for this juicy, tropical white with citrus aromas and flavours of pineapple, apricot and pink grapefruit. 89.

CedarCreek 2011 Gewürztraminer ($17.90 for 2,053 cases). The surprise in the winery notes is that 10% of this wine was fermented in French oak (not new). It was a good trick, adding to the viscous texture. The wine begins with aromas of spice and rose petals, continuing to flavours of lychee and spicy grapefruit peel. 90.

CedarCreek 2011 Pinot Gris ($17.90 for 6,100 cases). A quarter of this wine was fermented in French oak; 10% of the juice was left on the skins overnight. The result is a rich, complex Pinot Gris with flavours of pear and ripe apple. 90.

CedarCreek 2011 Rosé ($17.90 for 630 cases). The wine was made by bleeding some juice from every lot of Pinot Noir that was crushed last fall and fermenting the juice like a white wine. The skin contact has given this wine a lovely dark hue. There are aromas and flavours of cherry, raspberry and strawberry, with a touch of residual sugar to plump up the fruity flavours. 90.

JoieFarm's 2011 wines showcase a good vintage

2012-04-18T10:12:00.000-07:00

It is spring in the Okanagan, with buds swelling on the vines. To everyone’s relief, it looks as if spring is a little earlier this year that in 2011 – more like a normal spring.

Last year, as JoieFarm Wines says in its vintage comments, “… was a cool vintage from start to finish. Spring was late arriving and it delayed bud break until May 16. … Normal summer-like temperatures were not seen until mid-July.” Fortunately, the weather improved in the latter half of the season, with a long October hang-time that saved the vintage for many.

Against that background, the quality of the 2011 white and rosé wines now being released is surprising and, almost always very good. That is certainly so for JoieFarm’s 2011 releases, among the best from that Naramata winery so far. The cool vintage blessed consumers with wines that show vibrant acidity and freshness, good flavours and delightfully moderate alcohols.

Here are my notes on JoieFarm wines, available in restaurants, private wine stores and through the winery’s website.

JoieFarm A Noble Blend 2011 ($23.90, with a production of 3,467 cases, 486 magnums and 90 double magnums). This is a five-grape blend: 38% Riesling, 33% Gewürztraminer, 14% Pinot Blanc, 11% Pinot Auxerrois and 4% Schönburger. The wine begins with aromas of herbs, spice and citrus fruit; and delivers flavours of apples, lychee and lime, with a hint of minerality. The 12.7% alcohol adds to the elegance of the wine. 91.

JoieFarm Un-Oaked Chardonnay 2011 ($22.90 for 1,219 cases). The wine begins with an alluring aroma of peach and apricot and delivers flavours of apples, pears and stone fruits. The concentration of fruit flavours gives this wine a more satisfying weight on the palate that one expects from 12.2% alcohol. The winery has made reference to Chablis on the back label. It does not echo Chablis for me but it is a delicious wine. 90.

JoieFarm Riesling 2011 ($22.90 for 780 cases). I could close my eyes while drinking this wine and be transported to the Rhine. The winery balanced the lively acidity (10.5 grams per litre) with 19.3 grams per litre of residual sugar. The result is a wine which, while technically off-dry, tastes crisp and tangy. There is a pristine focus to the fruit aromas and flavours – flavours of lime, grapefruit – with a good mineral backbone. The alcohol is 12.4%. I would bet it will age very well for several years, if you can stay away from it.

JoieFarm Muscat 2011 ($22.90 for 427 cases). The winery refers to the Moscato Canelli grape as “the pure grape” – presumably because the flavours are so clean and refreshing. There is a delicate spice in the aroma, with flavours of lime, grapefruit and tangerine. The finish is tangy. With only 11.1% alcohol, this is a very drinkable wine, whether as an aperitif or with food. 90.

JoieFarm Pinot Blanc 2011 (22.90 for 180 cases). The grapes for this wine are from two blocks that were planted in 1987. It shows in the concentration and weight of the wine. It begins with apple aromas, going on to flavours of apple and pear. The tiny bit of residual sugar, while well balanced with acidity, plumps up the fruitiness as well. 90.

JoieFarm Rosé 2011 ($20.90 for 2,026 cases, 340 magnums). I think you could credit JoieFarm for making rosé wines from the Okanagan popular. Hardly anybody was making rosé when JoieFarm opened in 2004. Now, almost everyone is and many are delicious. Certainly this one is. It is a blend of four grapes: 41% Gamay, 38% Pinot Noir, 11% Pinot Meunier and 10% Pinot Gris. The wine, which has an appealing hue, begins with spice and cranberry aromas. On the palate, there are flavours of strawberry, cherry and cranberry. This is a crisp, dry rosé meant for food. 90.

New book details 34 new wineries

2012-04-17T11:14:00.000-07:00

Time for a little self-promotion. Some of my readers will have used earlier editions of John Schreiner’s Okanagan Wine Tour Guide, the handy pocket-sized volume that came out first in 2006 with 248 pages.

The fourth edition, now 368 pages but still $20, has just been published. It profiles 34 wineries that were not in the third edition just two years ago. In total, there are 161 profiles in the latest book, up from 100 in the 2006 book. I have extended the coverage beyond the Okanagan and the Similkameen to include both the Kootenays and Kamloops.

Even frequent wine tourists will find many wineries that they have never heard about until now. Here is a quick peak to whet your curiosity either for the wineries or the book, or both. Most have websites where you can get more information than I have room to give here.

Adega on 45th Estate Winery is a winery opening this spring in Osoyoos, not far from Nk’Mip Cellars. The owners are Portuguese; “adega” means wine cellar in Portuguese.

Alto Wine Group is located in a rustic metal clad building just east of Okanagan Falls. It is a bit of a winemaker collective that produces a host of very good small labels including Synchromesh and DiBello.

Artisan Food & Beverage Group is one of the members of the Alto co-operative, run by a consultant who lives in Vancouverand makes wines under the Siren’s Call label. Liquidity Wines is opening this year near Okanagan Fallsand Blue Mountain Cellars, on a vineyard once farmed by Blue Mountain’s founder. The winemaker here is a young Australian who once worked for Tantalus.

Baccata Ridge Winery is a new organic winery opening this summer in Grindrod, a small community near Enderby. It is just off Highway 97A.

Celista Estate Winery opened last year at Celista, a community beside Shuswap Lake. This is B.C.’s most northern winery, owned by a couple who used to live in Yellowknife. Sunnybrae Vineyards & Winery is a charming Shuswap winery that also opened last summer.

Double Cross Cidery at Function Junction is a new cidery and part of a popular fruit stand on Highway 33 at the north end of Kelowna.

50th Parallel Estate is an ambitious new winery not far north of Gray Monk and on the same side of Okanagan Lake. The winemaker is a Pinot Noir expert from a top New Zealand winery.

Harper’s Trail Estate Winery is a new winery just east of Kamloopsnear the Lafarge cement plant. There will not be a tasting room for a year or so. Monte Creek Ranch Estate Winery will open nearby in several years. Privato Vineyard & Winery is north of Kamloopsand will not have a tasting room.

Heaven’s Gate Estate Winery opened a lovely tasting room last summer just outside Summerland on what used to be a peach orchard. SummerGate Winery and Tyler Harlton Wines are new wineries nearby and Saxon Winery is the former Hollywood & Wine Winery.

Heron Ridge Estates Winery is a new fruit winery (blueberry wines) just outside Castlegar – this city’s first winery. Wynnwood Cellars, which makes grape wines, is the third winery in Creston.

Three new wineries have opened beside Highway 97 south of Oliver. Intersection Winery at Road 9 (no wineshop yet) is owned by Bruce Schmidt, once national sales manager for Calona Wines. Maverick Estate Winery, a bit further south, is run by the winemaker at Burrowing Owl and his father-in-law, a South African doctor. Gold Hill Winery, which is just completing a grand tasting room, opened last summer beside Highway 97, midway between Oliver and Osoyoos.

Niche Wine Company is a West Kelowna winery with no tasting room at this time. The young couple who own the winery are hand-selling the wines – Pinot Noir, Foch, Pinot Gris - in Vancouver.

Okanagan Crush Pad Winery is a very modern winery in Summerland that does custom winemaking. This is where Haywire, Bartier Brothers, Bartier & Scholefield wines are made, among others. The wineshop only opens for wine festivals.

Perseus Winery & Vineyards is almost in downtown Penticton. Nearby, Upper Bench Estate Winery is the former Stonehill winery under new management; and also selling cheese. Misconduct Winery, which was profiled in previous books, now has a tasting room, also on Upper Bench.

