New to Old - Two Very Different Okanagan Wineries

It’s been a crazy, busy summer.

But I’m happy to say that I have successfully moved from the coast (Maple Ridge) to the Okanagan (Kelowna).

We dealt with the usual things of packing, unpacking, figuring out where the hell everything is going to go, and then making the place livable - the most difficult part being getting rid of a bunch of big, old pots and plants and preparing big, new pots and plants and bags and bags of dirt.

It was a welcome change, then, when we went on a very nice wine tour today, with the first and last of the day

We left Kelowna and headed south - to Checkmate Artisanal Winery just outside of Oliver. This winery is the brainchild of Anthony Von Mandl, owner of Mission Hill and many other wine related ventures. They only make Chardonnay and Merlot.

I had been to Checkmate two years ago and was eager to see how it was growing. Back then, we basically did our tasting in an office - this time, it was in their pop-up tasting room - a temporary building that has been open almost two years but will be replaced by an appointment only tasting room.

The tasting was $20 per person - but you do get the money refunded if you buy a bottle of wine. Mind you, while we were there, a couple came in for a tasting, blanched at the price, and hurriedly left.

It’s a bit different - we were at a table and could sit down. We were tasting four different wines and so had four glasses each in front of us. Our pourer (didn’t catch the name) was friendly and knowledgable.

First up was the 2015 Queen’s Taken Chardonnay ($125). This was an oaked Chardonnay and had a nice, smooth taste. There were stone fruits such as peach on the nose and palate as well as a hint of tropical fruits. There was also a definite mineralogy about the wine. Very Good.

Next was the 2015 Knight’s Challenge Chardonnay ($85). This was a less oaked Chardonnay - and had stronger tastes of citrus fruit as well as butter. It was quite lively on the palate, something I don’t usually mind, but this did not like as much as the first one. Good

The first Merlot was the 2014 Silent Bishop ($85). I have a 2013 vintage of this wine in the cellar and it was easy to see why as this wine had powerful fruit tastes of blackberry, blueberry and black cherry as well as underlying tastes of coffee, vanilla, and tobacco.  Outstanding.

The final Merlot was a 2014 Opening Gambit. This was all black fruits like cassis and blackberry with medium tannins and integrated oak. This was a wine to age, as is the other Merlot, and, since it was my wife’s favourite, we bought a bottle. Very Good.

As a bonus, we also got to taste the Bear’s Move Chardonnay ($60). This wine is natural, open ferment. The first year it was made, a bear opened the top of the fermenter but got scared off by the venting gasses! This is a wonderful, funky wine that has the stone fruit that you associate with Chardonnay but has a whole bunch of other, earthy, funky flavours intermingling with the wine. In fact, I bought two bottles! Outstanding.

After visiting two other wineries on the way back towards Kelowna, we stopped in at Hainle Winery in Peachland.

My wife and I had visited Hainle Vineyards about 30 years ago so it was interesting to see what it was like now. ]

When they opened in the 1970s, I believe it was one of the few wineries that actually knew what they were doing and made good wines. They were the first winery to make ice wine in Canada and were the first certified organic winery in Canada in 1988.
The original owner, Walter Hainle, was originally from Germany, and was winemaker and owner until his passing. In 2002, Walter Huber (the other Walter), bought Hainle Winery and combined it with Deep Creek Winery to make one winery. Walter Huber sold the winery in 2006 but has stayed on as winemaker ever since. He is a very charming man and we were privileged to have both Walter and our pourer, Barbie, for our tasting.

We had many different wines there and I don’t quite recall everything about all of the wines but here are my notes

2009 Deep Creek Ehrenfelser  ($30)- A very aromatic wine with some stone fruits. A bit subdued in taste, overall. Acceptable.

2016 Gewurztraminer ($25) - Another very aromatic wine. This one did not disappoint in the fruit as the tastes of stone fruit, tropical fruit and roses. Good.

2016 Estate Zweigelt ($31) - This is a crossing between Blaufrankish and St. Laurent in Austria. The wine had definite red and blue berry tastes balanced with high acidity. A good food wine that would satisfy a number of people at a dinner party. Very Good.

