Category Archives: Naramata Bench

B.C. wine: From Vancouver to your table

Vancouver’s Blood Alley PHOTO: SINIDEX/FOTOLIA.COM

as seen on canada.com

On a recent West Coast swing I sampled wines from British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley without ever leaving the city of Vancouver. A bicycle was all I needed to find Salt Tasting Room in Blood Alley. A couple of telephone calls to L’Abattoir and Fable Kitchen quickly and effortlessly landed me in the wine program hands of Robert Herman and Kathy Schleyer/Ron MacGillivray, all ready and willing to introduce me to a thing or two about B.C. wine. The Okanagan Valley’s indelible stamp is now etched upon my wild yeast, fermented brain.

PHOTO: Michael Godel English Bay Inukshuk

A well-known California wine writer recently lashed out against the city’s wine scene with this soul-searching, pharisaic headline. British Columbia: Okay Wines, Retarded Wine Culture. I feel for the author, who in his own right is possessive of a tremendous palate, for he could not locate a knowledgeable sommelier or a decent glass of B.C. wine anywhere in the city. But I suppose I shouldn’t blame him for never having solicited any advice from Anthony Gismondi, DJ Kearney, Jessica Bryans, Rhys Pender, Treve Ring, Frank Haddad, Kurtis Kolt, Andrea Vescovi, Lindsay Ferguson, Jay Whiteley, Barbara and Iain Phillip, Mark Taylor and Lynn Coulthard. Just a few names for next time. Nor can I hold him accountable for never having made it out to Penticton, or Kelowna. Two weeks later the Wine Blogger’s Conference in Penticton remained surreptitiously out of reach. I too am guilty of not being able to plan a side trip to the Okanagan during my quick western jaunt and yet I had no trouble unearthing several watering holes with more than a willingness to keep me in the B.C. wine loop. “It ain’t no big thing but it’s growin’.”

PHOTO: Michael Godel Second Beach, English Bay

Unlike Ontario, British Columbia has finally begun to emerge from the dark ages of wine legislation and pre-prohibition rules. Thanks to MP Dan Albas and the #freemygrapes movement, Ontario wineries (and others in Canada) can now ship their bottles to B.C., free from persecution. Private wine shops like Kitsilano Wine Cellar have begun to allot space to Ontario but the choices are few and far between. Blue Note agency’s Patrick Ellis is working towards more free movement of wine from Ontario to B.C.  Despite the prevailing tailwinds, shipping wines west to east remains taboo. Christy Clark will be handing out B.C. wines to fellow premiers at this week’s annual meeting. The ball is in your court Kathleen Wynne. People are talking.

The LCBO is so un-flush with B.C. wines the back-up is downright constipating. The monopoly threatens, the wall’s eastern bloc shows few faults and still B.C. wines (privately) flow east. Why? It’s the right thing to do. My table is set and ready for B.C. wine to be written all over it.

PHOTO: Michael Godel Summer table

Here are notes on eight Okanagan Valley wines tasted at Salt and on a hotel balcony overlooking phantasmagorical English Bay.

Salt Tasting Room, 45 Blood Alley, Gastown, Vancouver, BC V6B 0C4 (604) 633-1912

It’s 11 a.m. on a Tuesday, I’m in unfamiliar territory and Colin greets me with a turntable and Another Side of Bob Dylan. I know I’ve come to the right place. A half hour in I am turned over to Sommelier and General Manager Kyle Gartlan-Close, clearly a pragmatist when it comes to the wines of British Columbia. I sense he’s still waiting for the renaissance to happen and the local wines on his list must adhere to what are clearly his high standards of quality. I tasted 15 wines over a 90-minute stretch at the tasting bar. Not all were hits but Salt was clearly the portal to crawl through and cross over into Vancouver’s wine scene. All prices are B.C. at the winery, unless otherwise noted.