Planet Bee Honey Farm & Meadery is a honey-lover’s paradise, near downtown Vernon.

New to Black Sage Roadis Platinum Bench Estate Winery, opening a wineshop this spring, and Time Estate Winery, Harry McWatter’s new venture, which has not yet begun building its winery. River Stone Estate Winery, near the Jackson-Triggs winery, opened last year with impressive wines.

Two new wineries have opened on the Naramata Bench. Terravista Vineyards (no tasting room) is owned by former founders of Black Hills Winery. 3 Mile Estate Winery opened a wineshop last year on Naramata Road and 3 Mile Road.

The Vibrant Vine/Okanagan Villa Estate Winery opened two years ago in Kelownabut the owners did not contact me in time for the previous tour guide. This is a must-visit winery where guests are given 3-D glasses to view the 3-D wine labels.

While I don’t expect as many new wineries to open in the next two years, there still are others to come. Don Triggs, one of the founders of Jackson-Triggs, has just begun to build a new winery, called Culmina, on the Golden Mile and will be releasing wines in 2013.

Mission Hill's super-premium wines are released

2012-04-08T16:39:00.000-07:00

Mission Hill Family Estate Winery has released all of its big guns this spring in an impressive display of accomplished winemaking.

The notes below are for the winery’s three premium tiers. The Legacy wines are at the top of the pyramid: Oculus, Compendium, Quatrain and Perpetua.

Select Lot Collection is the tier just below, referring to wines made from select blocks or even rows of vines in its vineyards. This speaks to the maturity of its vineyards and the winery’s understanding of its terroir – that it now identifies top areas in the vineyard for its premium wines. This is good move away from a practice once common in the Okanagan – selecting the “best” barrels for premium releases.

By identifying the best terroir, a winery has a shot at producing wines with more distinction.

The winery’s third premium tier is its Reserve range. These are also limited production releases but generally are blends of good grapes from more than one vineyard.

If you are on a budget, Mission Hill’s entry-level tier is called Five Vineyards. None are reviewed here at this time but they are solid and reliable wines at competitive prices.

Here are my notes.

Mission Hill Oculus 2008 ($80). In this vintage, the winery produced 1,100 cases of Oculus. I am told that most of the wine has been allotted for collectors and restaurants although there usually are some bottles on sale at the winery. It would be worth the drive. The wine is a blend of 46% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. It is a concentrated, brooding wine built for the long haul (think 2018). It begins with aromas of black currants, figs and cedar, and tastes of currants and dark chocolate. There is an earthy tone on the finish but with cellaring, this complex wine will reveal its powerful fruit. 93.

Mission Hill Compendium 2008 ($50). This is the “little” brother to Oculus – actually, with 14.5% alcohol compared with 14% for Oculus, it is even riper. It is a blend of 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. The wine also has a brooding, contemplative personality that demands you savour it slowly. The aroma is dominated by sage and by the mint and brambly red berries of the two Cabernets. On the palate, there are generous flavours of black currant, black cherry, chocolate, tobacco. The tannins are ripe; the body is concentrated. 92.

Mission Hill Quatrain 2008 ($50). This wine is called Quatrain because it is a four-grape blend: 34% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 29% Syrah. The Syrah seems to elevate the fruit flavours and to contribute t0 the chewy texture of the wine. It has aromas of plum, spice and vanilla, with flavours of plum, black cherry, liquorice and tobacco. 91.

Mission Hill Perpetua 2009 ($40). This is the winery’s most elegant Chardonnay, made with three clones and 25% fermented and aged in new French oak for 10 months. The barrels and the time on lees add to the texture without covering the bright fruit flavours. It begins with citrus aromas; the winery’s own tasting notes suggest there are also notes of fennel, hazelnut and vanilla bean. On the palate, there are flavours of lime and grapefruit. The finish is crisp, tangy and persistent. 92.

Mission Hill Select Lot Collection Chardonnay 2010 ($22). This Chardonnay is a little more fruit forward, with 35% aged in French oak for eight months. Also elegant, the wine begins with peach, mango and citrus aromas and offers an abundance of citrus and tropical fruit flavours. 90.

Mission Hill Reserve Viognier 2010 ($21.99). The appeal of this wine begins with its moderate alcohol – 12.5%. The wine gains in elegance and loses nothing in character for not being as alcoholic as Viognier sometimes can be. The wine’s aromas remind me of a good citrus-based marmalade. It has flavours of citrus, pineapple and apricot. It has a crisp finish with the classic feather of tannin in its spine. 90.

Mission Hill Reserve Riesling 2010 ($19.99). The winery is a rising star among the Okanagan’s Riesling producers. This wine begins with citrus aromas, delivers flavours of lime and green apples, displays good minerality and has a crisp, bright finish. 90.

Mission Hill Martin’s Lane Riesling ($25). This elegant wine is a fine tribute to Anthony von Mandl’s late father, Martin. It has flavours of pink grapefruit and apples with a spine of minerals. The bright acidity is beautifully balanced to a crisp, dry finish. 91.

Mission Hill Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2010 ($19.99). This crisp, delicious wine recalls the New Zealand style, with its herbal and citrus aromas and its zesty flavours of citrus, gooseberry and herbs. It has more weight than many Kiwi examples, reflecting the Okanagan terroir, but it remains lively and refreshing. 90.

Mission Hill Select Lot Collection Sauvignon Blanc 2010 ($26). Forty percent of this wine spent four months on French oak barrels, which shows in the full texture but not in flavour. That’s a good thing because the marvellous flavours of the varietal can be submerged in oak. This wine has fresh aromas of herbs and tropical fruit, with flavours gooseberry and grapefruit. Whether you prefer this wine for its complexity or the reserve for its vibrancy is a matter of taste. 90.

Mission Hill Select Lot Collection Merlot 2009 ($35). This is a ripe and concentrated Merlot from select blocks in Mission Hill’s Osoyoos vineyard. The wine spent 15.5 months in oak, resulting in some aromas and flavours of the oak. But most of the wood was soaked up by the rich, juicy flavours of plum, black currant, blackberry and chocolate. The wine is good now and will blossom to another level over the next five years. 90-92.

Mission Hill Reserve Merlot 2009 ($24.99). Here is a big, bold Merlot that defines the best the Okanagan can do in a good year. Concentrated in texture and certainly age-worthy, it flavours of black currants and black cherries, with a very long finish. 91.

Mission Hill Select Lot Collection Syrah 2009 ($45). The 2009 vintage produced such rich-tasting Syrah that the wine was aged 16.5 months in French oak. It begins with aromas of spice and red berries, delivering flavours of raspberry, blueberry and plum. The impression is that the wine has a satisfying core of sweet berry flavours on the middle of the palate, with a long, polished finish. 91.

Mission Hill Reserve Shiraz 2009 ($22.99). Presumably, this is called Shiraz, not Syrah, because it is meant to emulate the rich Australian style. Dark in colour, it begins with aromas of plums, cherry, vanilla and spice and delivers all of that on the palate. 89.

A taste of Vancouver Island

2012-04-02T20:38:00.001-07:00

The vintages of 2010 and 2011 have been among the most challenging ever faced by the wineries on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.

I approached last week’s Victoria tasting (the fourth annual) by the Wine Islands Vintners Association with considerable curiosity to discover what quality wines the producers managed to release. For the most part, they did very well.

Let’s begin with two examples. For many island producers, the signature white grape is Ortega, a cross created years ago in Germany. The parents are Müller-Thurgau, which on its own produces generally bland wines, and Siegerrebe, an early ripening variety producing vividly fruity whites. Ortega splits the difference – the wines are seldom bland but neither have they inherited the exhibitionism of Siegerrebe.

There were two especially good 2011 Ortega wines in the tasting room. Cherry Point Ortega 2011 ($18.75) begins with powerful aromas of grapefruit and delivers tangy flavours of lime and grapefruit, with a touch of spice on the crisp finish. 91.

Starling Lane Ortega 2011 ($19) is a little more delicate and less thespian than Cherry Point’s but is equally tasty, with citrus and grassy aromas and flavours, and with a clean, crisp finish. 91.

Starling Lane Siegerrebe 2011 ($19) is a new varietal from this Saanich winery and also impressed me, with its juicy melon, grapefruit and spice aromas and flavours – and with restraint for a variety that can be over the top. 90.

Venturi Schulze Vineyards Millefiori 2010 ($23) is a blend of Ortega and Siegerrebe. The wine displays the crisp, dry house style that makes you reach for good west coast seafood. It begins with citrus and green apple aromas and delivers fresh, tangy grapefruit flavours. 89.

