CANADA DAY PICKS
Mt. Boucherie Riesling 2019, Similkameen Valley
$17.99 | 88/100
UPC: 812289000264 Thirty-year-old vines from the Similkameen Valley are at the heart of this off-dry Riesling, leading with bright, ripe fruit. The Lazy River Vineyard in South Cawston is home to mineral, stony, fresh flavours, with intense candied lemon and honey on the finish. A fun wine to drink now and enjoy with spicy curries or barbecued chicken.
Blue Mountain Estate Cuvée Chardonnay 2018, Okanagan Valley $27.90 | 91/100
UPC: 626452301184
Year two of French-only oak aging continues to give this label a leg up over a lot of competitors in the local Chardonnay market. It also adds another dimension to the flavour profile. The mix of new and older barriques, puncheons, and a foudre adds another layer of complexity, and it’s not vanilla and butter. The vines range from one to three decades on the estate vineyard. Fresh and leesy with lemon curd, pear, and hazelnuts, all mixed with creamy, attractive textures. Love the value, too.
Barone di Valforte Pecorino 2019, Abruzzo, Italy
$19.99 | 90/100
UPC: 8033413003063 Pecorino (the grape, not the cheese) is grown on north-facing, calcareous laced soils in Piomba and Colle Sale, from 150 to 350 metres above sea level. The nose is a cool amalgam of almonds, minerals and Asian pears, with an electric undercurrent of wet stones, citrus, and scrubby Mediterranean countryside. Another fantastic style B.C. could ape, and best of all, it’s a giveaway at under $20. We served it with slices of Pecorino cheese, and it was perfection. Back up the truck.
Mission Hill Reserve Shiraz 2017, Okanagan Valley
$26.99 | 89/100
UPC: 776545995124
A warm, dry summer resulted in a crop of small, concentrated berries that played into the voluminous Oz style of this Shiraz. Look for a lavish, rambling, peppery affair with sweet blackberries and black plums streaked with vanilla. Open, soft, and savoury, serve this over the holiday weekend with beef ribs, pork ribs or chicken swathed in barbecue sauce. There is a small amount of Viognier (three per cent) in the mix that spent 14 months in oak.
Meyer Family Vineyards Pinot Noir - Old Block Mclean Creek Vineyard 2018, Okanagan Falls
$43.57 | 91/100
UPC: 808755012985
Pinot Noir Old Block is all about the original vines growing at the Okanagan Falls estate, within the Mclean Creek Road Vineyard, first planted in 1994. It is also known, or not, as the unknown clone. Typically it’s fermented naturally and aged in about 30 per cent new French oak for 11 months, showing little effect in the flavour of the finished wine. Ripe black cherries dominate, with flecks of Damson plum, more black raspberries, and a dusting of brown spice. Delicate, complex and delicious in the mouth, it is a deft selection.