Introducing The Similkameen Valley: 7% And Growing Strong

The Similkameen Valley (wiki) is not a new wine region in BC, but it seems like it has only recently been remembered, or maybe, more appropriately, rediscovered. Located in the very south of BC, just west of Osoyoos, it is surprising that the Similkameen has taken so long to get serious attention. Read more

On The World’s Bulk Wine Ascendancy

Something interesting has happened in the last few years in the wine world – something both good and worrying. Wine regions that were once written off as ‘bulk’ wine areas have shown that a changing attitude to grape growing and wine making can achieve recognition and respect, catapulting new varietal names and regions onto the world scene. Read more

Will The Truffle Soon Grow Here In BC?

Mother Nature routinely throws us something extraordinary to ponder, discuss, pontificate over and, in the best cases, to digest. There are flavours from her cupboard that science simply cannot reproduce, imitate or ever have a hope of surpassing. A few spring to mind – saffron, vanilla, cinnamon, certain herbs and of course, truffles…(there are certainly more so please comment on whatever else you can add). Read more

Laughing Stock Links Wine Price To TSX

David and Cynthia Enns like to say that they wake up every morning with the goal of not living up to their winery’s name “Laughing Stock”. Things must have been running too smoothly for too long because they have decided to put their reputations on the line once again.

Their latest brave/foolish adventure is linking the price of their soon to be released Portfolio 2007 to the much-maligned TSX. If you purchase Portfolio futures at $35 per bottle (the early bird special price versus the usual $39 on release) you enter the TSX lottery.

For every 500 points the TSX drops by the time the wine is released in September 2009, Laughing Stock will give you back $1 per bottle or donate it to charity (not the banking sector) – their own little vine-ancial stimulus package.

I happened to be at the winery a couple of days ago and tasted some barrel samples of the 2007 and it is showing the usual high quality that Portfolio has come to represent. The futures go on sale Feb 17th and with this deal, there is little to lose. If the markets do continue to decline, you may well need a drink.

Ed. note: That’s Rhys and Cynthia in the photo at the 2008 Naramata Unfiltered Sommelier Bootcamp. I think they might be trying to yell at the vines or something. I remember that being a particularly inebriating day…

——————————————————————-

Rhys Pender is a wine educator, freelance wine writer, wine judge and consultant to the industry. Visit his company Wine Plus+ online at www.wineplus.ca.

Chef Michael Allemeier Leaving Mission Hill

Mission Hill Family Estate has announced that chef Michael Allemeier (interview) will be departing the winery this summer on August 1st. He will be replaced as Winery Chef by Matt Batey, who is promoted from the position of Terrace Chef to lead all of the winery’s culinary programs. Read more

’09 Vancouver Wine Festival Gears Into Action

It is now less than a couple of months away from what is definitely the BC wine event of the year – the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival. I have just gone through the barrage of media releases and I have to say that the lineup of events is pretty impressive. As always, many of these events will sell out quickly (last year 10 events sold out on the first day) so heed this warning to plan your week and get in early to buy tickets. Tickets for the public events went on sale Jan 27th and Trade event tickets were made available on Feb 3rd.

At first, I must admit, I thought that it was a bit pointless having BC as the ‘theme region’ for 2009 when the wines are so readily available for tasting, but on further thought I am liking the idea more and more. The seminars the wine fest team have come up with provide some very interesting insights into what is happening in our little industry. This is a chance to both study BC wine in more depth and to conduct serious analyses of BC versus The World. Both will help BC wine evolve.

Some of the BC focused seminars that have caught my attention include: A Vertical Tasting of Oculus (after having just conducted two 10 Year Old BC wine tastings, this will be an interesting look at the ageability across a decade of wine); Osoyoos Larose Component and Vertical Tasting (ditto); Nota Bene Vertical Tasting (ditto again); Pinot-Rama! (a look at Pinot Varieties from BC and the rest of the world), BC Reds Reach for the Top (Trade Only) and Icons of BC (those hard to get wines). A full list of event descriptions is available here.

Here are some of the impressive festival numbers – 183 wineries, 1700+ wines, 15 countries represented and 61 events. The dates are March 23rd to the 29th, and after many years of practice I can guarantee you that you need to attend for at least a few days to get a real taste of the action. It certainly is not advised to attempt to taste the 700 wines in the tasting room in one evening. I’ve seen people try and its messy. You either need a very focused plan of attack, which is completely dull and boring, or you need to invest in a few nights of tasting. It will be worth it. For $89 a night, you can taste hundreds of dollars worth of wine and brush shoulders with the wine cognoscenti. For those who work in the Trade, there are some great multi-day packages available.