The other white variety that has proven itself in many coastal vineyards is Pinot Gris. In the Okanagan, the variety usually produces ripe and fruity whites. In the cooler coastal terroir, the variety usually produces lighter whites sometimes sold under the Italian varietal name, Pinot Grigio, because the style is close to the light, low alcohol style of the northern Italian examples.

Enrico Winery & Vineyards Pinot Grigio 2010 ($17) is one such wine. The wine is crisp, light and delicate, with citrus and green apple aromas and flavours. 87.

Similar in style, if not name, is 22 Oaks Pinot Gris 2010 ($18), with appealing aromas and flavours of grapefruit and with a tangy, refreshing finish. 88.

On the other hand, Hans Kiltz, the owner of Blue Grouse Estate Winery near Duncan, likes Alsace Pinot Gris. He uses the French varietal name and makes his Pinot Gris wines in that style. Blue Grouse Pinot Gris 2009 ($25) – from the last hot vintage on the island – shows good weight on the palate; it tastes of pear and apple and has a long, satisfying finish. 90.

The obvious wine for Islandproducers, given the bright acidity in most vintages, is sparkling wine. Venturi Schulze Brut Natural KS Cuvee 2008 ($35) would be at home in a line-up of Champagnes. It is made with two red and two white varietals, none of which the winery discloses. Crisp and dry, it has yeasty aromas and flavours, along with notes of citrus and pear, and with a big rush of creamy bubbles. 88.

Zanatta Winery & Vineyards, also just outside Duncan, has made sparkling wine a specialty. The flagship here is Zanatta Glenora Fantasia N.V. ($27), a wine made with the Cayuga grape, a fruity white grown only by this winery. This wine delivers flavours of apples and green melons along with lively bubbles and a crisply dry finish. 88.

As for red varietals, many coastal producers are making Pinot Noir, but with mixed results. Some of the wineries, in an effort to extract colour, are also extracting a little too much tannin. As a result, youthful Island Pinot Noirs need to be cellared for a few years so that the tannins soften and the fruit is liberated.

Now, there is much to be said for a mature Pinot Noir. Hans Kiltz says that his Blue Grouse Pinot Noir 2006 ($28) spent 18 months in barrel and three years in bottle before release. This is a wine with good texture, with black cherry flavours and with a hint of oak. Even at six years, the wine still has fresh fruit and a lively acidity on the finish. 90.

Averill Creek Vineyard near Duncan prides itself on Pinot Noir (and, in fact, is one of two British Columbia wineries invited to the International Pinot Noir Conference in Oregon this year). Averill Creek Pinot Noir 2009 ($26 for a production of 1,000 cases) is a lovely fresh Pinot Noir, with aromas and flavours of raspberry and strawberry. The silky tannins that make a Pinot Noir so appealing have begun to develop. 89-90.

Averill Creek Pinot Noir Reserve 2009 ($60) is probably the wine that got the winery invited to the Oregonconference. Not only does winery owner Andy Johnston tent his Pinot Noir to kick start its growth; he benefited from a great vintage in 2009. This wine announces itself with dramatic aromas of raspberry, strawberry mingled with oak. On the palate, it is rich and full-bodied, with toasty strawberry flavours and with silky tannins. 92.

A few other interesting reds flourish on the coast. Garry Oaks Winery on Salt Spring Islandhas succeeded with Zweigelt, an Austrian red. Garry Oaks Zeta 2009 ($23) is a full-bodied red, with notes of black cherry and blackberry and with a touch of spice on the finish. 90.

Blue Grouse Black Muscat 2009 ($26) is an unusual red – a dry red with a great deal of personality. It begins with an exotic note of spice on the aroma and delivers bright brambly berry flavours, again with a note of spice. This would be an excellent wine with venison. 91.

Several of the wineries have begun to release reds made with Blattner hybrids which may or may not be the future of Bordeaux-style reds on the Island. One of these hybrids, called Cabernet Libre, strikes me as too untamed, with its smoky nose and gamey flavours, although it is okay for blends. Cabernet Foch, on the other hand, makes a fuller, smoother red. Enrico Cabernet Foch 2010 ($17) is dark in colour, with aromas of plum and chocolate and with flavours of plum and vanilla. 88.

The workhorse red hybrid still is Maréchal Foch, a grape which ripens early, has a dark colour, good fruit and soft tannins. Averill Creek released its Foch under a proprietary name, Prevost, in the vintages 2007 through 2009.

Andy Johnston has concluded that the name is not grabbing the consumer, even though the wines are good enough, so he is changing the name to “Foch Cab”. The wine now is mostly Maréchal Foch with a Blattner red in the blend. I was impressed by the yet to be released Foch Cab 2010 Reserve ($N.A.). This is a bold, ripe red with juicy textures and spicy flavours of plum and black cherry. 89-90.

The tasting in Victoria also include ciders (I missed both producers), mead and fruit wines. Tugwell Creek Honey Farm & Meadery Solstice 2010 ($19) is a lovely metheglin (spice-flavoured) mead from B.C.’s first meadery. Just off-dry, this mead has a long, long finish of honey and cloves. 88.

Short of time, I could get to only one of the four fruit wineries – Blue Moon Estate Winery of the Comox Valley. Nearly all of its fruit wines are dry and made in styles that pair easily with fruit. I especially like Blue Moon Sirius 2011 ($16.90), a dry and full-bodied wine made with seven different apple varieties. It has the character and finish of good English cider. 89-90.

When it comes to dessert wines, Vancouver Island uses blackberries. Cherry Point Solera Blackberry ($26 for a half bottle) is so port-like in its rich, barrel-aged flavours that the wine has a following among the Navy officers at Esquimalt. 90.

Not to be missed is Venturi Schulze BrandenburgNo. 3 2008 ($35.60 for a half bottle), an amber-hued wine that tastes like black currant jam but is balanced to finish off-dry. This wine would be especially delicious with some creamy blue cheese. 90.

It's all about more dirt at Road 13 Vineyards

2012-03-28T16:22:00.003-07:00

Photo: Mick Luckhurst

The slogan at Road 13 Vineyards is: “It’s about the dirt.”

Two vineyard deals this spring by the winery have given co-owner Mick Luckhurst substantially more dirt to farm. The winery purchased a former Vincor vineyard on the Golden Mile, between Road 7 and Road 8; and it has entered into an agreement with the Lower Similkameen Indian Band to develop a new vineyard in the Similkameen Valley.

“We had 43 acres,” Mick says. This will take us to 107 acres, and it is still not enough.” The winery expanded its production last vintage to 30,000 cases from 19,000 cases the year before.

“We are moving awfully fast,” he admits. [This is] nothing we ever had originally in mind. A lot of it is just my temperament: you push ahead.”

Mick has a more fundamental reason for increasing the acreage directly under his farming control: wine quality.

“We have phenomenal relationships and great grapes from our other growers,” he says. “But we won ten major awards last year. All ten of those wines were made with our grapes. Did that strike home!”

One of the reasons that British Columbia wines are as good as they are is because two-thirds of the vineyards are owned by wineries. Wineries do not always grow better quality grapes than contract growers. However, wineries make their money primarily from wine while growers depend on grapes without the benefit of value-added. Wineries might make crop load decisions in their own vineyards to produce $50 wines whereas it would be marginally economic for a grower to make similar cropping decisions because he does not have the revenue from premium wine sales.

Mick and Pam Luckhurst bought Road 13 (then called Golden Mile Cellars) in 2003 after a business career in building supplies and property development. They had moved to the Okanagan from Edmonton that year and took the summer off. Touring wineries with friends drew them to the lifestyle. They took over a low-key winery that was then making a mere 1,000 cases a year and applied their fierce energy into building the business.

They have benefit from three good winemakers in succession: Lawrence Herder in the first year, the Michael Bartier and, since early last year, Montreal-born J-M Bouchard.

“He such an exceptional guy,” Mick says of J-M. “He is pushing us as well to raise the bar” – as if as hard driver like Mick needs someone to push him.

When Mick decided to buy more vineyard, he approached neighbour Chris Jentsch who has a 53 acre vineyard. The price was out of Mick’s budget. However, Chris suggested looking at the Vincor vineyard, 30 acres with 19 planted. Chris planted that originally in 1999 and then sold it to Vincor in 2004.

Vincor, which relies mostly on vineyard land leased from the Osoyoos Indian Band, had been trying to sell the Golden Mile property for a while and recently reduced the price substantially. “I thought I can’t afford to miss it at that price,” Mick says. “It is on a bench, so it drops the cold, which is the single biggest consideration in the valley in my mind.”

