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New wine authority should boost fine quality B.C. wines
anthonybyline

This summer marks the 40th anniversary of the opening of the Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa Valley. The Highway 29 landmark that sits just north of Yountville, California is surely the genesis for most every New World wine success. One could also argue that Mondavi has been just as influential in revitalising much of the Old World wine business.

Prior to 1966, the global wine business was largely confined to France and even then only the regions of Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne. Most of that has changed in four short decades as wine has gone global, and we have no better example than our own home-grown labels.

If our wine roots date back over a century to the grapes Father Pandosy set down in the Okanagan, the real story of B.C wine is little more than 25 years old. Actually when you consider wines of quality, local producers are barley entering their second decade of production. That said we have compressed as much knowledge and experience into as short a period as possible to get where we are today.

No doubt inspired by Mondavi, not to mention developments in Oregon and Washington, British Columbia wine growers got down to business in the 1980s, setting out some basic rules and regulations that would eventually morph into the British Columbia Wine Institute and the highly successful Vintners Quality Alliance in late 1989.

But change is the only constant in the modern-day wine business, and after 16 successful years of both governing and promoting B.C. wine, the British Columbia Wine Institute (BCWI) will soon detach itself from the business of enforcing wine standards to focus on marketing a nd research.

By early summer, licensed B.C. wineries will fall under a single arms-length government entity known as the British Columbia Wine Authority (BCWA). The new BCWA will enforce both basic and advanced levels of quality wine production and will assume responsibility for the British Columbia Vintners Quality Alliance (BC VQA) wine standards.

The transfer of responsibilities will allow the BCWI to focus on marketing, government advocacy and communications in support of BC VQA wines and its burgeoning wine regions. In short, the new BCWI will operate as an industry trade association representing (at the moment) some 50—plus wineries that account for nearly 90 percent of VQA wine sold in the province.

Director Peggy Athans describes the plan as one "to continue building momentum to establish BC VQA as the preferred premium wine brand in BC, while creating a positive business climate for our member wineries."

It would be great if the BCWI had the support of the entire industry as it moves forward to promote B.C. wine, but in a wine world full of unique individuals and entrepreneurs it’s unlikely to happen.

That said, as the BCWI begins its new journey, those wineries undecided about joining the new BCWI and needing to charge $20 a bottle to stay afloat would do well to consider where the market for B.C wine would be without VQA or the BCWI.

To celebrate the new beginning we offer you a considered list of B.C. wine currently in the market that celebrates some of the best things we do. You will find almost all of the wines in VQA wine shops and many in the VQA section of B.C. liquor stores.

CedarCreek Chardonnay Classic 2004 – $17

Pear, apple skin, citrus, mineral aromas and flavours with a touch of creamy lees. Solid, everyday, new-style chardonnay.

Sumac Ridge Meritage Blanc 2004 – $20

Ripe, rich and soft with creamy vanilla, buttered popcorn and leesy grapefruit, melon flavours. Still young but will improve with time in the bottle.

Quails’ Gate Chenin Blanc Limited Release 2005 – $19

Big juicy green apple, grapefruit rind, passion fruit, honey flavours with a rind-y, mineral finish. An easy-drinking summer seafood or picnic wine.

Red Rooster Merlot Grand Reserve 2004 – $30

This is dry and rich on entry with plenty of peppery black cherry and resiny fruit flavours. The finish is long and warm with considerable young tannins to disperse.

CedarCreek Ehrenfelser Classic 2004 BC – $16

Fresh but dry and soft with creamy grapefruit, floral, mineral, orange, lime oil flavours. Fine style always solid. Good value.

Blasted Church Revered Series 2004 Chardonnay – $26

Dry, crisp, round entry. Green apple skin, lees, green melon, buttery, citrus peel flavours. New fresh style and perfect for seafood.

Inniskillin Okanagan 2003 Meritage Red Dark Horse Estate Vineyard – $25

Warm with lots of spicy, black cherry jam, plum, vanilla, coffee, mocha, cedar, orange rind and olive. Good complexity and length.

Summerhill Pyramid 2005 Ehrenfelser – $19

Big floral, mineral, apple core, orange, peach flavours with a lime rind finish. A touch warm but good weight and flavour intensity.

Mission Hill 2004 Chardonnay Reserve – $18

Citrus, nutty, grapefruit, green apple, honey flavours with a touch of vanilla and cinnamon. Simple, creamy, spicy finish. Good effort.

Tinhorn Creek 2005 Gewürztraminer – $15

Round, soft, fresh, creamy palate with meaty, perfumed, orange, lychee and peach flavours. Good balance with fine flavour intensity for summer and Asian food.

Lang Vineyards 2005 Riesling Farm Winery Reserve – $16

Round, delicate entry with nice acidity sugar balance. Rose, mineral, baked apple, light petrol and lime flavours. Long finish, well made.

Blue Mountain Vineyard 2003 Pinot Gris Reserve (Striped Label) – $25

Crisp with nutty lees, citrus, baked apple, vanilla, earthy, buttery, biscuit flavours. Very crisp, warm buttery finish. A fine Burgundian style white.

La Frenz 2005 Viognier – $19

Big honey, grapefruit rind flavours with mineral, sausage and floral undertones. A fine summer sipper. Serve well chilled or with hot, spicy, Thai food.

Stag’s Hollow 2005 Sauvignon Blanc – $18

Fresh, slightly austere palate with grapefruit rind, mineral, smoky, grassy, gooseberry flavours with a tart, warm, full finish.

Blue Mountain 2003 Chardonnay Reserve (Stripe Label) – $25

Spicy lees, mineral, butter, dried green apple, flinty flavours with a touch of honey and hazelnut. Restrained French style with good acidity.

Nk'Mip Cellars 2004 Qwam Qwmt Chardonnay – $25

Dry, elegant, slightly fat entry with nutty lees, mineral, vanilla, honey, waxy, spicy, green apple skin flavours. The finish is warm but with plenty of pear and citrus.

CedarCreek 2004 Chardonnay Platinum Reserve – $29

Open inviting creamy lees and green apple nose with hazelnut, vanilla, floral, citrus flavours and just a touch of butter and peach. Finesse with integration.

Anthony Gismondi is a globetrotting wine writer who makes his home in West Vancouver, British Columbia. For more of his thoughts on wine log onto www.gismondionwine.com