Virtual Tasting at Cedar Creek

3 wines for tasting - courtesy Cedar Creek

Virtual wine tastings are becoming the new 'thing' during these Covid19 times. Black Hills winery has a deal where you buy three bottles of different wine and then get to have a private wine tasting online. Many other wineries are featuring Instagram or Facebook Live streams where they talk about the different wines that they are making. My friend, Keith, and I have started doing weekly tastings like we did before I moved to Kelowna - but now we are doing Zoom tastings.

Cedar Creek recently did a virtual tasting with three of their new releases. On the day of the tasting, I picked up a bottle of each (as well as some cassoulet from their Home Block restaurant) and headed home to chill the white and the bubbles.

The two people doing the tasting were Amy, the Assistant Winemaker (who I have seen before, usually roaming around the vineyards in boots and looking ready for adventure) and Dan (who is, to my great fortune, my son-in-law - although that fact has no bearing on my reviews of the wines), the assistant manager of Guest Experiences.

The first wine we tried was the bubbles. It was the Cedar Creek Home Block Sparkling Brut ($25).  This wine is made with 100% Muscat Ottonel and is fermented in a charmat tank (which means that the secondary fermentation takes place in a tank, rather than in a bottle). There were some very complex aromas including citrus such as lemon and tangerine and tree fruits like apple, peach and nectarine. There was a hint of yeast, toast, and a bit of honey as well. On the palate, there were the same fruits and flavours. The flavours were intense and the bubbles were quite lively. This was a dry, fruity sparkler that had a light body and a pleasant, medium finish. It was a delight to sip away during the tasting and I would enjoy having this with shellfish or a creamy cheese. This could easily age for five years. I would rate this wine as Very Good.

Throughout the tasting of the Sparkling, Amy and Dan had an easy-going nature to their discussion about the wine and did a great job of talking about the grapes, the production and the flavours of this wine. They encouraged questions and comments from the online participants and were happy to connect with us.

The second wine was a Chardonnay. Now, I have tried lots of Chardonnays, and some I like but most I find rather bland or overly sweet, or just not that interesting. The Cedar Creek 2018 Estate Chardonnay ($19) was neither bland nor excessively sweet. It is an oaked Chardonnay but was not overly sugary tasting. It had the aromas and flavours of stone fruits like peach, nectarine, pear and apricot but I also definitely tasted and smelled tropical flavours such as pineapple and even a touch of coconut. The oak ageing was evidenced by the flavours of oak, vanilla, butter and almond and there was also an underlying mineral taste of wet stone and minerals. There was enough acidity to offset the oak flavours and this medium bodied wine was still mostly dry. The Chardonnay had an intense flavour, was complex and fairly balanced with a medium finish. I would have this with chicken, Asian food, hard cheeses or by itself to slurp on the patio. I surprised myself by giving it a Very Good rating. - something I rarely do for Chardonnay!

Amy and Dan continued to show their enjoyable personalities as well as their senses of humour. As I said, this wine really surprised me and you could tell they were proud of the final product.

The final wine was the Cedar Creek 2018 Estate Pinot Noir ($27). They grow a lot of Pinot Noir up at Cedar Creek and this Pinot has grapes from four different blocks. Amy and the main winemaker do a great job of blending the different Pinot Noir grapes into a very tasty wine. This wine was all about the red fruit - cherry, raspberry, strawberry, and cranberry - as well as some mineral flavours such as earth, stone, and leather. This wine had medium tannins, medium body, a medium finish and was dry. It had a nice balance between the fruitiness of the red fruits and the mineral flavours. I would enjoy this medium intensity wine with a wide variety of foods including the aforementioned cassoulet, chicken, lamb, and a charcuterie plate. This wine could stand a little age (maybe a couple of years) but is definitely good to drink right now. I would rate this wine as Good.

By this wine, Amy and Dan were in great form (or was it just the effects of wine consumption?). They even stated that this was a casual tasting so they were drinking rather than spitting - so we, of course, did the same. I think it was about an hour long tasting - far longer than you would have if you went to a winery - much more engaging - and much more informative.

The great news is that Amy and Dan plan to do this again soon. I will happily grab whatever bottles are needed for next time and join in again.

A silver lining of Covid19? Or, possibly, could this be a portent of things to come?

Cheers!