The property needs upgrades to the irrigation system and some soil remediation. Mick believes he will have it in shape within two years.

The vineyard currently grows 7 ½ acres of Merlot; 3 ¼ each of Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris and 4 ½ acres of Gewürztraminer. The Pinot Gris might be replaced with a new clone of Syrah. There is another acre to be planted in the future.

The venture in the Similkameen is more long term, with planting likely to begin in the spring of 2013. Mick thinks it is a bit late this year to order vines and get virgin soil ready for planting.

Unlike Vincor, Mick is not leasing the land. The Lower Similkameen Indian Band, which has never before had a vineyard on the reserve, has set up a limited liability company to prepare the land and order the vines.

“The minute those plants go into the ground, that’s ours,” Mike says. “We farm it.” Road 13’s fee to the Band and the cost of farming the vineyard should add up to the cost of grapes on the open market, with the advantage that Road 13 makes the farming decisions.

“We pick the plants, the clones and the rootstock, and we can farm it ourselves,” Mick says.

The intention is to plant 15 acres of Merlot, seven or eight of Syrah, at least five acres each of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Gamay, and four acres of Chardonnay. There will be smaller plantings of Mourvedre, Tannat, Carmenère, Petit Verdot and Malbec.

The property is not far from the Seven Stones winery. Mick thinks the topography may not have quite the frost-shedding ability of the Golden Mile vineyard. Care will be taken to plant the hardier varieties in the riskier sections.

This unorthodox arrangement also says something about the high cost of vineyard land in the Okanagan and the Similkameen. While prices peaked before the 2008 correction, they have not come down very much. Mike cites one Osoyoos vineyard listed three years ago at $212,000 an acre and now reduced, but only to $188,000.

“There are lots of farms listed for sale and there are way more that are not listed by guys who are getting older and want to retire,” Mick says. “These people want out but they have already put the money in their pocket.”

Hillside embraces the Naramata Bench

2012-03-22T16:44:00.002-07:00

Photo: Hillside Winery

In 1990, Hillside Winery was one of the first two wineries to open on the Naramata Bench.

The winery’s early vintages – the first was about 25 cases – were all made with Naramata grapes. As the winery grew under a series of owners, it began purchasing grapes from the south Okanagan as well. But once again, the winery increasingly is embracing the Naramata terroir in its winemaking, notably for its flagship wines: Mosaic, its Bordeaux red icon, and Muscat Ottonel, its cult white wine.

Winemaker Kathy Malone, who moved to Hillside in 2008 after a long career at Mission Hill, sang the praises of the Naramata Bench at a tasting this week for the British Columbia Wine Appreciation Society.

What makes the Naramata Bench unique in the Okanagan is its geography. It is a strip of vineyard land, with fairly complex soil, about 25 km long on the east side of Okanagan Lake. The aspect of most of the bench is a gentle slope facing the west, meaning the vineyards benefit from long days of sunlight, with the lake effect moderating summer heat spikes as well as unseasonable winter cold.

The benefit of the sun is magnified when the rays of late afternoon sun bounce from the lake onto the vines. That can have a pronounced effect, as Kathy noted last fall. In a block of Gamay near the winery, she spotted that bunches on some vines had begun to turn red before fruit on nearby vines. Then she noticed this was true of entire rows. It turns out that those rows get just a little extra exposure to sunlight and the reflected light as the sun sets into a gap in the mountains across the lake.

A small thing, perhaps, but terroir is an accumulation of small things. Even after 30 years of viticulture on the Bench, growers are still discovering details about the terroir. If there is ever going to be a sub-appellation declared for the Bench, a lot of details will need to be nailed down to make the case that the wines are distinctive.

What are the best varieties? That may never be a settled question. Whenever one says that this not the place for Syrah (as an example), you can point to a vineyard block where the variety succeeds. “When I first came to Hillside and they told me they were growing Syrah, I thought they were insane,” Kathy says. After all, Mission Hill grows its Syrah on the Osoyoos Bench and has had some struggles even there.

Hillside grows Syrah in a vineyard above the winery that is something of a heat sink. The winery’s 2008 Syrah, one of the wines at the tasting, displayed the ripe tannins and vibrant fruit flavours that Kathy believes is a mark of the Naramata terroir. The wines she showed to the Society, almost entirely made with Naramata fruit, certainly indicate that Hillside has a good handle on the terroir.

Photo: Winemaker Kathy Malone

Here are some notes.

Hillside Un-oaked Pinot Gris 2009 ($18.99 for a production of 1,000 cases) is so named to distinguish the wine from the winery’s barrel-fermented Reserve Pinot Gris, which includes from fruit from Black Sage Road. Kathy says that Pinot Gris grown on the Naramata Bench makes wines with crisp apple flavours and she did not want to submerge that with the tropical fruit of Black Sage Pinot Gris. And this certainly is a bright, refreshing wine with apple and citrus flavours and with excellent weight on the palate. 88.

Hillside Gewürztraminer 2010 ($18.99 for a production of 685 cases). This is a solid wine, with aromas of spice and grapefruit, flavours of guava and tropical fruit and a dry finish. 90.

Hillside Muscat Ottonel 2011 ($19.99 for a production of 692 cases). Those who snap up this wine every year should know that this is the lowest production in five years (probably because spring conditions impacted badly on flowering and fruit set). The winery made 1,084 cases in 2010 – and that wine sold out. The 2011 shows the usual delicate floral aromas – I say rose petal and the winemaker says baby’s breath. This exotic wine is delicately fruity and is balanced to dryness. 90.

Hillside Rosé 2011 ($18.99). The winery made a virtue from necessity when a block of Merlot refused to ripen enough for a red table wine. It produced a terrific rosé – dark ruby in hue, with aromas and flavours of cherry and strawberry jam. This is about 85% Merlot, with the rest made up of Gamay, Pinot Noir, Malbec and Syrah. 89.

Hillside Gamay Noir 2009 ($24.99). Dark in colour, this is delicious, easy-drinking Gamay spent about nine months in barrel, emerging with round, soft tannins. It has aromas and flavours of black cherries, with a hint of mocha on the finish. 88.

Hillside Pinot Noir 2010 ($24.99 for a production of 300 cases). This is Hillside’s first Pinot Noir and the winery was so impressed with the grapes that fall that it has contracted the vineyard, which is near Naramata. (Several Naramata wineries believe the Bench is great Pinot Noir terroir.) This is a pretty wine with aromas and flavours of raspberry and with a silky texture. You need to join Hillside’s wine club to order this. 89.

Hillside Syrah 2008 ($25.99 for a production of 1,095 cases). This is made with fruit from Hillside’s Hidden Valley vineyard supplemented with a bit of Black Sage fruit. The wine announces itself with a dramatic aroma of spice and vanilla. On the palate, there is a delicious scoop of cherry and vanilla and chocolate, with long, ripe tannins. 90.

Hillside Taylor Vineyard Merlot 2009 and Hillside Hidden Valley Vineyard Merlot 2009 (each $24.99 and each about 200 cases). The vineyards are across the road from each other but produce Merlot so different that the winery has decided to make single vineyard wines. Because there was some ambiguity about the pouring order, I will not offer individual notes. Suffice it to say both are 90 point wines.

Hillside Mosaic 2008 ($39.99 for a production of 840 cases). This is 71% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, with Malbec and Petit Verdot. This is an oak-aged Bordeaux blend built to age five or ten years beyond the current release. It is approachable now but the vibrant core of red fruit is still developing within its oak frame. Give it two or three years to peak. 90-91.

Vancouver Urban Winery launches wine on tap

2012-03-19T16:44:00.000-07:00

Photo: Steve Thorp and Mike Macquisten with the FreshTAP kegs

Until now, Vancouver’s strong wine culture has had everything but an actual winery.

Steve Thorp and Mike Macquisten have closed the loop by opening Vancouver Urban Winery in Railtown, the trendy new commercial district just east of Main Street, bordering the Port of Vancouver.

Here, heritage industrial buildings are getting a new life as headquarters for social media companies, coffee distributors and fashion retailers like Aritzia. Vancouver Urban Winery is in a splendid high-ceilinged structure that was built in the 1920s for metal fabrication. It has been turned into a winery with the addition of stainless steel tanks, racks of barrels and, crucially, a long bar with 20 taps for dispensing wine.

That is what Vancouver Urban Winery is adding to the city’s wine culture: through a subsidiary called FreshTAP, it has begun providing wine by the keg to restaurants that have installed wine taps. This promises to revolutionize the way restaurants offer wines by the glass.

