Sparkling Brut
Was it a cooking class that turned into a kitchen party? Or, a kitchen get together that morphed into a culinary lesson? Either way, being one of only 14 food-and-wine lovers perched around the giant granite island in Hester Creek Winery’s beautiful demonstration kitchen is a blast.
The evening my wife, Kerry, and I pulled up around the island, chef Jenna Pillon from the winery’s adjacent Terrafina by Raudz Restaurant was bustling around the kitchen and hospitality director Roger Gillespie was pouring the wines.
What followed was an exceptional five-course dinner with paired wines. Calling it a cooking class is a bit of misnomer. We didn’t do a jot of preparation, chopping, blending or cooking. Pillon did all that. We watched, we talked, we ate the results and sipped the wine.
The menus are constantly changing for Hester Creek’s line up of cooking classes, but the night we enjoyed saw cauliflower soup paired with the winery’s 2017 Pinot Blanc; brussel sprout salad matched to 2017 Semillon; buttered prawns and scallops complemented by 2017 Chardonnay; duck breast with 2016 Reserve Cabernet Franc; and pear-and-brie galette with sweet 2017 Late Harvest Pinot Blanc.
As a special treat, Gillespie also poured samples of Hester Creek’s flagship Bordeaux-style red, The Judge. No need to drive after such indulgence. My wife and I simply strolled back to The Villa at Hester Creek where we were staying in one of the six Mediterranean-style suites with a view over vineyards.
Hester Creek, which is located on Road 8 in Oliver, also runs a door-to-door shuttle to get people to and from the cooking class to their home or hotel in Oliver and Osoyoos.
Cooking classes cost $120 and overnights in a villa start at $229. Visit HesterCreek.com to book. Sleeping on site meant it was handy the next day to pop back into Hester Creek’s tasting room to try some more wines, including a sneak peek at some 2017 reds, which will released shortly.
The 2017 Select Barrels Merlot ($20) is a soft and plummy red already.
From the same vintage, the Select Barrels Cabernet Merlot ($20) offers up aromas and flavours of cherry, blackberry, plum, vanilla and spice.
The fruity-peppery-flowery profile of the 2017 Character Red ($21) is achieved by blending six varieties – Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Syrah, Malbec and Cabernet Franc.
The 2016 Block 2 Reserve Merlot ($29) is amped up classic Merlot with profile of plum, cherry, malt, sage and mocha.
It was worth trying the Late Harvest Pinot Blanc ($19 for the 200 ml bottle) again to appreciate its sweet and lingering aromas and flavours of peach, nectarine and honey.
It can certainly be paired with most desserts or drink it on its own as dessert or match it with a strong cheese.
The bubbles flowed and flowed and flowed as Kelowna’s CedarCreek Estate Winery launched its first-ever sparkling wine.
The Home Block Sparkling Brut ($25) was debuted at an after-work reception in the airy atrium of the Okanagan Innovation Centre in downtown Kelowna.
“We picked this time and this venue for a couple of reasons,” said CedarCreek’s visitor experience manager Heather Courtney.
“Being held 5 to 7 p.m. definitely gives this a happy hour feel and this building is just so beautiful. Plus, we can’t have an event like this at the winery right now because we’re closed for renovations so the new restaurant, tasting room and shop can open on March 1.”
A rotating crowd of 200 oohed and aahed while tasting the brut for its soft bubbles and crisp, light and refreshing taste reminiscent of tangerine, pink grapefruit and pears.
CedarCreek winemaker Taylor Whelan does an incredible job crafting the winery’s still wines, but he’s been wanting to do a sparkler for years.
He chose Muscat grapes and made it Prosecco-style, with secondary fermentation in big stainless-steel tanks, to produce a bubbly that’s wonderful on its own, but is also a match made in heaven for seafood and dessert.
Upcoming
There’s no shortage of wine events over the next week to prime you for Christmas.
Fitzpatrick Family Vineyards in Peachland is hosting A Merry Little Fitzmas Market today noon to 6 p.m. with artisans selling their wares and wine tastings, of course.
Bottleneck Drive’s Light Up the Vines promotion at 20 wineries continues today and tomorrow from 3 to 8 p.m. with vineyards illuminated, tastings and snacks.
The Oliver Osoyoos Winery Association’s Winter in Wine Country continues with the Festival of Trees at Black Hills, Oliver Twist, Tinhorn Creek and Nk’Mip wineries.
Speaking of Nk’Mip, its Fire and Icewine event is today, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with glasses of icewine or hot chocolate and smores for kids for a 5 donation to B.C. Children’s Hospital.
The 13 wineries along the Westside Wine Trail will have craft sales and wine tastings Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.
And on Wednesday, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., QB Gelato beside the Landmark 6 tower in Kelowna, is hosting Sparkle, a collaboration with Summerhill Pyramid Winery winemaker Eric von Krosigk to pair eight different sparkling wines with gelato and small plates of food.
Register for $78 at EventBrite.ca.
Steve MacNaull is The Okanagan Weekend’s business and wine reporter and columnist. Reach him at steve.macnaull@ok.bc.ca.