2008 Reserve Pinot Noir ($477) - This was an amazing Pinot Noir! There were wonderful aromas and tastes of cherry, strawberry, and even some tropical fruit. There were also underlying earth flavours as well as leather and tobacco. The price was a bit high but the 2009 Reserve Pinot (regularly $370) was on sale for $99 so I bought one (which is why the 2009 is pictured here). Outstanding.

We also tried some fortified wine (OK) and some Madeira that was more of a barrel taste (has potential). I think that’s all we tried….

Overall, it was a good tasting day with our two bookends, Checkmate and Hainle, contrasting as one of the newest wineries versus one of the oldest in the Okanagan. Both of them were well worth the visit.

Cheers

An Amazing Wine Tasting Evening with Friends

A group of friends in the midst of an amazing wine tasting.

WSET is not just for studying....

As I have alluded to before, people make great connections and friendships while doing the WSET course. We were all in it together, trying our best to pass the course, feeling the pressure of learning such a vast amount of information and feeling the pleasure of tasting wine together. 

But it finished in December!

Happily, the group that I have tasted with before - the friends that I have tasted with before - are continuing to get together. The first time, since our test, was a couple weeks ago when I was in France. 

The next time was just last Thursday.

Andrew was our host. He has taken both his WSET 3 and a comparable level of his CMS - Court of Master Sommeliers. He works at a restaurant but also works at a local independent liquor store and, therefore, can get a great deal on great wines!

Verity and her partner, Joey, were also in attendance. I took my WSET 3 with Verity - in fact, she related the story of our first class together - we had a champagne and some minor bubbles like Prosecco in a blind tasting. Both of us proudly announced that the Prosecco was the great wine, much to our chagrin! We both learned an awful lot more about wine since that first class. Verity also completed a comparable level of her CMS.

When I took my WSET, Sarah sat beside me every class - she was my WSET Buddy! It was great to see her at the tasting and reconnect with her once again.

A new person (for me), Steph, was working on the same level of CMS that Verity and Andrew had achieved. She is an actual Sommelier at a famous Vancouver restaurant! 

Finally, my buddy, Stewart, whom I have known since high school (when we used to drank a gallon bottle of Calona Medium White) came along as well.  Although he has not completed a formal wine course, Stew is well versed in the wine world (we've both come a very long way).

After everyone arrived, Andrew welcomed us with a glass of 2016 Crescent Hill Glennallyn Private Reserve Gewürztraminer from the Okanagan. As is common with this varietal, it was very aromatic and was a tasty, light way to start off our night. 

Andrew always does such a good job!

Our next wines were blind tastings. We had three whites and three reds.

Our first white was described by Steph, who spoke with such confidence that I was drawn in, hook. line and sinker, to what she thought the wines were. We tasted, and swirled, and spat. 

It was a Zarate Rias Baxas Albarino from Spain. It was not a strong wine and was not as full bodied as I thought it would be. 

Yellow, or lemon, in colour, this wine had aromas of lemon, apple, and had a minerality. These aromas were fresh, tart and ripe. On the palate, there were the same flavours - fresh or ripe apples, wet stone,  as well as medium plus acidity, medium length and medium complexity. There was also some oak on this wine.

As for all of the wines that we tasted, we all tried to come up with both the varietal and the place. Most people though this was a Chardonnay although some thought it was a Pinot Gris or something Italian. But we were all wrong. Albarino was just not on our radar! Overall, a Good wine.

Our next wine was another white and, this time, I nailed it. For me, petrol is an unmistakable aroma - and that means Riesling. Interestingly, unlike many of the petrol smelling Rieslings I have had in the past, this one was bone dry. This 2014  Howard Park Porongurup Riesling from Australia had additional aromas of rubber. pear, peach,. apple and a minerality. A complex nose with pronounced aromas.

On the palate, it was bone dry, as I said, with tastes of apple. It did not have the same mineral taste and was medium plus in alcohol and medium plus in acidity. This was a great dry Riesling - and I stated that to the group. Before the reveal I had also written down that I thought it was from Australia but hesitated to share that information. A Very Good to Outstanding wine.

Our final white was a real shocker. Verity described it as a 'giant in a sleeping bag' which means that it did not have a very pronounced aroma but when you got your nose close enough, there was an explosion of complex aromas. On the nose - and on the palate - were aromas like cloves, wood, popcorn, butter and vanilla. In fact, it smelled a little like a buttered popcorn Jelly Belly! It had medium acid, medium body and a very complex flavour.