This is already a hot trend in the United States. An article last summer in Seattle Magazine listing restaurants with wines on tap commented that “the concept isn’t new [but] modern technology makes serving wines on tap a game changer.”

The reason: the system for wine by the keg means wines sold by the glass should always be fresh, which is not always the case when half empty bottles sit around overnight. Secondly, the shipping economy inherent with keg wines makes it possible for restaurateurs to pass along some savings to consumers.

Steve and Mike are friends who partnered several years ago to set up their own marketing company and then went looking for business ideas. Steve previously operated a sports equipment sales company. Mike previously worked with the Earls Restaurant group before moving into beverage alcohol sales with Molsons and then with Corby Distillers wine agency.

There are two other investors in Vancouver Urban Winery: restaurateur Wayne Holm, a member of the B.C. Restaurant Hall of Fame, and Rueben Major, a chef who is director of culinary development for Earls.

“It was actually Reuben Major who brought the original concept to us,” Steve says. “He was in New York and stumbled on it there.” Subsequently, he found wine on tap was developing in other cities there as well.

“We spent about four months in deep research mode,” Steve says. “We travelled the U.S. and met with the four largest keg packaging companies there. After four months we put together the entire concept for what is now FreshTAP, the keg side of our business.”

The key to making it happen in the British Columbiaregulatory environment was to establish Vancouver Urban Winery as a commercially-licensed winery. They had less trouble selling the idea to Victoria’s regulators than they had selling it to the city of Vancouver.

Here, there had never been a winery and therefore, no zoning for one. The city turned down the first two buildings in which Steve and Mike wanted to install the winery. Then they found the former metal working building at 55 Dunleavy Avenue. There were no zoning impediments and the space works as a winery, with a tasting room. The partners plan to open Vancouver Urban Winery to the public by the end of May. They also plan to make some wine there this fall and to launch a proprietary wine brand.

However, this is primarily a vehicle for FreshTAP. Wineries that want to offer wine on tap deliver it in bulk to Vancouver Urban Winery. Here, the wine is stored under nitrogen until it is transferred into 19.5 litre stainless steel kegs. These kegs are pressurized with nitrogen until filled with wine. At the restaurants, the kegs fit into a system where more nitrogen protects the wines from air as it is drawn off by the glass. It is similar to the way beer on tap stays fresh.

The Edible Canada Bistro on Granville Island was the first restaurant to install the FreshTAP system, offering Nichol Vineyards’s Pinot Gris and Nine Mile Red on tap. The restaurant trumpets the advantages on the system on its website. One of them: “Reducing the bottling costs allows the winery to pass on savings directly to restaurants and through to the consumer.”

Other wineries that have come on board so far include Blasted Church, Desert Hills, Okanagan Crush Pad and King Estate from Oregon. Mike and Steve are negotiating with others interested in getting wines on tap in restaurants. (Not all wineries are buying in: one Okanagan winery owner told me that they will not allow their wines to be repackaged by third parties.)

Other restaurants are also coming on board. For example, The Mill Marine Bistro in Coal Harbouris installing eight wine taps. “We want to work with trend setting restaurants,” Mike says. “It is a matter from day one of making sure that we are working with the right partners that are behind wine on tap, and know the benefits of it.”

Because Vancouver Urban Winery has a large public area, it also makes the facility available for wineries showing their products to the trade. Last week, Okanagan Crush Pad debuted some of its recent vintages including a new three-litre bag in the box package for three of its Haywire brand wines.

That package is another means for shaving the cost of wine to the consumer. A box of wine, equal to four bottles, sells for $54 (the rosé is $2 less), which works out to $13.50 a bottle. The briefcase-sized boxes slip easily into the refrigerator or on the counter. You can draw off a glass of wine whenever you feel like and the wine stays fresh for a reasonable period.

Stag's Hollow begins to roll out the 2011s

2012-03-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

Photo: Stag's Hollow Syrah Rose 2011

The 2011 vintage was one of the most challenging in the Okanagan in a decade. However, I am finding quite good wines from producers who got a grip on the vintage early in the growing season.

One of those producers is Stag’s Hollow Winery of Okanagan Falls. Larry Gerelus, owner of the winery with his wife, Linda Pruegger, was on the west coast this week to show the winery’s new releases to restaurateurs and wine writers. These included a Syrah Rosé and a Sauvignon Blanc, both from 2011 and both excellent.

He also brought some reds from the 2009 vintage, a fine vintage for reds and a dramatic contrast to the 2011 vintage. The heat units in the Okanagan were among the highest on record in 2009 while 2011 had some the lowest heat units of the past decade. In a way, both years were challenging; 2009 produced big wines with lots of alcohol. A good winery has no choice but to rise to the challenge.

Larry learned how to deal with the weather early in his career as a winegrower. Trained as an actuary, he was working in an oil industry human resources job in Calgarywhen a wave of downsizing swept through the industry. Larry invested his settlement package in a vineyard near Okanagan Fallsin 1992, opening a winery in 1996.

Larry describes the 1996 vintage as “a brutal vintage.” The summer was unusually cool and wet, tough conditions for maturing grapes. But Larry had a stroke of luck. In 1994 and 1995, he had grafted Merlot and Pinot Noir onto the trunks of the Chasselas and most of the Vidal that had been growing in the vineyard. The vines adjusted to this in 1996 by naturally carrying a light crop. “We got relatively ripe fruit,” Larry recalls.

Fast forward to 2011, with its late and cool spring. “Due to the 1996 experience, as soon as I saw the bloom date in 2o11, I knew we were in trouble,” he says. Ideally, the bunches should bloom about mid-June, leaving a good margin of time for the grapes to develop and ripen. In 1996, bloom in the Stag’s Hollow vineyard was about July 4. In 2011, bloom was June 28 and 29.

Remembering that 1996 succeeded because the crop load was low, Larry and his team immediately reduced the number of bunches on each vine in 2011. One might gamble that that vines will catch up if the weather improves but if the vintage starts as late as 2011, there is not much chance that over-cropped vines will catch up in October. By then, the days are too short to mature fruit well.

The 2011 weather, fortunately, turned warm and dry through most of September and into the middle of October. Early reports suggest that moderately cropped vineyards produced the grapes necessary for good wines. The whites are crisp but fruity and the reds – so I am told – have vibrant flavours.

The Stag’s Hollow 2011 Syrah Rosé ($18.99 for a production of 220 cases) is one of the very few rosé wines made with this grape (Gamay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc are more common). This is 91% Syrah – most of which was whole cluster pressed and left on the skins for three hours to pick up colour and flavour. The remainder of the blend is 5% Viognier and 4% Muscat. The result is a wine with a delicate rose petal hue, a delightful aromatic lift in the aroma and mouth-filling flavours of strawberry and cranberry. The wine is balanced to finish dry but not austere. 90.

Stag’s Hollow Sauvignon Blanc 2011 ($19.99). Not yet released, this attractive wine begins with both tropical fruit and grassy aromas. On the palate, there are flavours of lime and grapefruit. The lingering finish is vibrant and refreshing. 90.

Stag’s Hollow Sauvignon Blanc 2010 ($19.99 for a production of 800 cases). There is probably another month or two supply of this wine in the pipeline. This is crisper, more flinty version of the varietal, no doubt reflecting the vintage and the extra year in bottle. Savoury and herbaceous, this is a great seafood wine. 88.

Stag’s Hollow 2009 Heritage Block ($24.99). To be released in the spring, this is a blend of 63% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is approachable now but you would do better to cellar it another year, giving the bold oak a chance to completely marry with the rich fruit. The wine has aromas and flavours of cherry, plum and black currant with some of the classic savoury sage notes of the Okanagan. 88-90.

Stag’s Hollow 2009 Renaissance Merlot ($29.90 for 125 cases). Released last year, this wine is nearly sold out. It is a concentrated and structured wine, well worth cellaring. It begins with aromas of blackberry and plum and shows flavours of plums, cherries, mocha and vanilla. 90.

Stag’s Hollow 2009 Syrah ($27.99). Also released last year, this begins with aromas of blackberry, spice and pepper. On the palate, there are the classic meaty flavours of the variety with red fruit, earth and minerals on the finish. Think of Rhone, not Australia, 90.

Hester Creek's The Judge and friends

2012-03-12T16:58:00.000-07:00

Photo: Winemaker Robert Summers

During the recent International Wine Festival in Vancouver, Hester Creek Estate Winery rolled out the second vintage of its icon red, a wine called The Judge, along with several new releases.