For tickets you can phone 604-873-3311 or visit www.playhousewinefest.com for more details. If for nothing else, the wine fest is a great networking opportunity and you are bound to learn a lot just by hanging around. After all, half of the wine world will be there.

——————————————————————-

Rhys Pender is a wine educator, freelance wine writer, wine judge and consultant to the industry. Visit his company Wine Plus+ online at www.wineplus.ca.

The New Siblings Of Mission Hill’s Oculus

Mission Hill winery has been busy lately lauching its new range of wines to wine lovers across the country and I just finished a mini-tasting of them. The Legacy Series sees two new labels joining Oculus on the MH’s most premium series. The new siblings are Perpetua and Quatrain, and they are both quite impressive.

The first of these wines, 2006 Perpetua, is a single-vineyard Chardonnay from Osoyoos. It is perhaps a bit of a surprise for Mission Hill to produce a single-vineyard wine. In the past they have been proponents of blending from a number of sites for the sake of consistency. A few years ago when I asked the winemaker, John Simes, if he would be making more single-vineyard wines I think his answer was “I hope not”.

Although the vineyard name isn’t featured on the label, it does appear in the marketing materials. I’m curious as to whether or not we’ll see the Perpetua coming only from this one site year after year. There is definitely a growing trend towards exploring terroir, and it will be interesting to see if Mission Hill, with their expanded Small Lots Program, starts to produce more of these wines – a Pinot Noir or Syrah perhaps? Or maybe something from their new organically farmed vineyard in the south of the valley?

So what does it taste like? It’s another luxury Chardonnay, given all the royal treatment from vineyard to bottle. In fact, the bottle itself is fantastic, with the front label a glued-on piece of tin with the wine name stamped into it. As for what’s in it, the wine is ripe and fruit forward with lots of (good quality) oak, stone fruit and custard. It shows good texture, intensity and length with some nice lemon and minerality. It finishes a touch hot, even though it’s only 13% alcohol. The oak is nicely done, well integrated and adds some interesting toasty-nutty flavours. Bottom line: this is a pretty serious Chardonnay, one comparable to many California big wigs around the same price of $35.

The 2005 Quatrain is not too different from the Oculus with the notable exception of a chunk of Syrah added to the blend. The goal is for it to be ready for consumption earlier than the Oculus, so as to give you something to drink while you wait for the big “O” to mature for 5 or 10 years (side note: we recently tried both the ’97 and ’98 vintages and both were still drinking very well).

The Quatrain seems to achieve this goal well with lots of soft, ripe plum, Christmas cake and spice, quite a full body and a nice kick of peppery Syrah flavour to give it some complexity. The blend is dominated by 57% Merlot and 28% Syrah, and these varietals dominate. Overall: good quality. The price is $48.

The 2005 Oculus has also recently hit the shelves and I think this could be the best vintage yet. It was from about this vintage that the quality initiatives Mission Hill was putting into place really started to show their impact. Low yields in the vineyards, sorting the fruit and oak fermentation vats have all amped up the quality of these red wines. The ’05 combines the usual Cabernet and Merlot flavours with much more texture and weight than in past vintages. It still has the structure to age, but will probably taste pretty nice along the way if you can’t wait for 10 years in the cellar. Price is $70.

Regardless of whether or not this is a good time to be releasing a new high-end series, kudos to Mission Hill for the commitment to quality from vineyard to cellar. The big guys like Mission Hill and Vincor often get the short end of the stick when it comes to recognition for wine quality, but they are doing as much, if not more, than anyone else to do everything they can to make the best wines possible.

It is also great to see more single-vineyard wines from the big wineries (Vincor also has some excellent Jackson-Triggs and Inniskillin single-vineyard wines) hitting the market. As wine drinkers, we can now really start to explore the BC terroir.

——————————————————————-

Rhys Pender is a wine educator, freelance wine writer, wine judge and consultant to the industry. Visit his company Wine Plus+ online at www.wineplus.ca.

The Boozeless Cleanse Of A Wine Pro

The beginning of a new year is a sad time. After a couple of weeks of eating and drinking far too much and barely lifting a finger in exercise it is suddenly back to normal, back to work. It is when you finally sit back down at the desk that you contemplate where that extra rubber around the midriff came from.

Personally I have been a firm disbeliever when it comes to cleansing, diets and other short-sighted means to keep looking trim and terrific. A good, balanced approach to food, avoiding fast food and overly processed crap and a bit of exercise is all that should be necessary.

It was with dismay that I discovered that some of my best friends, most ardent eaters and drinkers that they are, had fallen to the dreaded lure of the cleanse. A couple of friends go off alcohol for a few weeks every once in a while just to prove to themselves that they are not alcoholics. Alas, it was even enough to convince my wife and I to try something, to see what on earth had led them down this stray path.

