BARGAINING
— More affordable, post-holiday wines for the quaffing —
Why is that wild boar wearing a red sweater?
The label of the Tussock Jumper 2019 Chardonnay ($17) from France depicts such a scene because wild boars in the south of France are called ‘tussock jumpers’ for their ability to leap over tall bunches of grass known as tussocks.
And the red sweater, well, in Europe such knitwear is known as a jumper, tying into the whole tussock jumper name again and making it seem totally plausible a wild boar should wear such a jaunty piece of clothing.
Anyway, onto the wine in the bottle.
It’s a fresh and crisp, lightly oaked Chardonnay with aromas and flavours of lemon, vanilla and hazelnut.
The Tussock Jumper Chardonnay is the perfect kickoff to this second column of January, a month we’re all seeking affordable wines after holiday overspending.
Last week’s column featuring seven well-priced Okanagan bottles was popular, prompting me to more than double the number of options this week with 15 affordable wines, both local and international.
For our purposes, affordable is defined as a quality wine that’s $20 or less.
The inclusion of imported bottles not only provides variety, but also shows wines from elsewhere in the world can be cheaper because of economies of scale and lower land and labour costs.
Okanagan wines tend to be pricier because of lower production, high land and labour costs, not to mention taxes.
The Tussock Jumper Chard is
imported to B.C. by Vancouverbased Renaissance Wine Merchants and is available exclusively at the Cask & Barrel private liquor store at Highway 97 and Stevens Road in West Kelowna.
Renaissance also imports two other tasty wines that are easy on the wallet.
The Saget La Perriere La Petite Sauvignon Blanc 2019 ($18) is stocked at the Mission Liquor private store at 319 Lakeshore
Rd. in Kelowna.
It’s all green apple and lime lightness and crispness in the Brave Step 2019 Sauvignon Blanc ($13) from Chile, available exclusively at Lakeview Liquor at 855 Anders Rd. in the Lakeview Heights neighbourhood of West Kelowna.
Affordable from Arterra
Arterra Wines is an incredible Canadian success story.
The Toronto-based company has evolved from the Niagara Falls Wine Co., founded by Thomas Bright and Francis Shiffiff, in 1874, to Vincor and Constellation and then, in 2016, Arterra, which is owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
Arterra owns and distributes more than 100 wine brands, including: Okanagan wineries Sumac Ridge, See Ya Later Ranch and Nk’Mip; wineries with vineyards and operations in both the Okanagan and Niagara (Jackson-Triggs and Inniskillin); Canadian-international blends Sawmill Creek and Naked Grape; and owns 164 Wine Rack stores in Ontario.
Its international brands include Kim Crawford from New Zealand, Italy’s Ruffiano, Robert Mondavi from California,
Mouton Cadet from France and Wallaroo Trail of Australia.
As such, it was fun and easy to pick out a dozen affordable and quality wines from Arterra’s portfolio. All are widely available at government and private liquor stores, are true to the grape varieties they are made of and reflect their terroir, be it the Okanagan, California, Italy or New Zealand.
— Inniskillin Okanagan 2019 Chenin Blanc from Oliver ($19)
— Sumac Ridge 2019 Sauvignon Blanc from Summerland ($14)
— See Ya Later Ranch 2019 Jimmy My Pal white blend from Okanagan Falls ($18)
— See Ya Later Ranch 2017 Major’s Block red blend from Okanagan Falls ($20)
— Robert Mondavi Private Selection 2018 Pinot Noir from California ($17)
— Robert Mondavi Private Selection 2018 Bourbon-Barrel Aged Cabernet Sauvignon from California ($18)
— Robert Mondavi Private Selection 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon from California ($20)
— Ruffino 2018 Chianti from Italy ($15)
— Ruffino 2019 Pinot Grigio from Italy ($15)
— Ruffino Prosecco sparkling from Italy ($18)
— Kim Crawford 2019 Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand ($20)
— Kim Crawford 2019 Pinot Gris from New Zealand ($20)