Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

BC's best comes to town

The 9th annual Best of B.C. Fall Wine rolls out in BC Liquor Stores this weekend. It's a significant event for B.C. wine lovers given how few local wineries release top wines in government stores.
food_gismondi1

The 9th annual Best of B.C. Fall Wine rolls out in BC Liquor Stores this weekend. It's a significant event for B.C. wine lovers given how few local wineries release top wines in government stores. It's been more than a decade since the very best wines made in B.C. quietly disappeared from government stores. Local producers keep the vast majority of the proceeds from direct sales to consumers so it is very difficult to convince then to give up 60 per cent or more of what they make at the winery just to be in government stores.

Winery direct sales are what sustain B.C. wineries, but it's not a perfect model. When you are not sold in the busiest wine stores in the province it is difficult to grow your brand outside of the small circle of buyers already predisposed to purchasing your wine. Balancing that broad exposure with the cost is not for everyone but it appears to be working for some given the impressive list of wines in government stores this weekend. The release also breathes life into BC Liquor stores that clearly benefit from adding some top local labels to a somewhat underwhelming selection of BC wines in stores.

With mostly cheap and often overpriced commercial labels dominating the B.C. wine section unsuspecting consumers might wonder what's all the fuss with Okanagan wine. Case in point is the local selection of syrah. Syrah, or shiraz if you like, is a consistent performer at competitions where I judge and often is among judges' highest scores, yet a quick on-line survey of government inventories points to mostly bag-in-the-box offerings or second and third labels from large commercial producers using off-shore juice.

I'm expecting there will be a rush to buy the Laughing Stock Syrah 2010 ($34) despite the laughable one-bottle limit. David and Cynthia Enns have done an excellent job bringing this wine to fruition even though it is grown well south of their Naramata-based winery. The fruit is grown in Osoyoos and the wine is made by co-fermenting a small amount of viognier with the syrah in large casks and tanks. The viognier adds some floral mineral notes and tends to open up the syrah allowing it to fully express its potential in the bottle. Look for a rich, smooth, fresh palate with blackberry jam, menthol, ginger, pepper, sausage meat, vanilla, coffee, clove, curry flavours. The style is big and bold and will need a piece of lamb or two to five more years in bottle.

There is nothing shy about the Skaha Bench Painted Rock Syrah 2009 $40. This big spicy brooding black fruit scented syrah with a dollop of Okanagan sage has really come together in the bottle over the last six months and will likely improve through 2015. Both ripe and rich it exudes a New World syrah stance mixing liquorice, smoky, black tea and roasted meat characters flecked with plums and spicy oak. Tasted several times now and it gets better each time out. You can drink it now with a big piece of grilled lamb or put in the cellar for another five years.

If syrah is nudging its way on to the main stage cabernet franc is far behind and one of the valley leaders is the Poplar Grove Cabernet Franc 2009 $35. Cabernet franc thrives in cooler climates in part because the vine gets underway early in the spring but it comes with a different style red, floral fruit with a dusting of dried herbs and spice. The tannins are supple, the texture amazingly round for such a young wine that has a full life ahead of it.

Mission Hill's fine wine program has turned the corner with vastly improved viticulture and some impressive grape handling at the winery. It's taken some time but the chalky tannins and the elimination of green fruit has not only breathed new life into Oculus but has had a major trickledown effect spawning two mid-range reds labeled Compendium and Quatrain.

The Mission Hill Family Estate Compendium 2009 $45 is made with a traditional blend of Bordeaux varieties. In 2009 there was a subtle increase in the merlot to 35 per cent to join 40 per cent cabernet sauvignon 20 per cent cabernet franc and five per cent petit verdot. The grapes come off specific blocks in Oliver and Osoyoos and end up in 100 per cent French oak for 14 months. Nose is remarkably floral with a strong sense of minerality and a hint of seashore. The attack is sleek and sophisticated. The tannins are small firm and chalky; the flavor profile is very Bordelais with tobacco, black olive savoury notes throughout. An impressive young red wine.

The Mission Hill Family Estate Quatrain $45 twists the Bordeaux blend with a dollop of syrah mixing 30/30/20/20/ merlot, syrah, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc all fermented in large, French oak vats. Look for a fragrant cherry scented nose with sweet liquorice and spicy warm mocha, meaty notes. All the fruit comes off the best blocks farmed in the south Okanagan and spends 15 months in French oak. The finish is warm and long with chalky but firm tannins and will need some time to come around in the bottle. Roast beef would be the match.

Farther north in Kelowna there is a resurgence of sorts at CedarCreek where winemaker Darryl Brooker is working hard to try and express the real Okanagan story through each of his wines. The Cedar Creek Platinum Meritage 2009 $40 is a 46/41/13/mix of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and malbec all of which is essentially the best fruit aged in French oak for 20 months. What you need to know is the fruit here is ripe and sweet on the attack with bits of coffee, tea, oak and spice throughout. Still very young but with plenty of potential to expand its persona over the next five years. If you decide to drink it now choose a grilled piece of meat to temper the fruit and tannins.

In some ways The Best of B.C. wine is just getting underway but if you want to pick up a few bottles without the hassle of travelling to the Okanagan don't wait too long to visit your local government store.

Anthony Gismondi is a West Vancouver-based freelance wine writer who travels the globe is search of terroir-based wine.