Brutal Year, but the Good Prevail

Best of all, they brought the first wines of 2011.

Annual vintage reports have become standard at the top wineries around the world, and more recently leading wine regions have taken to issuing comprehensive vintage reports on the state of the previous year's harvest just before its release.

This week, for the first time, we heard all about the 2011 Okanagan/Creston/Lillooet growing seasons. It was timely information coming on the cusp of the release of hundreds of 2011 Okanagan wines.

As it turns out, there were only about 1,400 growing degree days or GDs (a measurement of temperature not the number of days) in 2011 - the second lowest amount since serious wine was made in British Columbia. In short, the cool season paled when compared to 1998 and its amazing 1,778 GDs.

The definition of growing degrees days is the number of temperature degrees above a certain threshold base temperature, in this case 10C, or that temperature below which plant growth is thought to be zero. GDs are calculated each day as maximum temperature plus the minimum temperature divided by 2 (or the mean temperature), minus the base temperature. Total degree days in a single growing season are simply the sum of each day's calculations.

According to John Simes, the winemaker at Mission Hill Estate Winery, the bright light in 2011 degree days is that almost 50 per cent of the heat or 685 GDs happened from Aug. 1 through Oct. 1 when it was really needed. In fact, the 2011 degree days exceeded the 550 GDs recorded from Aug. 1 to Oct. 1 during what many considered was the superior 2007 vintage. Simes went on to describe the year as brutal in the vineyard, but suggested that if you did the work (pruning properly, aggressive shoot thinning and drop-ping lots of grapes) you were likely to end up making some excellent wines.

Tinhorn winemaker Sandra Oldfield also pointed out what many consider to be the other key saviour of vintage 2011. For the first time in anyone's memory, phenolic (a group of com-pounds that contribute antho-cyans or colour, flavour/aroma compounds and tannin) ripeness occurred before optimum sugar development allowing winemakers to pick earlier, at lower sugar levels resulting in lower alcohol wines with no loss of flavours.

Here's a look at some of the early releases we tasted. Most will be out by May 1. For avail-ability, it is best to first check the websites for the wineries, then VQA stores and then government stores.

Each year brings incremental improvement in Creston's quest to make wine as evidenced by the latest Baillie-Gro-hman Pinot Gris 2011 and its cleaner, fresher nose and palate. There's also more acidity too that livens up the green apple, flinty fruit nicely flecked with lime rind, dried herbs and mineral notes. A delicate, balanced, food-friendly, impressive Gris and all from such a young site. Go Creston.

Winemaker Darryl Brooker continues his quest to lower the alcohol at CedarCreek, especially among the aromatic varieties such as his delicious, electric CedarCreek Riesling 2011. The fruit is a blend of two sites: the home block in Kelowna and Greata Ranch across the lake. The nose is expressive and fresh with tightly wound citrus and lime-scented fruit that is the theme on the nose and palate, and all at 10.5 per cent alcohol. Light, juicy, fun, yet serious, it will pair with variety of West Coast foods.

The 2011 Jackson-Triggs Sun-Rock Shiraz won't be out for another 18 months but we were duly impressed with its lower alcohol in 2011, and ripe fruit. It should be an exciting red down the road. In the meantime, we suggest you check out the cur-rent Jackson-Triggs Shiraz Gold Series SunRock Vineyard 2008. Always one of the best local syrahs, the '08 does not disappoint. The flavours mix smoky, meaty, peppery, blackberry, plum fruit with bits of licorice, tobacco, vanilla, coffee, orange peel and poultry-spice flavours. There is plenty of oak and fruit with some youthful tannins to shed over the next one to three years. Perfect for lamb.

Mission Hill's "Five Vineyard" lineup is a steady as it gets, and the Mission Hill Rosé Five Vineyards 2011 has become hard to beat for the money. This year's edition is light pink with a watery edge. The attack is fresh and lively with juicy, citrus, watermelon, strawberry aromas and flavours with some pretty, floral notes in the back-ground. Ten grams of residual sugar make it both gulp-able and equally at home with spicy dishes.

Sandhill Pinot Gris Hid-den Terrace 2011 is a new single vineyard, north of Oliver tucked up behind McIntyre Bluff some 110 metres above the Okanagan River. Super young vines have yielded a taut, citrus, juicy white that has a bright fresh demeanour. Love the fruit persistence through-out this Pinot Gris that is more along the juicy, mineral, chalky route than the heavier, honey, earthy style. Well done. Bring on the halibut.

The Tinhorn Creek 2Bench White 2011 mixes 51 per cent Chardonnay with 31 per cent Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier Sémillon and Muscat (some of which are co-fermented) to better mix all the fruit flavours. One thing about cool years, if you can get the crop load right, the fruit is stunning and in this case the mix of aromatic and tropical fruit aromas in 2011 are stunning and well supported by a firm acidic underbelly.

A friendly screw-cap white that will look good all summer on the patio.

In the Cellar 2011

Baillie-Grohman Pinot Gris 2009, Creston

Price: $22

UPC: 626990100676

Score: 88/100

Remarks: A delicately balanced, food-friendly and generally impressive Gris.

Riesling 2011, Okanagan Valley

Price: $18

UPC: 778913021022

Score: 90/100

Remarks: Light, juicy, fun, yet serious: it will pair with variety of West Coast foods.

Jackson-Triggs Shiraz Gold Series SunRock Vineyard 2008, Okanagan Valley

Price: $35

UPC: 00063657013496

Score: 90/100

Remarks: Smoky, meaty, peppery, blackberry, plum, licorice flavours to beat the band.

Mission Hill Rosé Five Vineyards Merlot - Pinot Noir 2011, Okanagan Valley

Price: $15

UPC: 00776545995872

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Lively with juicy, citrus, watermelon, strawberry aromas and flavours.

Sandhill Pinot Gris Hidden Terrace 2011, Okanagan Valley

Price: $18

UPC: 00058976502240

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Love the fruit persistent throughout this Pinot Gris.

Tinhorn Creek 2Bench White Oldfield Series, Okanagan Valley

Price: $23

UPC: 00624802971209

Score: 89/100

Remarks: A friendly, screw-cap white that will look good all summer on the patio.

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Anthony Gismondi and co-host Kasey Wilson 6-7 p.m.

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