Buying Wine Everywhere

is today than it was a decade or two ago.

Back then, you shopped in government liquor stores where the selection was solely decided by government buyers. Today, consumers in B.C. revel in their new-found choice of private wine shops and local wineries.

Members of the British Columbia Wine Institute that produced VQA branded labels also have an assortment of 20-plus VQA wine shops at their disposal across the province. There, they consign wines to store owners who in turn sell them to you. It's not the perfect scenario but it's another sales outlet for consumers that doesn't exist in most other provinces.

Private wine shops continue to fight for neighbourhood business and while many have some interesting labels and top hand-picked wines, there is no simple way to know what they are selling or at what price unless you care enough to read a dozen newsletters. Even then, facts about prices and availability are thin.

B.C. Liquor stores are wonderfully transparent about pricing and listings but for some reason, in a vintage-crucial business, they can't seem to keep track of the precise year or vintage in the wines they sell.

It's not the end of the world, and we have more choice than ever, but as the economy begins to falter in the U.S. and no doubt here, luxury goods such as fine wines (yes VQA wines are now in that category) are going to have to be perfectly marketed to obtain maximum sales results.

Today we begin with the CedarCreek Classic Series Merlot Cabernet 2006. The Classic blend is a 75/18/7 mix of merlot, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc all of which spends 18 months in French oak. The style is dry and restrained with red and black fruit aromas and flavours. The palate is dry with blackberry, cedar and savoury flavours in the aftertaste. A perfect red for all those hearty fall dishes and you can find it in most government wine stores for the next month or so.

I want to include the Stoneboat Vineyards Pinot Noir 2006 from the Oliver area of Okanagan Valley because it's year two for Stoneboat and without much fanfare they are coming along nicely. Grower Lanny Martiniuk (with 23 years of growing experience and of selling his grapes to other wineries ) is now making his own wine, led by this modest but tasty three-clone pinot noir. The fruit is left to speak for itself without being over-oaked and it offers a mix of leafy, forest-floor notes with sweet black cherries and silky tannins. This is sensitive, stylish, simple pinot that is on its way to stardom. It's especially impressive given its generous 6.5- tonnes-of-fruit-to-the-acre yield.

You can buy this wine online (by fax), however that works, or simply call Stoneboat for more information at 250-496-2226.

I've just returned from a pre-harvest tour at Mission Hill. In fact, they started picking muscat last Monday as they await the rest of the grapes to fully ripen later this month. Lunch is simply exquisite on the deck. Just make sure you have a sweater to combat any breeze off the lake and be sure to make a reservation. Once there, you can sample the Mission Hill Chardonnay Reserve 2006 and its lovely peachy, pineapple, flavoured wine flecked with vanilla, mango, pear and baked apple. Both round and fresh, it is an elegant expression of Okanagan chardonnay fruit.

Kudos to Washington's Long Shadows and "home" winemaker Gilles Nicault for this smoky, cedar, tobacco, black olive Chester-Kidder Red Blend 2004. It has fine blackberry jam, cassis and mocha/coffee flavours flecked with vanilla, orange peel, cedar, liquorice, spice and tobacco leaf. It needs two to four years more bottle age to hit its stride or serve now with a roasted leg of lamb.

There is nothing light about Pintia Toro 2004, a Toro-based red owned by the famous folks at Vega Sicilia. Pintia is a 100-per-cent tempranillo. It is big and brawny on entry with no shortage of heat and or alcohol. Look for a big, heady red with chocolate and black fruit smothered under young and somewhat obvious oak flavours. The finish mixes toasted oak and spicy black fruits and a fair whack of tannin. This one is made for the cellar and or try it now with game dishes.

Our final pick is another Vega Sicilia project, Bodegas Alion 2004 from the Ribera del Duero. Alion is a modern Spanish red with bold dark fruit and meaty, mineral liquorice flavours. It is 100-per-cent aged in French oak with substantial if round tannins in the back end. Very impressive now but will clearly improve in bottle as it ages say five to 10 years.

Price: $19.00

UPC: 00778913036545

Score: 86/100

Remarks: The style is dry and restrained with red- and black-fruit aromas and flavours.

STONEBOAT VINEYARDS PINOT NOIR 2006, OLIVER, OKANAGAN VALLEY

Price: $22

UPC: 626990059004

Score: 87/100

Remarks: A mix of leafy, forest-floor notes with sweet black cherries and silky tannins.

MISSION HILL CHARDONNAY RESERVE 2006, OKANAGAN VALLEY

Price: $20

UPC: 00776545995780

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Buttery, tangerine, pineapple, vanilla, grapefruit rind flavours.

CHESTER-KIDDER RED BLEND 2004, COLUMBIA VALLEY, WASHINGTON

Price: $80

UPC: 808755003877

Score: 92/100

Remarks: Blackberry mocha/coffee flavours flecked with vanilla, orange peel and liquorice.

PINTIA TORO 2004, TORO, CASTILLA-LEON, SPAIN

Price: $75

UPC: 00097985103130

Score: 93/100

Remarks: A heady red with toasted oak and spicy black fruits and a fair whack of tannin.

BODEGAS ALION 2004, RIBERA DEL DUERO, CASTILLA-LEON, SPAIN

Price: $95

UPC: 00097985101815

Score: 95/100

Remarks: Intense dark fruit and meaty, mineral liquorice flavours.