The superb quality confirms the turnaround at this winery. It was in bankruptcy in 2004 when Prince George trucking company owner Curt Garland bought it.

He put the winery solidly back on its feet by:

* Recruiting veteran Ontario winemaker Robert Summers to reshape the portfolio.

* Building a totally new winery, filled with state of the art equipment for making quality wines.

* Recruiting Australian Mark Sheridan, formerly the viticulturist with Vincor, as Hester Creek’s general manager. He in turn has added a depth of talent in the winery’s sales team as well as a social media manager.

* Hiring a marketing agency to refresh the look of the brand. The unappealing, even funereal, labels of old have been replaced by crisply clean white labels that stand out in wine stores and look elegant on restaurant tables.

* Building six luxury villas on the mountainside above the winery, helping gives the Okanagan more of the quality lodging that goes with a world-class wine region.

* And opening last year an acclaimed restaurant at the winery, called Terrafina.

All of these moves constitute the foundation for excellent wines at prices that, for the most part, are affordable.

Perhaps the exception is the $45 price on The Judge 2008. However, this is a limited production “best of the best” red aimed at the knowledgeable collectors and their cellars. You will get the message just by lifting the bottle. A package this heavy certainly raises expectations that this blend of Bordeaux reds is not any old judge but the chief justice himself!

In the glass, the wine does not disappoint. It is a big, ripe wine, with aromas and flavours of vanilla, plum and figs. On the palate, it presents with a rich and generous texture, with flavours of coffee, chocolate, liquorice and spice on the finish. It is a powerful and satisfying red. 94.

A recent release is Hester Creek Reserve Merlot 2008 ($26.99). Here is one of those firm Okanagan Merlots with a backbone of minerals and tannin and oak that will repay anyone who cellars this wine a few more years. The ripe black currant aromas and flavours need a bit more time for the core of sweet fruit to develop. 89-91.

The new red at the festival was Hester Creek Select Barrels Merlot 2010($18.99). This is a marvellously ripe and concentrated wine for the price with bold flavours of black currant, coffee and chocolate. The wine seems more approachable than the reserve Merlot even though it is two years younger. 90.

Hester Creek Pinot Gris 2011 ($19) is the winery’s first 2011 release. While it might be suffering a touch of bottle shock, it delivers excellent flavours of citrus and peach. It has the crisp finish that likely will be the hallmark of 2011 excellent whites. 88-90.

Chile is a leader in responsible wine growing

2012-03-09T12:20:00.000-08:00

Photo: Eduardo Chadwick

Some years ago, after my first visit to wineries in Chile, a friend said she would not buy Chilean wines because the wineries used too many herbicides and pesticides.

I have no idea where she got a notion that defies common sense. Chilean wine growers are blessed with ideal growing conditions. It would be a colossal waste of money to spray against pests and diseases that do not exist.

That was clearly obvious to me after spending 10 days visiting vineyards in 1989 and again in 2003. Even so, I was taken by surprise by Chilean wine industry’s presentations during the most recent Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival. Whether we speak of organic/biodynamic viticulture or integrated pest management, or carbon neutral winery operations, Chile’s wineries are leaders in responsible winemaking. If my friend wants to drink healthy wine, she should, in fact, stock up on Chilean vintages.

Chile

’s winemaking advantage begins with the geographical isolation of the vineyards. Vine pests and diseases are kept at bay by the world’s driest desert in the north, by the towering Andes on the east, by Antarctica on the south and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. There surely is not an easier place in the world for the application of organic viticulture.

“Chileis a real viticultural paradise,” says Eduardo Chadwick, the president of Viña Errázuriz. “We are taking advantage of that.”

Grape growing was brought to Chilein the 16^th Century by the missionaries and expanded in the 19^thCentury when landowners imported classic vine varieties, primarily from France. The first large-scale vineyards were developed with vines that had not yet been infected with phyloxera. That was the American root louse that was brought to Europe around 1860 on the roots of American vines. The European varieties lack the ability to withstand the damage caused by the louse. By the time the Europeans figured out how to work around the pest in the late 1800s (grafting French vines onto American roots), the European wine industry was in dire straits.

But Chile had not imported any vines infected with the root louse – unlike Argentine on the other side of the Andes. To this day, Chile remains phyloxera-free. Healthy vines that grow on their own roots live much longer and, arguably, make better wine.

Chile

’s isolation formerly was also negative for its wine quality. As recently as the 1980s, Chileans were drinking nearly all their own wine and the wineries were not competing on the world market. The whole country had developed a cellar palate and the wine industry had become complacent.

Chilean consumers also had begun to turn to beer and soft drinks, forcing the industry to find new markets. Around 1990, Chilean wineries began to take on the world, initially with value-priced wines. The value wines are still being produced (and the quality steadily gets better); but the wineries also have begun to icon wines matching the best in the world.

I remember scoffing during a Vancouvertasting in the 1990s that consumers would never pay $25 for a Chilean Cabernet. Well, there were at least seven Chilean reds at the Wine Festival priced at $70 and up. The top: Rothschild’s Alma Viva at $133 a bottle. And there were plenty of $25-$45 wines.

“The future of Chileis quality,” Chadwick predicted.

He is right, but the future also will be defined by the responsible winemaking. I believe that the world’s consumers will reward Chile not just for making good wines but for its green and ethical vineyard practices.

For example, the industry there has a new accreditation, Certified Sustainable Wine of Chile, that has been won so far by about 20 wineries or 10% of those that applied.

Photo: Felipe Tosso

One of these is Viña Ventisquero, a winery established in 1998 by a businessman already successful in a range of other agricultural products. Felipe Tosso, the senior winemaker, rattled off the impressive range of green practices here – buying carbon offsets for transport; adopting lighter (“Ecoglass”) bottles; adopting integrated pest management practices, including natural weed control; using renewable energy at one of its estates; adopting strict water conservation practices.

Organic viticulture is now widespread and there is a big move among wineries toward the ultimate: using biodynamic practices. “The ultimate respect to your terroir is biodynamic agriculture,” Chadwick asserts. “If you use chemicals, you suppress terroir.”

Photo: Alvaro Espinoza

The biodynamic methods range from elaborate composting practices. Emiliana Vineyards has its own herd of beef on its property so that the manure used for compost is produced on the same land that it fertilizes. In other words, a closed loop on the terroir. “We try to be partners with nature,” winemaker Alvaro Espinoza says.

Emiliana began growing biodynamically in 2000. Today, the winery has 1,000 hectares, all under biodynamic practices. “I am convinced they make better wines,” Espinoza says.

Photo: Miguel Torres Another praiseworthy initiative is the “fair trade” wine growing practised by Miguel Torres M. at his family’s winery in

Chile

. All of the Torres vineyards are certified organic. All the growers are paid fairly and all the workers are treated with dignity.

If you want to reward these wineries for their good works, here are some wines to buy.

Errazuriz Sauvignon Blanc 2011 ($14 in the LDB). This is a zesty refreshing white. At the festival, the winery also showed a sensational single vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2011(about $17) from its new coastal vineyard. It is a speculative wine that can now found in private wine stores.

Emiliana Coyam 2009 ($29.99 in the LDB). This is a big ripe wine, primarily a blend of Syrah, Carmenère, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with a dash of Petit Verdot and Mourvedre. The wine has alluring aromas and flavours of figs, plums, coffee and chocolate. 91.

Ventisquero VerTice Syrah Carmenère 2007 ($33; check private wine stores). This is a wine made jointly by Tosso and Australian John Duval, formerly the maker of Penfolds’s Grange. This red has all the earthy plum flavours of Syrah with the lovely spice and red cherry of Carmenère. 90.

Torres Santa Digna Fair Trade Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 ($18; check private wine stores). This is a delicious, juicy red with fruit-forward flavours of black currants and plum. 90.

Quails' Gate goes totally screw cap

2012-03-03T10:25:00.000-08:00

Photo: Grant Stanley

You can add Quails’ Gate Estate Winery to the list of producers that have switched entirely from cork closures to screw cap.

The winery’s latest releases, which include two of its premium reserve wines and two dessert wines in 375 ml bottles, all arrived with screw cap. Winemaker Grant Stanley suggests that the dessert wines would have been under screw cap even sooner but for the winery’s inability, until now, to get the required bottles from their supplier in Italy.

I am guessing that Grant had a lot to do with selling the switch to his boss, winery president Tony Stewart. Grant, who was born in Vancouver and joined Quails’ Gate in 2003, began his winemaking career in New Zealand.

