BIg B.C. Reds

Judging by the price of B.C. wine in general and reds in particular, you would think every bottle coming out of the valley was one of the world's best.

Prices are not likely to fall in the short term, thanks to the large number of people chasing a small amount of grapes. I only trust the irony of super-inflated grape prices isn't lost on long-time grape growers and former card-carrying members of the B.C Grape Marketing Board who fought the Free Trade Agreement.

I'm willing to live with current high prices if it means growers and wineries are free to make the best deal and wine they can, but eventually these annual hefty price increases for grapes and wine will have to stop.

That said, many wineries are obtaining unheard-of prices for their wines, so what do I know?

This week, we look at six big-name labels that often dot restaurant lists before you can find them in VQA or private wine stores or, if you are lucky, in government liquor stores.

Start at the winery; some have sites that will allow you to buy wine directly online. Some will even tell you where you can buy their wine. It's good thinking given the two most asked questions from consumers are, how much is it and where can I buy it?

Winemaker Sandor Mayer's winery has been bought and sold three times since he arrived, but the quiet, unassuming winemaker with the talented touch remains. His latest, Inniskillin Okanagan Meritage Red Dark Horse Estate Vineyard 2003, a blend of merlot, cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon, opens with a peppery nose of licorice, black cherry jam and leather aromas. It has fine ripe fruit with lots of spicy black cherries, plums, vanilla and coffee flavours with a twist of orange rind and olive. It should improve over the next two to four years. Roast lamb or beef is the ticket here.

Bruce Nicholson is the Okanagan's most decorated winemaker and his Jackson-Triggs Meritage Proprietors' Grand Reserve 2003 shows why. In what has proved to be a less than stellar vintage, Nicholson has crafted his usual ripe, fat and round JT-style red. Look for coffee, pepper, cassis and black olives mixed with smoky, vanilla pudding and black cherry jam flavours. But for best results, give this cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc blend another two to four years in the bottle to smooth out.

Poplar Grove is a new-generation B.C. winery. Production is tiny and the wine is mostly sold direct thorough the Naramata winery or in restaurants. The flagship is the merlot-based Poplar Grove Reserve 2003. The about-to-be-released 2003 has a big cherry kirsch, slightly volatile nose with flecks of spice, coriander, vanilla and a whiff of port-like aromas. The style is fat, rich, round and alcoholic with some rustic tannin too. Big cherry jam, roasted pepper and coffee flavours beg for lamb or beef. Cellar for two to three years for best results.

Farther south, at Oliver's Black Sage Bench, Black Hills winemaker Senka Tennant is about to release the fourth edition of her flagship red Nota Bene. Nota Bene 2004 comes with the lightest colour we have seen in any southern B.C. red in some time. Typically peppery on the nose with smoky, roasted pepper, black olive, resiny, saddle leather and tobacco notes, it also offers exotic flecks of orange peel. The textures are soft, round and supple; the flavours a mix of smoky, black olive, dill, cassis, roasted tomato and cherries. It's more elegant than previous editions with cleaner, softer, smoother tannins. Best over the next five years.

Howard Soon is the man behind Sandhill Small Lots Program Two 2003, a wine with its mixed history of grapes. The '03 is mostly cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc blend. Soon prefers his wines to be approachable from the get go and this ripe, round red does possess soft (if a bit dry) tannins. Look for intense coffee, peppery, smoky, resin and vanilla notes mixed with cassis, black cherry, black berry flavours and a warm, vanilla fruit pudding finish. Good balance overall, but it needs another two to five years of aging to really sing.

Finally we return to Black Sage Bench, where winemaker Mark Wendenberg is responsible for the Sumac Ridge Pinnacle 2002. The winery's premium red blends merlot, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. The nose is reminiscent of stewed cherries, cassis and coffee nose streaked with pepper, smoke, bacon, leather and garrigue-like spice. Its smooth, substantial tannins are balanced while the flavours mix smoky, coffee, cedar, cherry cola, black olive and clove flavours. Big, warm and alcoholic, this needs another three to four years in bottle to pull it all together. Good effort.

Price: $24.99

UPC: 620654597031

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Rich spicy, black cherry jam flavours flecked with vanilla, coffee and orange rind.

JACKSON-TRIGGS MERITAGE PROPRIETORS' GRAND RESERVE 2003, OKANAGAN VALLEY

Price: $24.95 (restaurants, private wine shops)

UPC: 063657007785

Score: 88/100

Remarks: A big, extracted red with obvious consumer attraction.

POPLAR GROVE RESERVE 2003, NARAMATA BENCH, OKANAGAN VALLEY

Price: $49.90 (winery direct)

UPC: N/A

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Fat, rich, round, open red for mid-term drinking.

BLACK HILLS NOTA BENE 2004, OKANAGAN VALLEY

Price: $36.90 (May 1 release, restaurants, select retail)

UPC: 8336665001033

Score: 88/100

Remarks: A 46/36/18 blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc.

SANDHILL SMALL LOTS PROGRAM TWO BURROWING OWL VINEYARD 2003, OKANAGAN VALLEY

Price: $29.99 (restaurants, winery direct)

UPC: 058976350667

Score: 89/100

Remarks: Rich black cherry, black berry flavours with a warm, vanilla pudding finish.

SUMAC RIDGE PINNACLE 2002, OKANAGAN VALLEY

Price: $50

UPC: 778876830617

Score: 89/100

Remarks: Big and warm and ripe. A blockbuster Okanagan red.