Still, we didn't think it was all that fancy. We narrowed it down to Chardonnay but thought it was from California. You know, a big, oaky Chardonnay with lots of flavour.

Nope.

It was a Pouilly Fuiissé from the Maconnais region of Burgundy.  This 2014  Chateau Fuissé Le Clos Monopolé was not what we expected! It was probably the most expensive wine of the night, worth over $100. However, none of us found the elegance or refinement that we would expect from this kind of wine, although there was great complexity. I would rate this as Good to Very Good.

On to the reds!

Our first red of the night was a difficult one. Pale ruby in colour, it had aromas of mint and earth and a bit of an underbrush aroma. There were red fruits like cherry and raspberry as well as dried cranberry. On the palate, there were tastes of the same with the addition of some sort of leaf - like tomato leaf. It had medium plus acidity, medium minus tannins, and light bodied.

This Sangiovese wine was a 2015 Noelia Ricci Godenza Superiore from the Romagna area of Italy. It stumped us all. I thought it might be a cru Beaujolais although I couldn't detect the hallmarks of carbonic fermentation. There were some murmurings that it might be from Italy but no one had a strong feeling about that. Pinot Noir was another guess made by many of the group. It was certainly a surprise when the reveal came. This was a Very Good wine.

There next wine was probably my favourite. The 2015 Cannonball Merlot from Sonoma County had aromas of pepper, smoke, dark fruit such as plum and black berry,  jam, cedar and mushrooms. This wine had a pronounced intensity on its rather complex nose. On the palate was the same black, jammy fruits as well as some earthiness with medium acidity, medium plus tannins, and high alcohol. This wine had balance, complexity, length and intensity and I would rate this wine as Outstanding.  I first thought it was a Syrah, possibly from the Northern Rhone. My second guess was Merlot from California.

The final red for the night was another tricky one. The Chateau de Cherrière Bourgogne Pinot Noir was a very structured wine with medium plus acid and medium plus tannins, something I did not expect with a Pinot Noir. There were tastes and aromas of cedar, tobacco, farmyard, leather, mushroom, black fruit and black cherry. This was a real stumper as it had that Pinot Noir taste but such strong structure! I would rate this as Very Good.

One of the members of our group had something to celebrate so Andrew brought out a celebratory champagne style wine. The celebrant, Verity, then used a bread knife to sabre the wine! If you have a nice cold bottle of champagne (or other bubbly), you can use any kind of knife to open it. You simply slide the knife from the middle of the bottle up the seam of the bottle and, voila! The cork and some of the bottle will fly off the top!

Verity sabred a 1996 Summerhill Cipes Traditional Cuvée sparkling wine form the Okanagan ($80). I didn't do a formal tasting note at this point (we had finished the bottle leftovers at this point and were refraining from spitting or dumping) but I do recall that this was more than just a bready, yeasty tasting champagne. It had a beautiful golden colour. a nice fizz, and an exquisite taste that included a bit of a sherry.

A wonderful celebration to finish off a wonderful wine tasting evening!

Vancouver Wine Festival 2019

Wine from the festival!

This year I went to my second Vancouver International Wine Festival. Last year was my first year and, armed with the knowledge I had gleaned from having taken my WSET Level 2, I thoroughly enjoyed the event. 

This year, with the news that I had passed my level 3 fresh in my mind, I had another wonderful experience.

One of the unexpected pleasures last year was bumping into some of my fraternity brothers from UBC (almost 40 years later) - including Phil, who I spent four months with travelling around the US back in 1982 (precise details elude me as the entire trip is shrouded in a haze of comradery, frat parties and alcohol). This year, we all met up at Al Porto in Gastown for a pasta dinner, and a chance to catch up, before wandering over to the festival. 

Once we arrived at the festival, we bumped into even more people I knew including first, yet another fraternity brother and his wife, a sorority sister from years ago, second, the son of our close neighbours as well as his friends and girlfriend (who, incidentally, also has her WSET Level 3), and, third, two of the people from my WSET 3 course that were in my tasting group (and who also successfully completed Level 3)!

