December 5, 2013 - Our Latest Top Ten Picks

93 Stoneboat Vineyards Verglas 2011 Oraniensteiner - Pinot Blanc
Oliver, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $25.00 (200 ml) winery direct
Stoneboat has something going on with Verglas and its unusual mix of oranienstenier and pinot blanc. Look for fresh, limey intense apricot marmalade and honey aromas that draw you into the glass. The palate is fresh and juicy with green apple, honey, marmalade and egg yolk flavours. Clean and fresh this is a delicious bottle of icewine. (AG-ST)

93 Nk'Mip Cellars Qwam Qwmt Riesling Icewine 2012
Osoyoos, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $60.00 (375 ml) winery direct and private wine shops
This is pretty delicious stuff. It was picked January 12 and the sugars were a little off the standard so the ferment was arrested early and I'm really enjoying the elegance and the sugar. The acidity is fresh, the nose bright and fruity and the palate is sweet and rich with apricot and black fruit flavours. Serve this with chocolate to best effect. (ST)

92 Blue Mountain Reserve Brut RD 2005 Pinot Noir - Chardonnay - Pinot Gris
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $40.00 private wine stores, winery direct
Fun to see an RD coming out of Blue Mountain, in this case a 2005 that was recently disgorged (RD). The blend is 60/35/5 pinot noir/chardonnay/pinot gris. There is no reserve is this wine and according to winemaker Matt Mavety it isn't required due to the uniformity of the blend from year to year. The wine spends six years on its lees developing an aromatic red fruit nose with toasted nuts and lees and a whiff of minerality. Dry, firm complex and impressive it sells out in moments. Best get on the list. (AG)

92 Inniskillin Okanagan Riesling Icewine 2011
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $35.00 (200 ml) vqa stores, BCL signature stores
Super intense style with apricot, lime, floral honey aromas. On the palate it is rich and unctuous with solid underlying acidity to keep it fresh. The fruit is a mix of apricots, baked red apple and spiced honey. Rich stylish and extremely and yet with finesse and length. This is riesling icewine at its best. You can drink this now chocolate molten lava cake our cellar it for five years and allow for it to develop some complexity. (AG)

92 Meyer Family Vineyards Chardonnay Micro Cuvée Old Main Road Vineyard 2011
Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $65.00
Old Main Road Vineyard is the source of the Micro Cuvee in 2011 a wine made only in vintages deemed worthy and only from the very best barrels in this case two puncheons. A clear jump up in intensity, the style is firm with vibrant acidity and a stony, mineral lean-ess that suggests it could age handsomely for years. The palate is a mix of hazelnuts, pears and leesy notes with bits of honey, citrus rind and a hint of tropical fruit. This wine needs time and food but will repay patience and bottle ageing. You can serve it now with halibut. (AG-ST)

91 Blue Mountain Blanc de Blancs 2006
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $40.00 private wine stores, winery direct, ON $35.00 Vintages
The Blanc de Blancs is 100 percent chardonnay that is aged sur-lie for five years. Love the nose awash in nutty complex yeasty, lemon, red apple and brioche notes. Similar flavours mark the palate with even more pronounced dry, nutty notes in the finish. Definitely low fruit but it is not a severe style. Think oysters or sablefish, best with delicate flavours. (AG)

91 Tantalus Riesling 2012
East Kelowna, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $23.00 winery direct, VQA and private wine shops, AB $23.00 private wine stores, SK $23.00
Never for the faint of heart the Tantalus riesling is at the extreme end of freshness and acidity most years all in a good way. Expect a pureness of fruit with electric mineral floral citrus and tropical fruit notes perhaps slightly tempered in 2012. The attack is crisp the flavours exact and vibrant offering a mix of lemon, honey, lime and tangerine notes. Always a juicy mouth-watering style that excels with food. (AG-ST)

91 Serendipity Cab Franc Private Reserve 2009
Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $40.00 winery direct
The Private Reserve Estate Franc is a surprising discovery for me. So soft and fleshy in a manner most BC reds never achieve. There are still some tannins to shed but the ripe black fruits and tobacco flavours with flecks of chocolate and sagebrush will easily carry the day by 2015. A solid offering and one of the best young cabernet franc we have tasted. Try it now with at-bone steak or cellar it for another two or three years. (AG-ST)

91 Blue Mountain Brut Rosé R. D. 2009 Pinot Noir - Chardonnay - Pinot Gris
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $33.00 winery direct
The 09 Brut Rosé RD 84/16 mix of pinot noir and chardonnay. The colour is pale orange perfection, the nose subtle hints of red fruits and citrus. The palate is lively with fresh yeasty, red fruit flavours and a creamy persistent mousse. Wonderfully complex and as austere as it needs to be. It is a style that will be much hailed by food lovers. Turkey comes to mind but then so does caviar. Terrific bottle, good value. (AG-ST)

91 Meyer Family Vineyards Chardonnay McLean Creek Road Vineyard - OK Falls 2011
Okanagan Falls, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $35.00 winery direct
This wine struck platinum and was the highest rank chardonnay at the 2013 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada. With only 20 to 25 percent new French oak and half of that in large puncheons this difficult vintage for most danced around trouble in Ok Falls, with a perfect flowering, a fine September and a break to harvest after early October rains. More mineral and electric with bits of spice and sage there is enough creamy textures, peach and hazelnut to pull it all together in the finish. A less is more wine that will get better in bottle over the next three years. (AG-ST)