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“Oldfield Series” 2Bench Red With Tinhorn’s Sandra Oldfield

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by >Treve Ring | There are people who have seen a lot in this industry, and then there are people who have seen it all. “When I arrived in the valley, ‘Okanagan Riesling’ and Marechal Foch were the most planted grapes” remembers Sandra Oldfield. Back then, the funky so-far-from-Riesling hybrid dubbed ‘Okanagan Riesling’ and the foxy, always-divisive Marechal Foch were ruling the vineyards. “They kept saying ‘Riesling this and Riesling that’ but I knew there was no possible way that stuff could actually be Riesling.” Thankfully, Sandra had the adventuresome pluck and foresight to put down roots, literally and figuratively. 2014 marks the 20th anniversary for Oliver’s Tinhorn Creek Vineyards, a golden milestone for CEO and Winemaker Oldfield and her Golden Mile winery.

Since harvesting their first grapes in 1994 in the southern Okanagan, the family-owned and operated Tinhorn Creek Vineyards has been a pioneer of carbon-neutral and sustainable winemaking and instrumental in introducing the world to BC wine (thankfully, not ‘Okanagan Riesling’). I joined Sandra and a handful of wine folks for lunch at Good Wolfe Kitchen & Bar recently as she cracked some screwcaps (all wines are under stelvin), reminisced (did you know Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Forrest Gump both came out in 1994?), and looked forward to the year ahead.

Her Vancouver visit kicked off a series of 20 events held this year to celebrate Tinhorn’s 20th birthday. Not content just to ponder what the next year or two will bring – though contentious sub-appellations were bandied about over the dozens of glasses on the table – the pioneering Sandra is “very excited about what the next 20 years will have to offer.” Us too, Sandra. Cheers to 20 more!

Tinhorn Creek Oldfield Series 2Bench Red 2010 | OKANAGAN | $30

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The 2010 2Bench Red is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Big boned, with ample cassis, fine cedar spice, thorny leaf, black raspberries and blacker coffee, ending off with raspy grained tannins and faint tobacco smoke. The wine is held back and aged at the winery, released only when it’s ready to drink (because, of course, consumers don’t cellar).

Straight up – why did you make this wine? After making wine here from estate grapes for a dozen years we got a feel for what grapes grow well in what parts of our vineyard. We decided to make a big, bold red blend because we were in complete control of the quality from our vineyards, we knew what varieties would make the best blend and we were excited to release a well-aged red wine to our customers.

Where are the grapes from? Our grapes come from the heart of red wine country in BC — what I like to call the Okanagan Valley’s “Extreme South”. The majority of the blend comes from estate vines in our Diamondback Vineyard on the Black Sage Bench and the Petit Verdot vines are what I look out at from my bedroom window on the Tinhorn Creek Vineyard on the Golden Mile Bench. The name “2Bench” comes from blending these estate grapes from both benches in the Oliver area of BC.

Your ideal pairing with this wine would be…? A winter hardy stew with fork tender beef (preferably from our own Okanagan’s Finest Angus Beef grown right in Oliver), some lovely rustic vegetables, potatoes and with a bit of the 2Bench Red mixed in.

Favourite BC wine, other than yours? I’d say my favourite BC wine that I’ve had recently (this week) was the Quails’ Gate 2012 Chardonnay; I had it on the weekend and it was just lovely. I also love the Rieslings from Orofino and the Pinot Noirs from Stoneboat Vineyards.

What do you drink when you’re not drinking BC wine? We drink wines from all over the world and some of my favourite places are Alsace, California and Washington State, but lately it has been all I can do to just stay on top of all that BC has to offer. I put my focus recently on trying a new BC wine each week, and preferably from a winery I have not had from a while.