From left: Tantalus Old Vines Riesling Natural Brut 2010, Thornhaven Tortured Grape 2012, Pentâge Winery Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2011, Poplar Grove Chardonnay 2011, 8th Generation Vineyard Riesling 2012, Synchromesh Pinot Noir Rosé ‘Palo Solara’ 2011, and Joie Farm Pinot Blanc 2012

Tantalus Old Vines Riesling Natural Brut 2010 ($35) at 11:00 am on the nose spins effortlessly out of the vinyl gate along with Dylan’s The Girl From North Country. No shrinking violet, this inaugural Brut, méthode Champenoise sparkler. Straining yeast, naphtha and prickling pear go crazy in acerbic pith. No Peggy Day neither, though “she stole my poor heart away.” Score one for Godello’s cellar.  90  @tantaluswine

Thornhaven Tortured Grape 2012 ($17.90) melds a kitchen sink of Okanagan Chardonnay, Riesling and Muscat. Slides down the pipe with edacious oomph, in a good way. The label’s eerie graphic might shock but this is no hollow or shallow white, but rather a hallow ode to blending with great floral intensity.  But, may I ask, who crop-thins with a scythe?  87  @ThornhavenWines

Pentâge Winery Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2011 ($20) is classically styled white Bordeaux divided between 65 per cent SB and 35 Sem, though it’s true to its roots and rocks, speaking uniquely of its place. Glides coolly and reggae rhythmically in cohorts with Bob’s Kaya, is perfumed by humid sea salt and oyster shell. SB imparts near tropical fruit and Sem brings terrific texture. Goes to show you “can’t run away from yourself.”  88  @PentageWinery

Poplar Grove Chardonnay 2011 (338434, $27.95, B.C. 732958, $21.90) from Hot weekend wines and cool Chardonnay sees minimal (15 percent new French) oak influence and while there is a ripe coconut tang, a sense of creamy butter and a spike of citrus, there really isn’t too much of anything at all. Tasted this fresh Okanagan a second time in Vancouver, alongside Another Side of Bob Dylan at Salt Tasting Room, I decided I could drink a barge full of the stuff. “All I really want to do, is, baby, be friends with you.”  90  @poplargrovewine

8th Generation Vineyard Riesling 2012 ($20.90) from Okanagan Falls bolts rapido from the gate with the ripest fruit (pear, plum) and though there is citrus, it’s really quite semi-dry. At 12.9 per cent alcohol and 24gr/L of residual sugar this may as well be Mosel Trocken Spätlese. Fantastic presence and awesome winemaking from Bernd and Stefanie Schales. Got me by the vines and will be on my table. 92  @8th_Generation

Synchromesh Pinot Noir Rosé ’Palo Solara’ 2011 ($18.90) from an east-Kelowna vineyard is made using the traditional saignée method. The result is a cottony texture and clinquant cantaloupe hue. An alkali, dry Provence notion is raised dutifully by bright but savoury fruit notes, like rhubarb and watermelon. Only 150 cases produced and true to serious Rosé everywhere.  90 @SynchromeshWine

Okanagan Crush Pad Gamay (on Tap) rolls melodically around the mouth in fresh fruit flavours so it must be Piano Man time. Solid black cherry core, good extraction, simple structure and no hard lines combine for basic but beneficial keg effect. “La la la, di da da. La la, di da da da dum.”  87  @OKCrushPad

Joie Farm Pinot Blanc 2012 ($23) found at Kitsilano Wine Cellar elevates a yeoman’s grape to mountain heights. Okanagan acidity injects life to do away with “useful” and score a notch for necessary. Like Gamay, Pinot Blanc should receive more planting consideration in B.C.  Zesty, invigorating and refreshing. A tumbler of delectation when matched with a view of English Bay.  89  @JoieFarm

Good to go!

Wine dividends, medals and twisted corks

Around this time last year the LCBO boasted about record profits, sales increases and an unprecedented $1.55 billion dividend flipped into the provincial government’s coffers. My May 17, 2012 column noted the 4.7 billion reasons to love the LCBO. The 2012 transfer was up 9.9 per cent over 2011.

Amorim and O-I’s HELIX cork PHOTO: O-I

as seen on canada.com

As of this morning, the new statistics are out and while the spin  plays a familiar proselytizer’s refrain, the numbers might seem to tell a different story. According to the LCBO press release,  ”operational efficiency and growth through store network improvements were key factors in LCBO’s 2012-13 financial results. It was LCBO’s 18th straight year of record sales and 19th consecutive record dividend.”

Here are the numbers, though ”these financials have yet to be audited.”

  • Net sales of $4.892 billion, up $182 million (3.9 per cent) from 2011-12.
  • Transfer of an all-time high $1.7 billion dividend, not including taxes, to the Ontario government. $70 million (4.3 per cent) more than in 2011-12.
  • Net income rose $53 million to $1.711 billion, up 3.2 per cent.

