8th Generation

Averitable river of wine flowed to my desk this week. Spring release wines from Poplar Grove Winery and Lang Vineyards on the Naramata Bench and 8th Generation Winery in Summerland arrived by courier to be sipped, savoured and written about.

Surrounded by estate vineyards and tucked into the southwest side of Munson Mountain, Poplar Grove not only has a fabulous view down to the south end of Okanagan Lake, but an incredible sense of place that’s reflected in the wines.

Poplar Grove’s 2017 Pinot Gris ($18) is the child of a crazy growing season that yielded ripe, balanced and beautiful grapes and thus a ripe, balanced and beautiful wine.

In the spring, there was flooding, in the summer, there was drought, intense heat and hazy smoke from forest fires and the fall was perfect for grape ripening.

The winery rolled with the punches and pressed and cold fermented the Gris fruit after three hours of skin contact to produce a wine with additional aromatics and fruit flavours.

The result is a classic Gris with aromas and tastes of nectarine, lime, honeysuckle, apple and apricot backed up by refreshing acidity.

The Blanc de Noirs 2016 rose ($22) is a beguiling orange-pink colour with a lovely balance of lush strawberries and flowers and tart rhubarb and pink grapefruit.

Lively minerality and invigorating acidity play well in the 2016 Viognier ($22) so you can enjoy the nose and tastes of apricot, orange blossom and lemon.

To capitalize on those spectacular views, and serve the wines, of course, Poplar Grove has an on-site restaurant called the Vanilla Pod.

Open for lunch, tapas and dinner, the eatery specializes in wine-country cuisine.

The owners and operators are Paul and Sheila Jones and the chef is Bruno Terroso.

Four from Lang

Deeper into Naramata is B.C.’s first farmgate winery established in 1990, Lang Vineyards.

Its new crop of releases lives up to the winery’s well-established and award-winning reputation.

There’s not one, but two, 2017 Rieslings in the batch of spring releases.

The Farm Reserve Riesling ($20) is classic Alsatian-style, finished just off-dry with an abundance of tropical fruit and apple aromas and flavours.

Drink it on its own or with spicy dishes or aged cheeses.

The grapes for the 2017 Select Harvest Riesling ($24) were picked later to make a sweeter version of the wine, featuring citrus, beeswax, apple and honey aromas and flavours. It pairs nicely with seafood and soft cheeses. Expect dried apricot and peach nose and tastes in the 2017 Pinot Gris ($19).

Its crisp acidity makes it versatile as a standalone sipper or matched with seafood and light pastas.

Victoria and Vancouver

Lang and Poplar Grove will be pouring their new releases at swanky fundraisers in Victoria and Vancouver next week.

They will be joined by 17 other wineries from the Naramata Bench at ReWined in Victoria on Tuesday and Wines for Waves in Vancouver on Friday.

It’s recognition that Vancouver and Victoria are important markets for Okanagan wines.

Tickets to the Victoria wine-and-small-bites party at Crystal Garden are $100 with all proceeds going to Make-A-Wish, the foundation that grants wishes to children living with critical illness.

The Four Seasons Hotel is hosting the $110-a-head Vancouver seafood-and-wine soiree.

All proceeds will be donated to the Ocean Wise sustainable seafood program.

8th Generation Winery in Summerland has a pair of new releases designed to be served chilled.

While it’s unusual to serve a red wine from the fridge, RedOne 2017 ($20) is made for it.

The unoaked blend of Merlot and Syrah is light and ideal to cool down a summer barbecue or pizza.

Pink, of course, is best cold and the super-sippy 2017 Pinot Meunier rose ($20) is no exception with its abundance of strawberry and grapefruit.

Yes, the Schales family has been making wine for eight generations.

It all started with Christian Schales in 1783 in Germany and has continued through to Bernd and Stefanie Schales moving to the Okanagan to open 8th Generation in 2007. The Osoyoos Oyster Festival is April 18 to 22.

Oyster festival

Osoyoos is a long way from the oceans that offer up oysters.

But that hasn’t stopped the small South Okanagan town from hosting six annual oyster festivals.

The seventh edition is coming up April 18 to 22 and features eight events pairing the salt-water molluscs with Okanagan wines, beers, ciders and spirits.

There’s a shuck ‘n’ suck competition, dinners at restaurants and wineries, a brunch, barbecue, garden party and gala.

Details at DestinationOsoyoos.com.

Steve MacNaull is The Okanagan Weekend’s business and wine reporter and columnist. Reach him at steve.macnaull@ok.bc.ca.