The Wine Festival has a diverse and interesting crowd. Some of the people  sip, swirl and then spit each glass. Others just slurp back every wine they sample, a sure recipe for wobbly legs and sore heads. I take the middle path - swirl, sip, drink a bit, and then dump the rest. I do feel a little relaxed by the end of the night but am still able to identify and process the different tastes and aromas of the wines. 

The featured wine region this year was California. We spent some time in Napa almost eight years ago and enjoyed their bold, flavourful wines. Unfortunately, we did not end up purchasing a lot of California wine at this year’s festival as some of the wines we tasted (including the St. Supery 2014 Napa Valley Estate Elu) were not available in the wine shop while others were very pricey (such as the Stag’s Leap Artemis at $85). We did end up with two that we were very happy with.

 

The first was the Benziger 2015 Cab ($25.49). While having dinner and trading notes before the festival, Dave, another one of my fraternity brothers, showed me his notes on this wine and I am very glad that I visited their booth. This wine is a steal for the price. A fantastic, black fruit, aged and rich Cab that is going to be wonderful to drink. I would enjoy this one on its own, or with a rich meal.

We visited Hess a few years ago in Napa and I’ve always enjoyed their wines. The Hess 2015 Allomi Cab Sauv ($38.99)  was probably our favourite of the evening. I’m not sure why we didn’t buy more! It had rich black fruit including black currants and blackberry as well as a nice long finish, with a smoothness that is so California!

Just a little side note - you may wonder why we bought so many different wines. In all, we ended up with 17 bottles (some we bought two of) at a little over $500. This is not a common occurrence (believe me!). However, most of the wines that we bought are not usually available at the BC Liquor store. Even the ones from the Okanagan were only available for the festival or direct from the winery.  You might not find these at the BC Liquor Store but you may see them at Everything Wine or one of the many private liquor stores.

Moving up the coast, we ended up in the Willamette (rhymes with damn it) Valley in Oregon. We really enjoyed our visit there last year and loved the Domaine Serene Evenstad Pinot Noir we bought - although the $75 US price tag was a bit steep. Happily, we found the Elk Cove 2016  Pinot Noir ($43.99). The Willamette Valley style of Pinot Noir that we have grown to love is a fruity but minerally wine. Some of the Pinot Noir that we tried at the festival was almost too dry or too smoky or lacked fruit but this one had punchy fruit and was not overly austere. There were two other wines made by this producer that were specialty Pinot Noir but their price point was significantly higher.

Who says you can’t have reruns? Closer to home was the Wines of Substance K Vintners 2015 Motor City Kitty ($52.99) from Walla Walla, Washington). We had this one last year at the wine festival and ended up making an eight hour detour on the way back from Las Vegas a few weeks later so that we could buy this wine at the winery. Not only was this on sale this year but we found out that this will now be available at the BC Liquor store! Really enjoyed Motor City Kitty  (oh, that's what MCK stands for!) as it is a very tasty and bold Washington State Syrah.

We ended up with a few wines from right here in BC. That’s because a lot of the smaller wineries only sell their wines at the winery or only produce a small amount of wine each year. 

The first wine we tried was the Time 2017 White Meritage ($22.99) in Penticton. This one was a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon and was one of the recommendations that Gismondi wrote about in the newspaper. Interestingly, when we were having dinner before the festival, Dave was telling me how he had spent time in a wine course in the 80s that was taught by Anthony Gismondi before he became famous! This white Meritage was delicious with tastes of pear and apple and had a nice acidity.

The Wild Goose 2017 Gewürztraminer ($19.99) was also another Gismondi recommendation and it is a fresh, spicy and slightly off dry wine that cries out for some tasty white meat, or fish…. or just a nice sunny patio! Their winery is located in Okanagan Falls. 

Roussanne is a grape that I’ve always wanted to buy as I have only tasted it in my WSET course - until now! I was excited to have the Lake Breeze 2017 Roussanne ($22.49) as it did not disappoint. Although not that acidic it had very nice stone fruit and apple flavours. Looking forward to having this accompany some tasty dish at home like chicken, pork or even salmon. This winery is also located in Naramata. 

