WEEKEND WINE PICKS
Hillside Estate Muscat Ottonel 2017, Okanagan Valley $24.99 | 90/100
UPC: 626990019152 Muscat Ottonel was first in the ground at Hillside over 30 years ago when the winery was among a handful of pioneering farmgate producers. In many ways, winemaker Kathy Malone has taken back the farmgate notion, breathing Naramata into the winery and the bottles. The grapes are hand harvested, destemmed, and held overnight in contact with the skins before a gentle press and a long, slow, cool ferment. Expect intense delicacy in this sophisticated white wine full of floral, orchard fruits, rosewater and tangerine flavours. I served this with cauliflower soup, and it was perfection.
Fontanafredda Gavi di Gavi 2016, Piedmont, Italy $20 | 90/100
UPC: 8000174470021 There is no way to describe how deliciously on point this wine has been, and is again in 2016. The nose is electrically charged with white flowers, citrus and wet, warm stone aromas. The palate reflects the nose, with more of the cortese di Gavi grape’s quince and grapefruit flecked with a mineral sea salt undercurrent. Delicious and a home run West Coast seafood wine. Not in government stores; hunt it down in restaurants or private wine shops, it’s worth it.
Bodega Garzon Reserve Cabernet Franc 2015, Garzon, Maldonado,
San Jose, Uruguay $19.99 | 91/100
UPC: 7730951081331
The best wine at the tasting often isn’t listed in the market, as was the story with the Garzon Franc, but it’s here now and $10 less than promised. Intense medicinal-scented blackberry and cherry aromas lead into a softer palate of the same, with light smoke, branch and dark-cocoa dusted tannins propped up by a gentle lift of acidity. Very structured, this full-bodied Cabernet Franc is brightened with fresh minerality throughout. Highly drinkable now — especially with grilled meats or mushroom ragout — but you could age this through 2020 with no issues. Impressive. Stock up.
Burrowing Owl Merlot 2015, Oliver, Okanagan Valley $30 | 90/100
UPC: 688229003158 Always a treat, the 2015 outdoes itself, offering plenty of reasons to drink it for those who prefer the plush, hedonistic style. Black plum, ripe blackberry, and cherry jam mark the palate, but just when you think it’s too much, the savoury-floralsage brush notes kick in to keep it balanced. It spends 18 months in French, Hungarian, American and Russian oak, but the percentage of new has dropped to 23, and the wine is better for it. This needs more time in the bottle, three to five years, but would be perfect with a braised beef dish now.
Blue Mountain Reserve Pinot Noir 2015, Okanagan Falls, Okanagan Valley $39.90 | 90/100
UPC: 626452551152
The BM Reserve is all that and more most years. It is a wine that should be reserved from drinking for a minimum five years to allow it to become the complex Pinot it is. The 2015 may be an exception given the ripeness and a sweetness that beguiles, if only because it’s been rare. Look for a smoky, savoury, spicy, sweet Pinot ina rare Russian River meetsOkanagan style, with sweet raspberry, ripe cherry and spices filling in a plump palate. Warm, round, silky and soft, this will likely fade sooner than later, but why miss the party? Duck, salmon, pork all work here and now.