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91 Mission Hill Oculus 2006 Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada BC $70.00 winery direct, AB $70.00 private wine stores, ON $70.00 Vintages, consignment mark Anthony Oculus continues down the softer rounder richer path but slowly.
91 Mission Hill Oculus 2006
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $70.00 winery direct, AB $70.00 private wine stores, ON $70.00 Vintages, consignment mark Anthony
Oculus continues down the softer rounder richer path but slowly. Very peppery, spicy, minty nose with black olive, leather, mineral, liquorice and blackberry notes sprinkled with coffee, cassis, carrot top and vanilla aromas. The attack is dry and round with fairly tight tannins but with finesse. More black cherry fruit spiked with peppery, liquorice, smoky flavours with coffee, resin, tobacco, leather black olive and herbal notes in the finish. This has a solid future but like previous editions it will need 3-5 years to soften up and develop further. It needs a little less Medoc character and a little more Pomerol. (AG-ST)
91 See Ya Later Ranch Rover 2007
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $25.00 specialty listing, AB $27.00 private wine stores
This is one impressive syrah. A 95/5 blend of syrah and viognier it has a big white pepper nose flecked with anise, mint, pepper, roasted coffee, orange peel, ginger and meaty aromas. The entry is rich and concentrated with more meaty, savoury, roasted pepper, tobacco, vanilla, coffee flavours and plenty of tannin. Complex and ripe if just a bit too oaky at the moment. Let's hope the price stay at this very attractive level. Stock up. (AG-ST)
90 Mission Hill Compendium 2006
Osoyoos, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $40.00 specialty listing, AB $40.00 private wine stores, ON $40.00 Vintages, consignment Mark Anthony
Peppery, earthy, barnyard, compost, black olive nose with northwest notes of black cherry, caraway, smoky tobacco all with a touch of carrot top, vanilla and leather. The entry is dry and round but tannic. More smoky, earthy, peppery, tobacco, black olive, liquorice flavours flecked with vanilla, clove, caraway and black cherry flavours. It finishes oaky at this point and tight but again with some early finesse poking through. Time and patience is required. (AG-ST)
89 Lake Breeze Pinot Blanc 2008
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $17.00 VQA Wine Stores
Pinot Blanc is the signature wine at Lake Breeze and with good reason. This is a delicious version with bright fresh fruit fine acidity and a lively vibrant palate. The fruit is 100 per cent estate grown on the Naramata Bench. I love the mix of pear, mineral, nectarine skin with bit of honey and peach. Fantastic value. Private wine shops only. (AG-ST)
89 Laughing Stock Vineyards Blind Trust White 2008
Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $25.00 winery direct
The Enns, David and Cynthia have hit a home run with this year's Blind Trust a 65/18/13/4 mix of pinot gris, viognier, pinot blanc and sauvignon blanc and, whoops, I should have let you guess because the names do not appear on the label. The flavours are vibrant and fresh with a clean feel offering bits of floral fruit with some tropical notes, apricot skin and mineral. All in all a tight, showy, fresh style white that impresses for its price. (AG-ST)
89 Mission Hill S.L.C. Syrah 2006
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $37.00 winery direct, Mark Anthony stores, AB $28.00 fine wine boutiques, MB $40.00, ON $37.00 consignment - Mark Anthony Brands
Smoky, black olive, savoury, balsamic, leather, tobacco, sausage meat, chocolate aromas with a touch of barnyard and black cherry. Round, elegant, dry, supple palate but slightly lean with a touch of acidity. Peppery, tobacco, espresso, resin, licorice, cedar, vanilla, dried herbs and olive flavours with a cedar, leafy, green tea, and black cherry finish. Good finesse if a bit green and hollow on the finish. It should fatten up a bit with one to three years of ageing but it is drinkable now. (AG-ST)
89 Mission Hill Quatrain 2006
Osoyoos, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $48.00 specialty listing, AB $45.00 private wine stores, ON $45.00 Vintages, consignment Mark Anthony
The latest and 2nd release of Quatrain is a 41/32/14/13/ blend of syrah, merlot, cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon taken from estate blocks in Oliver and Osoyoos. Tasted several times since its release. Look for black cherry, spicy, black pepper, black olive aromas with flecks of vanilla, coffee, tobacco, carrot top, caraway, saddle leather and cassis. Dry, slightly thin and tight on entry with a youthful tannic palate. On the palate spicy, clove, peppery, vanilla, tobacco, coffee, herbal, cassis, cranberry flavours mixed with black olives, cherry mark the palate. There is a sense of elegance here but it is a somewhat tannic with a hollow mid-palate at this point. Not as generous as the previous edition. It is definitely best to wait on this for another two to four years. (AG-ST)
89 Mission Hill Perpetua Chardonnay Osoyoos Vineyard Estate 2007
Osoyoos, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $35.00 specialty listing, AB $35.00 private wine stores, ON $35.00 consignment - Mark Anthony Brands
An interesting twist in '07 with the pronounced lemon/nettle, clove, baked apple and pear nose with a honey pineapple hazelnut undercurrent. The attack is dry and fruity with more crisp, sharp fruit and les texture than previous editions. Green apple, vanilla, baked pear, tropical, nectarine, honey, cooked marzipan and passion fruit flavours mark its firm lean palate. This too needs a year or so to round out and develop some viscosity and weight to carry the flavours. (AG-ST)
89 Painted Rock Red Icon 2007
Skaha Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $55.00 winery direct, private wine shops
Big spicy, peppery, black cherry nose with cassis, clove, saddle leather, mocha, caraway and vanilla aromas with an undercurrent of tobacco and olive. Good complexity if a bit too much meaty leather notes. Round, dry, warm, supple entry with some gritty tannin in the back end. Similar flavours with spicy, oaky, coffee notes in the finish. There is ripe fruit and good balance but with a lot of oak and green dried herbs on the back end. (AG-ST)
89 Pentâge Winery Gewurztraminer 2008
Skaha Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $18.00 winery direct, private wine shops
A huge turnaround from last year in what is a rich fabulously ripe style gewürztraminer. Look for a big floral, litchi meaty nectarine skin notes on the nose. The palate is equally full flavoured with bright spicy fruit with peachy, orange and litchi fruit flavours and a long moderately sweet finish. Try this with spicy (hot) Pan Asian food. (AG-ST)
89 Quails' Gate Chardonnay 2007
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $19.00 winery direct, private wine shops
The QG Estate chardonnay is 35 per cent tank fermented and 65 per cent barrel fermented in 20 per cent new French and American oak for 10 months. The nose is clean and fresh with rich honey and hazelnut aromas and flavours. Somewhat reminiscent of Western Australia chardonnay with a dash of Burgundy. The textures are rich and creamy but with a clean citrus finish. A modern style designed to accompany fresh West Coast seafood dishes. (AG-ST)
89 Stoneboat Vineyards Pinot Gris 2008
Oliver, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $19.00 winery direct
The '08 gris is a carbon copy of last year's excellent effort. All fresh and bright he nose is almost electric with citrus and mineral highlights. The mid-palate is dry with more stony mineral nectarine flavours, creamy lees and fresh lemony fruit. Dry, crisp and showy this is a terrific looking gris and this year everything is in balance. Buy this one by the case. (AG-ST)