Don’t be misled because the beer, wine and spirits superstore is no shrinking violet. There can be little argument that the numbers remain anything but staggering but it can be suggested that growth may be entering a somewhat stymied period. The Ontario government saw their stipend reduced from just about 10 per cent to slightly more than 4 per cent, according to these latest figures. The total sales percentage increase was also slower than the previous year. Could this be an area of concern when considering the health and viability of the provincial liquor monopoly? An upcoming December 2013 auditor general’s report, if it indeed includes the LCBO, may soon shed new light.

Meanwhile, Wine Align this morning began a search for Canada’s top wines at the inaugural National Wine Awards of Canada being held in Niagara. With the support of host partner Wine Country Ontario, #NWAC13 is hosting a wide selection of the country’s leading wine writers and tasters, gathered together to evaluate well over 1,000 wines grown in Canada and to award Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in some two dozen categories.  Wines from British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia will be assessed using the same 100-point system employed at WineAlign. Full results will be published on Wine Align in September. Here is the official medie release:

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/-1802537.htm

Anthony Gismondi and David Lawrason, Wine Align National Wine Awards of Canada 2013 Photo: http://www.winealign.com

The winning wines will be showcased in a special feature section of the National Post’s Financial Post Magazine.  A staggering number (1100 wines) are to be poured, swirled, sniffed, tasted and evaluated by 17 wine critics representing six Canadian provinces.

Wine Align has taken the reigns from the competition previously known as the Wine Access Canadian Wine Awards.  Further groundbreaking is taking place across the pond. A New Twist On Cork has been unveiled “with the launch of a twistable and re-sealable version that could do away with the corkscrew.” The Helix cork is being unveiled this week at Vinexpo in Bordeaux. The “new cork and bottle has a thread finish, which allows drinkers to twist the stopper open and closed again, creating on airtight barrier.”

Portuguese cork manufacturer Amorim and US bottle maker O-I have teamed up to create the new technology, aimed at the $10-20 niche in the bargain wine market. The cork is made from agglomerated, or granulated material and is surely meant to take the screw cap industry to task.  The Helix will attempt to gain control of a divided industry. On one side, the wineries and buyers who support cork closures with a die-hard insistence that wine needs to breath and age via a real cork closure. On the other, the proponents of the screw cap, winemakers and consumers who point out that cork taint (TCA) ruins approximately 5% of all wines bottled under cork and also who insist that cork does not actually allow wine to breath.

This according to British wine writer Jamie Goode: “It certainly looks pretty striking. A key issue will be whether or not it is adopted by leading wine brands, which could help launch it in the eyes of consumers (who are traditionally quite cautious about wine packaging), and of course whether it is affordable enough for a tight-margin wine market. Also, will it need a capsule to make it tamper-evident? Without a capsule, it looks really good.” The immediate future certainly looks interesting.

Good to go!

Somewhereness over the Canadian wine rainbow

Gray Monk Vineyard, Kelowna, BC PHOTO: TOURISM KELOWNA/BRIAN SPROUT

as seen on canada.com

Canada’s wine business is booming. To what do we owe this present day Renaissance of pleasant surprise and coast to coast quality? Passionate industry professionals for sure. We can thank the winemakers, marketing specialists, expatriate wine pros arriving in droves and especially the expert farmers and growers. A sea of grape-driven humanity, forging a template of success but also working together, towards a common goal.

Above all else, the rainbow’s fulcrum is the “somewhereness” of Canada’s wine regions. Terroir is the great catch word for wine. A vine’s home determines its potential, its structure, its sense of place. Micro-climates, soil, geology, altitude, slope and vegetation all contribute to the make-up of a wine forged from that specific parcel, lot or locale. If you are from Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Austria or anywhere else where wine has been made for centuries, well then there is nothing new or revelatory about this train of thought. If you are from Nova Scotia, British Columbia or Ontario, the discussion exudes relevance.

Thanks to Robert Bell’s Wines in Canada, we have a great understanding of our vinous roots across the country. Johann Schiller, a German who served with the 29th Regiment of Foot in Quebec in 1784, is considered to be the father of the Canadian Wine Industry. Some of the first grape vines in Canada were planted in Nova Scotia in the 1600s. Today the maritime climate of the Gaspereau Valley is the catalyst behind a host of terrific Sparkling wines. In B.C. the Okanagan Valley is king. Defining geology and terroir in its sub-appellations is neither easy nor much discussed (as compared to Ontario), yet the wines of the sun-drenched shelf of land on the eastern slopes of Lake Okanagan’s Naramata Bench are surely ready to explode onto the scene.

