September 1/06 - Our Latest Top Ten BC Picks

WHITES

91 CedarCreek Chardonnay Platinum Reserve 2004
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $28.99 winery direct, VQA wine shops
Open inviting creamy lees and green apple nose with hazelnut, vanilla, floral, citrus aromas and just a touch of butter and peach. Rich, elegant, dry palate with good vanilla, spicy lees, nutty, citrus, baked apple, butterscotch, melon flavours. Very good balance and acidity with some finesse and integration. Will improve over the next 1-2 years. Fine effort, best yet from winemaker Tom Di Bello.

90 Nk'Mip Cellars Qwam Qwmt Chardonnay 2004
Osoyoos, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $24.99 VQA stores / private wine shops
Winemaker Randy Picton has conquered the oak barrel in 2004 and given us a delicious spicy, cinnamon, leesy, baked apple chardonnay nose with nutty, floral, orange notes. Dry, elegant, slightly fat entry with nutty lees, mineral, vanilla, honey, waxy, spicy, green apple skin flavours. The finish is warm but with plenty of pear and citrus and a streak of buttered popcorn. Ready to go but with fine sophistication. Try with grilled trout and almonds meunière.

89 Blue Mountain Chardonnay Reserve (Stripe Label) 2003
Okanagan Falls, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $25.00 winery direct or Foremost Wine Domaines Inc.
Spicy lees, mineral, butter, dried green apple, flinty nose with a touch of honey and hazelnut. Very dry, tight palate with good acidity. Buttery, mineral, baked green apple, leesy, vanilla, pear flavours. Restrained style with good acidity. Will improve over the next 1-2 years. Good value here.

89 Herder Chardonnay Twin Benches 2005
British Columbia, Canada
BC $25.00 winery direct
Mineral, lees, spicy, smoky, baked apple, honey and vanilla nose with a touch of citrus. Round, full, soft palate with ripe peach, red apple, honey, creamy lees, vanilla flavours with a nutty, citrus finish. Good solid effort that's ready to drink. Best yet from Lawrence who seems to well understand the nuances of chardonnay. There's 30 per cent of wild ferment juice in the mix.

89 Mission Hill Pinot Gris Reserve 2005
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
AB $17.25; BC $18.99 specialty listing, vqa and private wine shops; MB $16.59; NB $18.69; ON $18.95; SK $17.99
Mission Hill is dialling in its Reserve gris focusing on a crisp lemony style with plenty of grapefruit and mineral aromas. Lip smacking honeyed grapefruit, green apple, and mineral flavours with some attractive leesy mid-palate textures. Fine intensity with hints of pear in the finish. Food-friendly and well done.

REDS

90 Sandhill Small Lots Program Three Burrowing Owl Vineyard 2003 Sangiovese - Barbera - Merlot - Cabernet Sauvignon
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
AB $32.49 fine wine boutiques; BC $29.99 winery direct and private wine shops
Young but well balanced with peppery, chocolate, garrigue, black cherry, floral notes with vanilla, coffee, black olive and smoke. On the palate it is round and dry with fine elegant supple characters. Spicy, black cherry, mocha, vanilla, peppery, spicy, black olive flavours with a touch of cardamom. Needs 1-3 years but try now with any grilled meat. The best red blend yet from Sandhill ─ 53/21/13/13 barbera, sangiovese, merlot and cabernet sauvignon.

89 Blue Mountain Vineyard Pinot Noir Reserve 2003
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $35.00 winery direct or Foremost Wine Domaines Inc.
Cedar, compost, barnyard, cherry, celery salt and vanilla aromas with a slightly rubbery note. Very dry, round, warm entry but elegant with light, tight tannins. Peppery, earthy, cedar-y, smoky vanilla, cherry, stewed rhubarb and carrot top flavours. Good acidity but quite dry on the finish and showing some wood. Needs another 1 to 3 years in bottle. A good effort that is consistent with the winery's style.

89 CedarCreek Meritage Platinum Reserve 2003 Merlot - Cabernet Sauvignon - Cabernet Franc
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $44.99 winery direct, VQA wine shops
Now quite as ripe as previous version showing peppery, spicy, black olive cassis notes on the nose flecked with green bean and tobacco. The textures are supple if a bit skimpy. On the palate winemaker Tom Di Bello mixes fruit sources to deliver up a peppery, vanilla, cigar box, coffee mocha red with licorice and back cherry. Needs a bit more time in bottle to fatten up.

89 Jackson-Triggs Shiraz Proprietors' Grand Reserve 2004
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $24.99 specialty listing, private wine shops
Big cedar sausage/meaty peppery shiraz with very fine smooth youthful tannins. Plump and bold in the mouth (very JT) but not without some tannin and obvious oak. Destine to be a fine wine with some more time in the bottle. Hedonistic, if a bit oaky but this is B.C. shiraz at its best.