The New Zealand wine industry began switching to screw cap more than a decade ago when it seemed like a daring move to go against the cork tradition. The transition turned out to be easier than expected. I once asked a New Zealand winemaker if he was getting any resistance to screw cap closures. “Only from white males over 50,” he replied.

The initial motive for the switch was to reduce or eliminate the number of “corked wines” – wines that had taken on musty aromas and dull flavours from tainted cork. The incidence of corked wines had become unacceptably high by the early 1990s.

For a time, some wineries switched to synthetic stoppers. They are still being used even though they are not entirely satisfactory and even though consumers don’t liked them.

Screw cap closures have been used in the beverage alcohol industry for a long time for spirits and for cheap wine. That image was the reason for industry reluctance: would sophisticated consumers buy bottles with a closure similar to the wines consumed by doorway drinkers?

The answer is yes. Of course, today’s screw caps for fine wine are a better design that those that sealed bottles in the 1970s.

The new motive behind screw cap closures is that wines age more slowly and retain their fresh aromas and flavours better.

That is not to suggest screw cap is a perfect closure – you can get a flawed wine from one of these bottlings if the winemaking is not quite up to standard. I would not worry about that with wine from Quails’ Gate.

Not that cork is bad. The cork producers have improved quality control vastly and the incidence of cork taint is way down. And red wines that age under cork develop complexities that many find appealing.

If the wines are good, they will show well under either closure.

Here are my notes on the new Quails’ Gate releases.

Quails’ Gate Chardonnay 2010 ($19.99 for 4,387 cases). Grant Stanley occasionally takes some heat for making the winery’s “regular” Chardonnay so good that some wonder why they need pay $10 more for the reserve. The point is there is more of this wine and the style is different: only half of this Chardonnay is barrel-fermented. The result is a fresh-tasting wine with a core of sweet citrus-flavoured fruit and very subtle toasty notes of oak in the background. The balance is elegant and the finish lingers. 90.

Quails’ Gate Merlot 2009 ($24.99 for 2,842 cases). According to the winemaker, the accumulated heat units in the Okanagan in 2009 were the highest on record. The result is this super-ripe wine (15.4% alcohol) from grapes grown on the winery’s West Kelownavineyard. This is a powerhouse, beginning aromas of berries, spice and vanilla and with flavours of blueberry, black currant and blackberry. As the wine breathes, its fleshy texture emerges and that texture seems to be why Zinfandel-like alcohol is not apparent. 90-92.

Quails’ Gate Stewart Family Reserve Chardonnay 2010 ($29.99 for 1,142 six-pack cases). The winemaker makes this wine primarily from mature Clone 95 Chardonnay vines and ferments it in his best barrels. The wine begins with a touch of bacon fat and tangerine on the nose, leading to rich, buttery flavours of tangerine and grapefruit. Even though many of the barrels went through malolactic fermentation, the great acidity of the 2010 vintage has given this wine a fresh, tangy finish. This is a very complex wine and it certainly is worth the extra $10. 92.

Quails’ Gate Stewart Family Reserve Pinot Noir 2009 ($45 for 9,618 six packs). The heat of the 2009 vintage produced a wine with more power and less of the elegance of earlier cooler vintages. Dark in colour and sensuous in texture, the wine begins with intense fruit aromas (cherries, strawberries) and a hint of oak toast. On the palate, there are flavours of black cherry and mocha. 91.

Quails’ Gate Optima Late Harvest Botrytis Affected 2010 ($29.99 for 375 ml; 715 cases). The kind of botrytis that is called noble rot is rare in the Okanagan because the climate usually is too dry. Quails’ Gate, however, has been making this wine almost every year for two decades. The nearby lake provides the early morning moisture that nourishes the botrytis spores and the Optima grape has thick skins, ideal for gradual dehydration on the vines. The grapes, in fact, are crushed by foot because it is not efficient to crush them mechanically. This is an attractive wine, with aromas and flavours of marmalade, honey and tobacco. 91.

Quails’ Gate Fortified Vintage Foch 2009 ($22.99 for 375 ml; 2,000 cases). The wine is fortified to 19% in the style of vintage port. It might be advisable to lay this down for a few years so that the structure, the plum, cherry and vanilla flavours and the alcohol have a chance to knit together better. There is a dollop of sweet fruit on the middle of the palate and a finish of liquorice and chocolate. 87.

Burrowing Owl shows library reds

2012-02-28T14:26:00.000-08:00

Photo: Burrowing Owl Estate Winery

Burrowing Owl Estate Winery is among the several Okanagan wineries using the services of Alain Sutre, one of the leading winemaking and viticultural consultants in Bordeaux.

His instructions are simple, according to Burrowing Owl president Chris Wyse. “Your job is to focus on the Meritage – and it will trickle down on all the other wines,” Chris has told Alain. The consultant’s activities extend to vineyard advice but one of his key roles is leading the blending of the Meritage, the flagship red at Burrowing Owl.

Alain’s handiwork was on display during a Wine Festival dinner this week where Burrowing Owl’s Bordeauxred wines were paired with the excellent Italian-inspired cuisine at Lupo Restaurant and Vinoteca in Vancouver.

I took away several conclusions:

1. The bold flavours of Burrowing Owl wines stand up very well with the rich flavours of Italian cuisine. That comment extends even to 2009 Chardonnay – crisp citrus flavours with a note of toasty oak – which paired brilliantly with an exceptional dish (even in appearance, never mind taste), an octopus carpaccio and Dungeness crab salad. The reds accompanied subsequent courses – tortellini, veal tenderloin and finally a rich chocolate dessert from Piedmont.

Burrowing Owl’s 2008 Cabernet Franc struggled a bit against the chocolate. A more successful match would have been the dessert and Burrowing Owl’s new Syrah-based port, a wine called Coruja, which was served with biscotti. The Coruja – the price is unknown because it is not on the winery’s website yet – has the full-bodied depth and richness of a good vintage port with a long finish of spice and black liquorice.

2. It is time to begin drinking the 2006 Burrowing Owl reds you may be cellaring. For the dinner, the winery dipped into its library for wines from 2006, one of the strongest vintages of the decade, and from 2008, another solid vintage. The wines were Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Meritage; only the 2008 Cabernet Franc was poured.

It seems to my palate that the 2006 reds have achieved a peak and will probably hold it for a year or two. That is supported by vintage notes on the winery’s website – and they should know.

The 2008s are drinking very well already, with peaking a year or two away. They have the structure to hold that peak for several years.

3. The Meritage, which at $45 sells for a $15 premium compared with the varietals, is a very good wine indeed. If it came from one of those classified growths in Alain’s Bordeaux, it would be selling for three to four times that and the wine critics would still think it a deal.

The fact is that quality Okanagan wines, and this is one, are very good value compared with the big names from elsewhere in the world – even cheap.

Burrowing Owl’s Meritage involves all five Bordeaux varietals. The blend in the 2006 is 53.8% Merlot, 27.5% Cabernet Franc, 12.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3,7% Malbec and 2.5% Petit Verdot. The blend in the 2008 was 50% Merlot, 24% each Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% each Malbec and Petit Verdot.

My advice on this wine is the same as above: drink the 2006 and dip into the 2008 next year.

Playhouse Wine Festival tastings that should be on your bucket list

2012-02-19T14:08:00.000-08:00

Photo: Masa Shiroki of Artisan SakeMaker on Granville Island

The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival, which begins on February 26, is always the year’s most intense week of wine tasting and wine dinners.

The three nights international tastings – March 1, 2 and 3 – at the convention centre can be challenging. There will be about 750 wines available for tasting. Most people that I know will be lucky to manage 50 wines over each three-hour session.

It helps to have a battle plan in mind when entering the tasting room. Here are some suggestions that may help focus.

Chile

: This is the theme region this year, with 35 producers attending. This is a critical festival for

Chile

, whose sales in this market seemed to have levelled off around $44 million a year for several years.

One reason is probably that Argentina has been eating into Chile’s market share. But that should not be happening because the wines of Chile also are reasonably priced and good quality.

Each country has its strengths. While Argentina excels with Torrontes and Malbec, Chileproduces better Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.

Your Chilean tasting priority should include visits to the tables of Anakena (for Viognier); Concho y Toro (if only for the $80 Don Melchor, an iconic red); Cousiño-Macul (of the Chile’s oldest Cabernet producers); Cremaschi Furlotti (full-flavoured wines); Viña Errazuriz (for the $90 Don Maximiano, another icon); Viña Montes (a super premium winery); and Lapostelle, (the Grand Marnier-owned winery showing, among other products, a $100 red).