My wife absolutely loves 8th Generation Winery and is a big Riesling fan. Their 8th Generation 2018 Riesling ($19.99) was crisp and a touch off dry. It would be a wonderful accompaniment to spicy foods or barbecued white meats.

Going a little more international, we went over the Uraguay’s lone participant. The Garzon 2016 Tannat $24.49 was another suggestion from Gismondi. I love Tannat and its super strong, tannic nature. Looking forward to popping this one with something really rich or fatty or, hopefully, both!

Italy is home to more grapes than anywhere else in the world. How many? Over 350 "authorized" varieties and another 500 documented varieties. I was keenly aware of that when I tried the Savian Lison Pramaggiore Refosco ($18.49). This  organic wine was a very interesting one because it was made from the Refosco grape which I have never had before. It had a taste of mostly red fruits like red cherry and raspberry, but also had some hints of dark fruit as well. An easy drinking wine, this would be great for pizza or pasta. Nice price, too!

Who doesn’t like Prosecco? Mionetto had four different Proseccos and we got to try them all. The Mionetto Valdobbiadene Prosseco ($22.99) was my favourite because of its crispness and hint of fruitiness with an overall dryness to the bubbles. This wine is a great sparkler that would go with just about anything!

The Italian wine with the most amount of body that I bought was the Nerube 2016 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva ($30.99). This wine, which is made from the Montepulciano grape, is very nice and would be a great one to bring to an Italian restaurant when you want to have a nice red wine to accompany your meal. Both red fruits and black fruits are evident along with some spice! It’s not one to age but it is one to enjoy!

I still think that France is one of my favourite - if not my very favourite - areas for wine in the world. There weren’t a ton of producers from France but I still managed to find some stunning wines.

The Haut Medoc is located on the Left Bank of the Gironde Estuary in Bordeaux - think Cab Sauv dominate with Merlot and Cab Franc. The Medoc is the general wine area with the Haut Medoc being the better part of that region. The 2015 Chateau Lachesnay ($31.99) was one of the four wines that we tasted from Ulysse Cazabonne (also a great year).  The company owns at least four châteaux and we had a chance to talk to the winemaker of this particular wine (notice the winemaker's signature on the bottle!). Although it was not a wine that is a cru , it was still very tasty and the price was quite good. The other wines that we tasted were also excellent but were a bit pricey. This one was a touch austere with lovely dark fruit flavours and aromas and a beautiful long finish. Probably a special occasion wine that could stand a few years ageing. 

Finally, the Chateau Pesquié 2016 Cote du Ventoux Artemia ($48.99) was a Syrah and Grenache blend. It was delicious with blackberry, black cherry, and other black fruits on the nose and on the palate. There was also some vanilla, tobacco, and even a hint of chocolate. Another excellent French wine that might deserve a special occasion or at least a special dinner. 

About to unbox our festival shipment!

Our wine ordered (the BC Liquor store will box and ship your order to your local liquor store for free - ours arrived less than a week later), my wife and I stumbled back to our hotel after having a late night snack along the way. We reflected, not only on the great wines that we had sampled, but also on the interesting mix of people, the friends that we had seen the we knew, and the conversations with the producers and winemakers. 

An extraordinary event. I already can’t wait until next year!

Cheers!

Superb Wine at Martin's Lane - Riesling and Pinot Noir

Our family tasting group at Martin's Lane

Just last summer, I enjoyed a visit to an amazing winery, right here, in the Okanagan.

Martin's Lane is owned by Anthony von Mandl of Mission Hill fame and their first wines were actually made at Mission Hill. Then, in 2014, the Martin's Lane winery was build on Lakeshore Road, just above Cedar Creek (also owned by Anthony von Mandl). It is a stunning winery with amazing wine and I was impressed by the experience.

Outside the winery, there is a large sculpture of Van Gogh's head (sculpted by Douglas Coupland of Generation X and Microserfs fame), with his missing ear to the ground. There was a contest to find a suitable subject for the statue and Vincent  is apparently listening to the grapes growing. The whole story of 'Project Redhead' is quite fascinating and you can read about it here.

As you can tell, it was an unusual start to our visit.

After giving the sculpture the heads up (argh), we headed towards the giant door that allowed us to entire the winery. By the way, Martin's Lane is a certified organic winery and the winemaking philosophy is one of non-intervention from the vineyard to the bottle.

