BC wines: Nothing left to prove?

Photo: Wine celebrity Steven Spurrier

It is time to drop the inferiority complex about British Columbia wines.

The British Columbia Wine Institute (BCWI) recognized that when it announced that the fifth Judgment of BC wine tasting, held recently in Penticton, is the last in this series of tastings.

The format has always been a blind tasting of British Columbia wines along side imported wines. The concept recalled the famous Judgment of Paris in 1976 when Steven Spurrier, then a young wine merchant in Paris, staged a tasting of California and French wines.

At the time, California wines also suffered from an inferiority complex. Spurrier believed that many California wines ranked right up there in quality with French wines. To the astonishment of the French wine critics at the tasting, it turned out he was right. The California wines were as good as, if not better, than the French wines. That tasting did wonders for the reputation of California wines.

The BCWI invited Spurrier to participate in both the first and the fifth of the Judgment of BC tastings. In each of these tastings, British Columbia wines have held their own against selected imported wines.

That was not a surprise to those of us who have been tracking the astonishing rise in the quality of British Columbia wines during the last two decades. The BCWI has concluded this series of tastings because, frankly, British Columbia winemakers do not have anything to prove any more.

That may explain why one seldom hears any more that British Columbia wines are “world class.” That tiresome phrase was ubiquitous in wine writing when the wines were not yet world class. That is no longer the case.

“Of course, that doesn’t mean that we will ease up,” says Manuel Zuppiger, the winemaker at Arrowleaf Cellars, and a winner at this year’s Judgment. “The pursuit of making great wines never really ends. It does mean that we can be confident that we’re on the right path.”

The recent fifth Judgment pitted four different varietal wines from British Columbia against comparable wines from elsewhere in the world. There were ten wines in each flight (six each from British Columbia). All were tasted blind and rated by 30 judges. The judging panel included, in addition to Spurrier, wine experts from not just British Columbia but from China, the United States and elsewhere in Canada. These were not cellar palates.

In the Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah classes, the top-rated wines all were from British Columbia. Only in the Riesling class did British Columbia emerge a runner-up to a very fine Riesling from the Mosel. The style of that wine was significantly different from all the other Rieslings and was perhaps not a fair comparison.

(The same thing happened a few years ago in an earlier Judgment’s flight of Pinot Gris wines. An Alsace Pinot Gris blew everything else off the table. But for reasons of terroir and climate, British Columbia Pinot Gris is never, or almost never, made in the style of Alsace.)

The British Columbia wines for the fifth Judgment were selected earlier from a much larger group of wines. That ensured, or should have ensured, that only the strongest British Columbia wines took on the world. Overall, these were 40 good wines.

Here are the results.

Chardonnay

1. Meyer Family Vineyards Tribute Series Chardonnay 2016 ($30.52).

2. 50^th Parallel Estate Chardonnay 2016 ($27.95).

3. Craggy Range Chardonnay Kidnapper’s Vineyard 2017 ($32.99). New Zealand.

4. Nk’Mip Cellars Qwam Qwmt Chardonnay 2017 ($28.99).

5. Chartron et Trébuchet Pouilly Fuissé 2017  ($38.99). Burgundy.

6. Laroche Chablis Premier Cru La Chantrerie 2016 ($42.99). Burgundy.

7. Tantalus Vineyards Chardonnay 2015 ($31.99).

8. Monte Creek Ranch Chardonnay Reserve 2016 ($24.99).

9. Culmina Family Estate Dilemma Chardonnay 2014 ($31).

10. Bethel Heights Vineyard Eola Chardonnay 2015 ($62.99) Oregon.

Riesling

1. Nik Weis St. Urbans-Hof Wiltinger Alte Reben 2014 ($34.99). Mosel.

2. CedarCreek Estate Platinum Block 3 Riesling 2018 ($29.99).

3. St. Hubertus & Oak Bay Vineyards Family Reserve Riesling 2014 ($$26).

4. Tightrope Winery Riesling 2017 ($19.05).

5. Culmina Family Estate Decora Riesling 2014 ($24.99).

6. Upper Bench Estate Riesling 2017 ($23.99).

7. Chateau Ste. Michelle Cold Creek Vineyard Riesling 2015 ($37.99). Washington.

8. Rieslingfreak No. 3 Reverence of Riesling 2018 ($39.89). Clare Valley, Australia.

9. Martin’s Lane Fritzi’s Vineyard Riesling 2016 ($65).

10. Nigl Dornleiten Riesling Kremstal 2015 ($37.30). Austria.

Pinot Noir

1. Arrowleaf Cellars Archive Pinot Noir 2016 ($35).

2. La Crema Pinot Noir Monterey 2016 ($36.45). California.

3. Sokol Blosser Pinot Noir Dundee Hills 2015 ($41.99). Oregon.

4. Sperling Vineyards Pinot Noir 2016 ($29.99).

5. Meyer Family Vineyards McLean Creek Road Pinot Noir 2016 ($56.62).

6. Louis Jadot Beaune Grèves Premier Cru 2015 ($99.91). Burgundy.

7. Shaw+Smith Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir 2016 ($67.74). Australia.

8. Tightrope Winery Pinot Noir 2016 ($36.99).

9. Quails’ Gate Richard’s Block Pinot Noir 2017 ($29.99).

10. CedarCreek Estate Platinum Block 2 Pinot Noir 2016 ($64.99).

Syrah

1. Tightrope Winery Syrah 2016 ($36.99).

2. Le Vieux Pin Winery Cuvée Violette Syrah 2016 ($37.99).

3. Stag’s Hollow Winery Amalia Vineyard Syrah 2016 ($28.99).

4. Saint Cosme Crozes-Hermitage 2016 ($58.99). Rhône.

5. Torbreck Woodcutter’s Barossa Shiraz ($36.99). Australia.

6. Time Winery Syrah 2014 ($35).

7. Painted Rock Syrah 2016 ($39.99).

8. Domaine Jamet Syrah Collines Rhodaniennes 2015 ($47.74). Rhône.

9. C.C. Jentsch Cellars Syrah 2016 ($36.99).

10. K Vintners MCK Syrah 2015 ($47.97). Washington.