The first part of a cleanse has to be figuring out the rules of the game. This is surprisingly hard. Give up cheese, wine, red meats, bread? How can you avoid these staples of life? After shedding tears and sobbing with horror we decided on the following: no alcohol for 10 days, no caffeine, no cheese and no red meat. This would be supplemented with plenty of exercise. It’s a strong test of one’s character, I thought.

The day before we started this cleanse was very difficult. We started longing for the things we had put in the ‘no go’ basket. We wanted to grab the bottle and drink heartily, gorge on cheese, fat, and meat, all in obscene quantities.

Day 1 started out okay, but the house was in a somber mood. The cheese drawer beckoned every time the fridge was opened. The empties on the counter from the good old days called out with their aromas and flavours and every book or magazine seemed to involve endless, gluttonous feasts. But we made it.

Day 2 we both woke with headaches. I thought you were supposed to get a headache when you did drink? The idea was starting to wear thin. By mid-afternoon, my wife gave in and headed for the cheese drawer (we must have had 10 different cheeses in there, just beckoning). She started trying to convince me that we needed wine, that a cleanse was a stupid idea. I was weakening, but I survived day two.

Day 3 was when it finally fell apart. We gave in and changed the rules. In fact we abandoned the rules but went back to the old adage - everything good but in moderation. This is a better game and more in tune with our philosophy. But we did learn something.

Just two days of restraint gave us so much appreciation for the flavours, aromas and textures that we had taken for granted. Wine aromas have never smelled so clear, so focused, or so tantalising. Cheese would melt in your mouth, exploding with flavour, every bite savoured because, now, we couldn’t just plough through a couple of hundred grams of the stuff.

So our cleanse (if it warrants such a title) has renewed our appreciation for food and wine and made both taste better than ever. For that it was worthwhile. As for the extra rubber around the mid-riff, that will have to be dealt with the old fashioned way – more exercise and restraint – because some things are just too enjoyable to pass up and life is not long enough to go without.

——————————————————————-

Rhys Pender is a wine educator, freelance wine writer, wine judge and consultant to the industry. Visit his company Wine Plus+ online at www.wineplus.ca.

The Difference A Decade Makes To 24 BC Wines

The following is a summary of the two tastings conducted by Wine Plus+ on November 30^th and December 7^th. This was a benchmark tasting of Okanagan wines with a dozen wines at each tasting and all at least a decade old.

It was with curious interest that the idea for these tastings emerged. Through negligent cellar management by myself and friends, I have had the opportunity to try a number of decade old Okanagan wines over recent years. Curiously, they all tasted remarkably better than I had expected. At the same time it occurred to me that there is little benchmarking for how well Okanagan wines age. The time seemed right to organize a tasting to bring clarity to this topic.

So digging into my own cellar and calling on friends and contacts at some of the 30 odd wineries that existed 10 years ago, an exciting range of wines was unearthed. The list of wines for each tasting can be found on my site here.

I have to admit that I thought some of these wines would be absolutely dead. I by no means expected such an overall accomplished performance. Fellow panelists were Mike Bartier – winemaker at Road 13 Vineyards (Kelowna & Penticton tastings), Mark Filatow – chef & sommelier at Waterfront Wines (Kelowna) and Kenji Hodgson – wine writer & winemaker at Joie (Penticton). The panelists, as well as the nearly 40 guests at the tastings, were all surprised with the quality after more than a decade of maturation.

Two important things should be mentioned. 1) Bottle variation from one tasting to the next was distinct, proving the old adage that there are not good old wines just good old bottles. 2) You have to appreciate the flavours of mature wine to grasp the subtleties and nuances that wine can gain with age.

Below is a brief discussion of the findings by grape variety.

Sparkling

Both bubblies we tasted were young beyond their 11 years. The Sumac Ridge was incredibly toasty, the bread, brioche and yeasty flavours and aromas enhanced by the extended maturation. It can last for another decade easily. The Lake Breeze Zephyr was a much crisper, fresher wine with obviously shorter lees contact but still clean, fresh and zippy and also still youthful in appearance and taste.

Riesling

Riesling is famed for its longevity and we really stretched the limits with a 21 year-old version from Gray Monk. We had a mixed bag in terms of Riesling styles with different levels of alcohol, acidity, sweetness and maybe even the influence of botrytis in some wines. The Hainle wine, true to its style, was incredibly high in acid but remarkably fresh yet complex at the same time (the second bottle was more oxidized and less enjoyable). The Wild Goose wines showed much softer characteristics, still some sweetness and still plenty of life. The 1987 Gray Monk had fantastic complexity. While quite developed, it still had a long finish and showed developed fruit and spice. Overall, BC Riesling should age well but the styles vary too much to make any solid conclusions.