89 Jackson-Triggs Cabernet Sauvignon - Shiraz Proprietors' Grand Reserve 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon - Shiraz
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $25.99 specialty listing, private wine shops
A 60/40 blend of cabernet sauvignon/shiraz age in French and American wood. It has a youthful charred barrel nose with dense generous smoky, blackberry vanilla and spicy leather notes - a la Oz. Well-balanced attractive style many will like. Another warm year and 40 per cent shiraz appears to be the tonic for the impossible to ripen cabernet.

89 Mission Hill S.L.C. Merlot 2003
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $39.99 winery direct, Mark Anthony stores
The S.L.C. merlot opens with tight peppery, spicy, cool cherry aromas laced with mint, coffee, garrigue, vanilla and licorice notes. The palate is dry but rich with plenty of youthful grainy tannins. Blueberries, black cherry, smoky vanilla, savoury flavours. Showing a bit of chocolate now and fattening up as we expected. Fine intensity as the tannins settle down. Reminiscent of a semi-modern St. Emilion. Needs 2-3 years to fully develop.

89 Nichol Vineyard Syrah Reservare 2003
Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $34.90 winery direct
Where others wineries have floundered in a difficult 2003 vintage, the Nichols appear to have hit the target. Love this smoky, meaty, gamey, nose flecked with pepper and rootsy aromas. Dry, round, slightly tannic entry with a sense of elegance throughout. Dense peppery, gamey, meaty fruit with floral, black berry, smoky, spicy flavours with a bit of saddle leather and coffee grind on the finish. Needs 2-4 years. Well made and perfectly suited to strong meat dishes. Fine effort.

89 Sandhill Small Lots Program Two Burrowing Owl Vineyard 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon - Merlot - Cabernet Franc
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $29.99 winery direct and private wine shops
Open floral peppery nose with licorice, cassis, black cherry, mocha aromas with some barnyard and smoky leather. Rich, ripe and round with dry if soft tannins. Intense coffee, peppery, smoky, resin, vanilla, cassis, black cherry, black berry flavours on the palate with a warm, vanilla pudding finish. Needs 2-5 years but will improve. Good balance overall.

89 Sumac Ridge Pinnacle 2002 Merlot - Cabernet Sauvignon - Cabernet Franc
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
AB $43.00 private wine shops; BC $50.00
Stewed cherry, cassis, and coffee nose streaked with pepper, smoke, bacon, leather, barnyard and garrigue-like spice. Rich, ripe, fat and round not to mention somewhat alcoholic. Smooth, substantial tannins but balanced. Intense smoky, coffee, cedar, mocha, cherry cola, black olive, rootsy clove flavours. Big and warm and ripe. This needs another 3 to 4 years in bottle to pull it all together. Good effort.

LATE HARVEST / ICEWINE / FORTIFIED

92 Rollingdale Sweet Tooth Series 2004 Pinot Blanc Icewine 2004
Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $70.00 (375 ml) winery direct
Ripe pear, apricot, red apple, marzipan, egg yolk aromas. Rich, sweet, intense palate with good acidity. Baked peach, apple, orange, creamy, mango and honey flavours. Fine fruit and acidity with good intensity. Well done and a nice surprise for pinot blanc.

90 Peller Estates Trinity Icewine Private Reserve 2005 Riesling - Ehrenfelser
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $54.99 (375 ml) specialty listing
From a mix of vidal riesling Ehrenfelser, Trinity opens with orange marmalade, plasticene, dried apricot, baked pear, mineral, citrus nose with a floral note. Ripe, rich, round, somewhat unctuous palate with good acidity. Fine ripe peach, orange, honey and green apple flavours with good acidity and freshness on the finish. Perfect drinking now.

90 La Frenz Liqueur Muscat N/V
Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
BC $19.90 (375 ml) winery direct
Big spicy, floral, dried peach, lychee, mineral, baked pear aromas. Rich, ripe, round, full bodied but elegant with raisin-y, floral, orange, pear, spicy lychee, apricot and rancio flavours. Somewhat sweet and warm but has good balance and freshness. A very fresh, spicy, floral style that will attract many. Well done.

89 Inniskillin Okanagan Vidal Icewine 2004
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
AB $41.99 private wine shops; BC $52.99 specialty listing
Floral, spicy, marmalade nose with lifted apricot, candied citrus peel and a touch of vinyl. Full, rich, round, unctuous style but has decent acidity. Big creamsicle, marmalade, baked apple, vinyl, spicy apricot flavours. Big style, lots of fruit and intensity. Drink now and over the next year or so.