I loved this spiral staircase right by the front door. There were  many interesting and unique architectural features at Martin's Lane.

Our first actual stop was a room with windows opening to the barrel room below. This was a place to watch the cellar hands work and look at the barrels of Pinot Noir and Riesling as they aged. Martin's Lane only grows those two varietals, similar to another von Mandl property, Checkmate, which only has Chardonnay and Merlot.  

Sitting on a table in the room was our first taste - a 2014 Naramata Bench Riesling ($65). This wine is made with grapes from old vines and was our favourite Riesling. There was a touch of sweetness and tastes of apples and pears with a wonderful minerality that balanced the fruit. Outstanding.

After one last look down at the barrel room, where we noticed another head of Van Gogh (insert joke here), we continued our tour of the winery. 

We saw this tiled floor with gold (probably real gold) tiles which represents the Pinot Noir and Riesling that is processed in their approximate ratio. 

I was also impressed by the display of different sizes of wine bottles. Just for kicks, it goes...

Piccolo or Split- 187.5 ml

Demi or Half - 375 ml

Standard - 750 ml

Magnum - 1.5 L

Double Magnum. - 3 L

Jeroboam - 3 or 4.5 L

Methuselah or Imperial - 6 L

Salamanazar - 9 L - that's a case of wine

Balthazar - 12 L

Nebuchadnezzar - 15 L

Solomon or Melchoir - 18 L

We then ended up in the tank room. 

One of the unique things about Martin's Lane is that it is on a slanted hill - the grapes are delivered to the top and work their way down the hill of the winery. The grapes are crushed and then the juice is gravity-fed to the stainless steel fermentation tanks. 

Then, down the slope to what looks like concrete ageing vessels. They actually might be clay/porcelain, as my vague notes have suggested. 

Speaking of concrete and stainless steel, there's lots of controversy. Stainless is very easy to control in terms of temperature and oxygen exposure but can impart a slight harshness to the wine. Concrete, on the other hand, gently oxygenates with little harshness but doesn't have quite the same amount of control that stainless had. Clay/porcelain, to further confuse things, apparently doesn't impart any tannins or minerality that concrete can.

Our tour over, it was time to taste some wines. Lauren, our guide, was knowledgable, experienced, humorous and personable. We really enjoyed our tasting experience with her. 

The 2015 Simes Vineyard Riesling ($55) was dryer than the first Riesling with a minerality complimenting the apple, pear and peach flavours as well as the floral aromas. This French clone also had some citrus notes. Very good. 

The final Riesling that we tried was the 2015 Fritzi's Vineyard Riesling ($75).  This wine had a complex nose and leaned towards tropical fruits. It was a drier wine as well and had some herbaceous notes as well as citrus flavours. There was also a touch of that wonderful petrol aroma to this wine. Very good. 

The first Pinot Noir we tried was the 2014 Naramata Ranch Pinot Noir ($100). It was a very aromatic wine with aromas and tastes of red fruit, especially cherries. It had medium tannins and a wonderful earthiness. Very good. 

Our second wine was a 2014 Simes Vineyard Pinot Noir ($100). This wine was both less floral and less tannic than the first wine. It was more refined  - even austere. Medium tannins. There were tastes of red fruit including cranberry and raspberry. Very good. 

Our final wine was the 2014 Fritzi's Vineyard Pinot Noir ($150). This wine really made me think of the Domaine Serene Evenstad Pinot Noir that I had had from the Willamette Valley. It was another complex wine with cherry as well as darker red fruit on both the nose and the palate. It had softer tannins than the other two and had a wonderful mouth feel. This wine is ready to drink but has definite ageability,. Outstanding. 

So, what did I buy? Well, even though I am always looking for a great deal, I bought two of these rather pricey wines because the quality was so high. I bought a Naramata Bench Riesling and a Fritzi's Vineyard Pinot Noir. The Riesling was opened for a special occasion - and was beautiful - and the Pinot Noir is in my cellar awaiting another special occasion. 

I also have this Pinot Noir that my son-in-law gave me - a 2012 Martin's Lane Pinot Noir. Could be time to pop this one...

Cheers!

"I can't hear the grapes!"