Pentâge releases wines with maturity

Photo: Paul Gardner and Julie Rennie

A California winery, Paul Masson, once had this advertising slogan: “No wine before its time.” If it were not trademarked, Paul Gardner and Julie Rennie could apply it to the wines they produce at Pentâge Winery in Penticton. When their peers have begun releasing 2019 and even 2020 wines, some of the current releases from Pentâge are from the 2016 vintage, which is almost sold out elsewhere. In my view, the fans of Pentâge are in luck. While most other wineries expect you to cellar their wines until they are ready, Pentâge does the cellaring for you. The wines are ready to drink when you get them, although they will certainly cellar well.

Other producers would like to hold back wines the way Paul and Julie do (and some in fact do that). The down side of holding back wine is that a winery’s cellar becomes jammed with case goods; and those cases of wine are not generating cash flow. Another California producer gently pointed this out by mocking the Paul Masson slogan. “No wine before its time – but when the banker calls, it is time!” Pentâge, which opened in 2003 and now produces about 5,000 cases a year, clearly has cash flow and storage issues under control. A former marine engineer, Paul Gardner spent about 10 years carving a 5,000-square-foot cellar in the natural rock caping the Pentâge property. With stable year-round temperature, it is an ideal place for maturing wines in bottle.

The current sample pack from Pentâge was limited to just four wines to represent the winery’s extensive portfolio. It is two mountain-side vineyards above Penticton, the winery has 19 grape varieties. Not many winemakers have as many options as Paul has. Here are notes on the wines.

Pentâge Pinot Gris 2018 ($17.39). This is a strikingly complex wine, no doubt because of how it was put together. The winery drew fruit from three different vineyards and did six different fermentations in stainless steel. The final blend is rich on the palate, with aromas and flavours of pears, stone fruit and citrus. 90.

Pentâge Viognier 2016 ($20). The wine was inoculated in stainless steel, with 30% then transferred to second-fill oak barrels to finish fermentation, including partial malolactic. Both portions were on lees that were stirred weekly. The wine begins with aromas of pear and stone fruit. On the palate, flavours of apricot and ripe apple mingle with notes of oak. The texture is fleshy, with a touch of tannin to give it backbone. The finish is dry. 90.

Pentâge Cabernet Franc 2016 ($26.70). This wine was matured 18 months in oak barrels (75% French, 25% American – and 25% new). It has also been bottled aged two years before release. The wine has developed lovely aromas of cassis and cherry. It shows bright and spicy flavours of raspberry and cherry, with a lingering finish. 91.

Pentâge GSM 2016 ($30.43). The blend is 35% Grenache, 35% Mourvedre and 30% Syrah. The three varieties were matured separately for 16 months in neutral French and American oak barrels. The wine begins with aromas of cherry and plum accented with cracked black pepper. Those fruits and the pepper are echoed on the rich palate. There is a delicious underlying sweetness to the fruit as the wine opens up in the glass. 92.