Argentina

: There are 14 producers here from

Argentina

. The wines from that country have been absolutely on fire in this market, with sales tripling in the past five years. Last year, with sales of $45.4 million in British Columbia, Argentinapulled ahead of

Chile

in this market.

Since you haven’t time to taste at all of their tables, let me suggest a few bucket list priorities.

Bodegas Catena Zapata is pouring, among other wines, a $54 Malbec 2008. Compare it with O. Fournier’s Alfa Crux Malbec 2008, at $50. Bodegas Pascual Toso is pouring a $58 red blend, Finca Pedregal, while Familia Zuccardi has a $50 red blend, Zuccardi Zeta.

The point of seeking out the four most expensive Argentine reds is this: these producers already blow the socks off with their $15 wines; imagine how good the ultra-premium wines will be.

Australia

:

There is a lot resting on the shoulders of the 17 Australian wineries here. It looks like everybody has been eating

Australia

’s lunch. Sales of Australian wine totaled $97 million last year, down from $131 million five years ago.

Australia

’s problem is the consumer perception that Australian wines all taste the same, due to the dominance of one or two huge brands. Here’s a chance to compare and discover that the perception is simply not true.

Check out Chapel Hill for its Bush Vine Grenache; Jacob’s Creek for its St. Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon; Penfold’s for its Bin 128 Shiraz (alas, no Grange); Wirra Wirra Vineyards for three solid reds and an intriguing white blend; and Yalumba for Viognier.

Ask the people behind the Yalumba table for the story of how this Australian winery virtually rescued Viognier when the variety was on the brink of extinction.

British Columbia: There are 20 British Columbiawineries including one that is new to the festival: Baillie-Grohman Estate Winery, one of three wineries now operating in Creston. The winery’s strong suites are Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, wines that are well made by Dan Barker, a winemaker who comes up from

New Zealand

to do the vintage.

Other wineries to check out include Burrowing Owl for its delicious Athene, a Cabernet/Syrah blend; Hester Creek for its new up-market red, The Judge; Le Vieux Pin and LaStella for their powerful reds; Mission Hill for Perpetua, a very elegant Chardonnay; Painted Rock (a winery of the year runner up at the Canadian Wine Awards) for a taste of the winery’s flagship Red Icon blend; Poplar Grove for its flagship The Legacy red; and Quails’ Gate for the Stewart Family Chardonnay and Stewart Family Pinot Noir.

France

: The dozen French wineries this year are heavily weighted to Rhône producers; and there is nothing wrong with that. One in particular that I plan to check out is Domaine de la Solitudewhich is offering, among other wines, a Châteauneuf du Pape at $250 a bottle and another at $128. But there is very little Champagne this year, sadly.

Italy

: The 15 Italian wineries this year include such old favourites in this market as Antinori, Frescobaldi and Masi. The latter winery is one of the great producers of Amarone. If you are comparing again, Amarone wines also are being shown by Pasqua and Tomassi.

United States

: By my count, there are 29 American wineries in the festival, enough for a second theme region; Chilewill not be happy. The entries include all the familiar California wineries – Beringer, Caymus, Kendall-Jackson, Louis Martini, Paul Hobbs, Robert Mondavi, Signorello, Sterling and Stag’s Leap. There are also two Oregonwineries and two from Washington, including Chateau Ste. Michelle.

Others: There are also Spanish, Portuguese and New Zealand wineries, along with one each from South Africa and

Mexico

Tawse Winery: This Ontariowinery is making its first appearance at the festival. It is the only Ontario winery here – but it is arguably the best Canadian winery. Tawse won the Canadian winery of the year award in each of the last two Canadian Wine Awards competitions.

The winery was opened in 2005 by Moray Tawse, a Torontofinancial executive. Located on the Jordan Bench, the winery is designed for the ultimate in gravity-flow processing. The investment in the winery is substantial. I once asked Tawse how much he was spending on the winery. He replied: “I won’t tell you but I can say that it will never make money.” I think he was joking.

This will be a rare chance to taste and buy the stunning Riesling, Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs from this winery.

Sake: There will be four producers of sake, or rice wine – two from Japan, one from Oregon and Granville Island’s Artisan SakeMaker.

This is not the first time that there has been a contingent of sake producers at the festival. Sake producers first applied five or six years ago. I was then the chair of the selection committee. Over the festival’s more than 30 years, it was the unwritten policy to exclude producers of non-grape beverages, such as fruit wines, as well as distilled spirits. Since as many as 300 wineries apply each year for the 185 tables in the tasting room, it was generally agreed that there were no tables to spare for the non-grape crowd.

The sake producers, however, were seen as a refreshing change from same old/same old. Once the seven-member selection committee made sure that the festival’s board of directors were on side as well, an area on the tasting room floor was set aside for sake. And it proved to be very popular.

It should draw crowds again this year. Japanese-born Masa Shiroki, who opened Artisan SakeMaker in 2007 on GranvilleIsland, will be releasing what is a breakthrough product – sparkling sake made by the traditional bottle-fermented Champagne method. He is only releasing 240 bottles, priced at $50 a bottle. He will be pouring it at his stand and it will also be on sale at the festival wine store. Don’t miss it.

Laughing Stock prepares to blend Portfolio 2010

2012-02-16T17:12:00.000-08:00

Photo: David Enns

Everyone has his own defence against a cellar palate.

A month on a BMW motorcycle in South America is the self-prescribed cure for David Enns, the winemaker and co-owner of Laughing Stock Vineyards.

“I just spent 30 days in South America, drinking a lot of really bad wine,” he says. To be fair, he also found some really good wine, amid the profusion of $5 - $8 wines.

But he returned last weekend from his third South American bike tour with a refreshed perspective. “You know, we are making good wine in B.C., period,” he believes. “We’ve got a great thing going here in B.C.”

Now he is turning his clear head and fresh palate to one of the winery’s most important tasks each year: blending the winery’s 2010 reds, including Portfolio, Laughing Stock’s flagship Bordeaux-style wine. Since the first vintage in 2003, Portfolio has become one of British Columbia’s icon reds.

Laughing Stock makes between 3,000 and 3,400 cases of red wine each year, including about 2,000 cases of Portfolio. Each year the winery offers “futures” on Portfolio, usually selling between 500 and 700 cases. This year, the futures offering is open on the winery’s website for just one month, until the end of February.

In a futures offering, buyers of the wine are asked to order and pay for wine that is not even bottled yet, for delivery in about 10 months.

In exchange for taking a chance on the future, the buyers get a reasonable discount. Portfolio will retail at $42 a bottle on release next October. But if you buy the futures offering now, you pay $35 a bottle. The futures price has not risen in eight vintages.

The five varietals that will be blended into Portfolio 2010 are still in French oak barrels. During the next two to four weeks, David will taste each barrel and put together various blends before deciding on the final blend for the wine. The barrels that don’t quite make the cut for Portfolio typically end up the winery’s lower-priced, but still delicious, Blind Trust blend.

While David blends to an established taste profile, Portfolio blend varies a bit, depending on which varieties are strong in any given vintage. Over the years, Merlot has dominated the blend – but not always.

Portfolio 2009 is a blend of 36% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Cabernet Franc, 14% Malbec and 1% Petit Verdot. Portfolio 2008 is 53% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, 9% Malbec and 2% Petit Verdot.

Blind Trust 2010 will be bottled in April and released in June. The final Portfolio blend, however, is returned to barrels for another three months before being bottled. The wine also gets several months of bottle age before it is finally released.

So why put money down for a wine that is not even blended? Because David Enns and Laughing Stock have established a solid track record with successive vintages of Portfolio.

“I think we are working hard at Laughing Stock to do that consistently year in and year out,” he says.

The vintages in the Okanagan, until 2010 and 2011, have given winemakers big, ripe fruit to work with. David believes that consumers will notice a difference in the two most recent vintages because both were cooler that any vintage since 1999.

“One thing with the 2010 vintage, and I think it will be a repeat in 2011 reds, is that the wines are going to be lighter and much more elegant, without the heavy mouthfeel viscosity associated with the previous five years,” he says.

Like many other Okanagan winemakers, he thinks the 2010 and 2011 Okanagan reds will have more in common with Bordeaux than with California. They will be wines with slightly lower alcohol, slightly higher acidity and – in the hands of a skilful blender – with bright fruit flavours and elegant balance. And they will age well.

“2010 and 2011 will be Old World years,” David suggests. “One of the reasons I came to the Okanagan was to make wines that are like the international wines that I like to drink. That allows for a variation from year to year. It does not have to be super dark black fruit every year. It can be a number of different things, as long as there is a sense of balance and a full ripeness.”

Photo: Laughing Stock winery