WEEKEND WINE PICKS
Karp-Schreiber My Karp Riesling Dry Style 2015, Mosel, Germany $19.99 I 90/100
UPC: 626990216230
The Karp family has been making wine since 1664, which makes touting a perfect vintage tough, but 2015 came close. It’s fair to say 2015 is a high-acid vintage with high sugars and because it was dry there is very little botrytis so the style is ripe and intense but with that Mosel freshness. Ripe red apple flecked with apricots jump from the glass. Super flavourful and fun to drink. Perfect with your favourite spicy sushi roll. Great value.
Oak Bay Vineyard Gebert Family Reserve Riesling 2013, East Kelowna, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
$26.00 | 91/100
UPC: 625259655131
This is the second look we have had at this wine, whose vines were set down in 1978 in East Kelowna. The nose is a cross between Rheinhessen and Australia’s Clare Valley. Concentrated and rich, this bone-dry offering is overflowing with minerality, lime, tangerine pith, white honey and green apples. This is a special bottle that will live for many more years. Well done and a fine example of real wine in B.C. Pick your food; this wine is up to it.
Wallace by Ben Glaetzer Shiraz Grenache 2016, Barossa Valley, South Australia
$28.95 I 92/100
UPC: 9322246002008
The 2016 vintage was special in the Barossa. Thanks to adequate spring rainfall followed by a warm, dry, calm summer there was no rush to pick. The best part of all was an abundant, high-quality crop from which to choose. In the glass this 78/22 Shiraz/Grenache blend, made from just under 100-year-old, dry-farmed, vineyards is intense and decadent. We love the open florals, the smoke and licorice and the mix of raspberries and blueberries, all with a stylish acid/sugar balance. Excellent value and ready to drink.
Sokol Blosser Pinot Noir Estate Cuvee 2014, Willamette Valley, Oregon, United States $37.99 I 90/100
UPC: 088473980500
The 2014 growing season was warm, yielding a generous crop and one of the largest over Sokol Blosser’s 44 years of wine-growing in Dundee. The dry conditions ensured a clean crop, dark in colour. The winery takes 30 per cent of the fruit off the skins immediately to maintain a level of Pinot pureness. A richer style, this vintage offers darker blackberries, black cherries and brambleberries intermixed with savoury forest floor. The texture is lush with a touch of tannins to yet disperse, and the finish is long and persistent. Duck confit, grilled salmon, or pork belly would all be fine complements.
Thorle Spätburgunder 2016, Rheinhessen, Germany
$25.99 I 89/100
UPC: 4260418970128
The new German wine order includes Pinot Noir, and the wines have taken a quantum quality leap in the past five years. The Thorle ‘spätburgunder’ is aged in 85 per cent neutral German oak barrels mixed with 15 per cent new French oak, just enough to give the wine a centre line. It is bottled unfiltered and unfined. The colour is pale ruby, the nose aromatic with savoury, mineral floral notes that jump from the glass. The attack is juicy and savoury mixing intense wild red fruits with dried herbs and ripe juicy cherries. An impressive mix of Okanagan and New Zealand with a twist of Burgundy. It’s the next world of wine.Duck fried rice and mushrooms would be a fit.