It was nothing less than fortuitous for me to taste a Naramata Bench gem at the hands of a generous dinner guest. Without the tie of an unobstructed coast to coast railway carrying wine to and fro, Canadians are mostly shut out from their out-of province wine brethren and sistren. The most glaring unifying obstacle is the issue of guarded provincial borders. Sandra Oldfield of Tinhorn Creek in B.C. shouts this out loud:

Ontario’s scene is bursting with kinetic and frenetic energy. If you are a disbeliever just check out Ontario Wine Chat or MyWineShop.ca, or better yet, head on down to Cuvée 2013 this coming weekend. For a comprehensive look at our province, make sure you read A Pocket Guide to Ontario Wines, Wineries, Vineyards, & Vines by Konrad Ejbich. The discourse concerning somewhereness in Ontario is in full swing. In October of 2012 I wrote, “Character and quality has never been better. Riesling continues to impress and let us not ignore the high level of ever-evolving Chardonnay vines. Reds have made great strides, especially Pinot Noir, Gamay and Cabernet Franc. The future looks very bright for Ontario [wines].”

Reds from significantly warmer sub-appellations on the Niagara Peninsula, specifically Niagara River, Four Mile Creek & St David’s Bench, speak of their cozy abodes. Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon, varietals that benefit from extra hang time, are not only showing promise but excellence, especially in optimum climatic years like 2007, 2010 and waiting in barrel, 2012. Forgive me for waxing neo-nostalgic but welcome to the golden age. Here are four currently available Canadian wines to look for.

From left to right: Henry of Pelham Estate Chardonnay 2010; Fielding Estate Cabernet Franc 2011; Norman Hardie Chardonnay 2009; Nichol Vineyard Syrah 2009

The grape: Chardonnay

The history: H of P has been working this Burgundian grape in so many styles, from so many vineyards

The lowdown: From another up and coming Niagara appellation, the Short Hills Bench

The food match: Grilled Halibut, olive oil, garlic, fresh thyme, lemon emulsion drizzle

Henry of Pelham Estate Chardonnay 2010 (268342, $19.95) is the best one yet. Some A16 but in a breezy, over the falls, misty wash. Like Riesling in a way, especially considering the Bench minerality. Sweet, creamy palate. Good stuff.  88

The grape: Cabernet Franc

The history: From the team of Grape King Curtis Fielding and winemaker Richie Roberts, 100% Niagara Peninsula grown grapes including fruit harvested from the estate vineyards

The lowdown: The Five Rows (Lowery) Vineyard is fast becoming THE go to terroir for the best possible red grapes in all of the Niagara Peninsula

The food match: Grilled Dry-Rub Butterflied Chicken, bbq sauce glaze

Fielding Estate Cabernet Franc 2011 (Approx. $21) has to be the best yet from @RichieWine. From a 35-acre Grand Cru (Five Rows) vineyard in the making in the heart of the warmest Niagara locale (St. David’s Bench). Zanthoxylum, capsicum and pencil shaving. Ropy grain, chewy, sylvan charm. 90  @FieldingWinery

The grape: Chardonnay

The history: Prince Edward County’s iconoclast. Norman Hardie is “possessed of a will to hunt down the object of his life.”

The lowdown: French vines, limestone soils, unmistakable kiss from Mr. Hardie

The food match: Shrimp and Coconut Étouffée, peas, kale

Norman Hardie Chardonnay 2009 (184432, $35, SAQ, 11638501, $38.75) rocket launches spatially atomic as a bound, caryopsis hurtling of mineral schist, tangy stone fruit and smoking kernel. Angles to a vanishing point, laser perspective. Will realize a unique and defined vinous exegesis. Cosmic expression of Chardonnay out of Prince Edward County. 91  @normhardie

The grape: Syrah

The history: Alex Nichol was the first to commercially plant Syrah in the Okanagan in 1989

The lowdown: From a Naramata Bench vineyard owned by Ross Hackwith on a pocket of land tucked against steep, heat-radiating red granite cliffs

The food match: Braised Beef Short Ribs, coffee infused demi-glace

Nichol Vineyard Syrah 2009 ($35) is unquestionably the heftiest 12% you will ever experience. Cool climate Syrah, Northern Rhône meets Victoria (Oz) dare I say, nidorous, smokey, a quenched fire. Dark chocolate covered black olives. Stonking resolve, Naramata nerve, stirring. Oh.  91  @nicholvineyard

Good to go!