Chardonnay

The quality of the two Chardonnays after 16 and 14 years respectively is an amazing testament to the BC terroir. Only Burgundy has proven any ability to create Chardonnay that is still drinkable after this length of time, but this level of quality shows a unique capacity of BC’s terroir. Most of the world’s Chardonnay has completely fallen apart after 5 or so years. This longevity shows an exciting future for complex, matured BC Chardonnay. But one should note the alcohol content of just 12.5% on the Mission Hill Chardonnay, something you never see today. Are we going to be missing something with today’s 14.5% alcohol wines when we open them in a few years?

Pinot Noir

The second tasting was to include Pinot Noir, but a Quails’ Gate Family Reserve 1998 was scratched late due to cork taint. Tasted a few weeks previously this wine was holding up well and showing the potential for longevity in Pinot Noir. The Summerhill wine showed fantastic complexity on the nose with classic aged earth, spice, orange zest and still some fruits, however the palate had gone a little flat.

Cabernet & Merlot

A number of wines were included combining these two varieties and virtually all showed good potential for ageing. Many of the wines had developed remarkable elegance and complexity and the developed notes of burlap, tobacco and spice were just starting to emerge to compliment the red and dark fruits that were still evident. It appears that many of these wines will peak between 10-14 years but a few particularly concentrated wines should last 20 years. The Burrowing Owl 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon was practically a baby showing no signs yet of ageing in colour, aroma or flavour. These wines show clear potential for cellaring.

Summary

This was a fascinating exercise. The quality of the wines was excellent and I hope will get some consumers to look at BC wine differently – as something cellar worthy and age worthy. To my estimate, little of the wine produced in BC is cellared longer than a few years. The wines being produced at the quality levels of today have serious ageing ability and I believe this can add an exciting new dimension to what our wineries are producing. It is time to start buying BC wine by the case rather than just the bottle.

Thanks to the wineries Sumac Ridge, Wild Goose, Gray Monk, Mission Hill, Quails’ Gate, Kettle Valley, Poplar Grove, Lake Breeze, La Frenze and Burrowing Owl for releasing precious wines from the library for this tasting.

——————————–

Rhys Pender is a wine educator, freelance wine writer, wine judge and consultant to the industry. Visit his company Wine Plus+ online at www.wineplus.ca.

——————————–

The Okanagan Coffee Route

Now that I regularly drive the 1.5 hour journey from the Similkameen to Kelowna to teach my wine classes I have had to create a coffee route to keep me fueled along the way. One of the most important things for me in any place is to find out where to get the best latte. It’s easier said than done up here, but over the years in the Okanagan (and now Similkameen) a number of decent coffee houses have popped up in the towns along my new path.

The first stop as I head north is Penticton. There are now two very solid stops to be found. If you are heading up the hill towards the Naramata Bench, a visit to the Bench Market is essential for good coffee and panini (and you can pick up some Vij’s curry for dinner). The second stop in Penticton is a new entry, the Bellevue Cafe. This little spot on Main Street makes for a perfect break as you browse your way through the farmer’s market in the summer months, and with free wireless it is also a good stop en route from which you can send a few emails.

After jumping back in the car and heading north, you are probably just finishing one coffee as you roll into Summerland. The Beanery at the end of Main Street makes a pretty decent latte and I am visiting this place a lot more as the roadwork between Summerland and Peachland causes many unplanned delays.

By Peachland, you can drop into Bliss Bakery for a coffee or sandwich and kill some time by staring out over the lake, but it is the next stop that is probably the most exciting for me.

Now, in one of the many large strip malls that have popped up in Westbank, you can find the Okanagan’s first Caffe Artigiano. This is the now the best coffee in the Okanagan and a forced stop on any journey through the big-box storeland of Westbank. I was there on opening day a couple of weeks ago and was pleased to see the new staff just making latte after latte until they’d reached the expected perfection. It is nice to see such commitment to product quality.

The only challengers to the Artigiano crown are the two Bean Scene cafes in Kelowna (Bernard Ave and Ellis Street). The coffee they call the “Traditional Cappuccino” is actually a small, strong powerhouse with perfectly textured steamed milk and intense flavour. The Bean Scene food is very ordinary, but for coffee they were the first ones here who were really committed to training staff to make it properly.

I have yet to explore in-depth the caffeine scene of Okanagan Falls, Oliver and Osoyoos, or the north Okanagan around Vernon, but at least, for a good length of the Okanagan and Similkameen, we can be sure of finding a great cup of coffee now, another sign of the improving food scene in the Okanagan.

————————————–

Rhys Pender is a wine educator, freelance wine writer, wine judge and consultant to the industry. Visit his company Wine Plus+ online at www.wineplus.ca.

Next Page »