Westside Wine Trail’s Newest Winery

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Art labels, bc wine, Chardonnay, Gamay, Meritage, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, west kelowna, Westside Wine Trail, Wine Tourism

En route to Kelowna last week, after my stop at Evolve Cellars, I popped into see what’s happening with The Hatch, located next door to Quails’ Gate Winery on Boucherie Road. This is the latest winery opened by the Terrabella Group, that also owns Perseus Winery in Penticton. After I unsuccessfully tried to enter the tasting room through the gorgeous old double doors (FYI, the entrance door is the glass one to the right of the ornate doors), I was greeted at the tasting bar by the Chief Steward, Andrew Melville, and he led me through a tasting of several of their wines. The Hatch is home to a few different series of wines: The Hatch, Hobo Series, Screaming Frenzy, and then their premium wines that are labelled as Black Swift.

The Hatch includes Dynasty White (Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Viognier), Dynasty Red (Merlot, Syrah, Malbec), Brut Rosé, and The Hatchchild (Cabernet Sauvingon), B. Yanco (67% Pinot Blanc, 33% Viognier), Ross O. (Pinot Noir with a touch of Gamay), and Flipping the Bird (Zweigelt Rosé). The Hobo Series includes a Semillon, a Muscat and a Gamay. The Screaming Frenzy (which is a what a group of black swifts are called) Series is made up of single vineyard wines, including a Sauvignon Blanc, a Chardonnay, a Pinot Noir & a Meritage blend. All of the labels are quite interesting, featuring the art of Paul Morstad.

The first wine I tasted was the 2013 B. Yanco. It has aromas of pear, apple, which peach and hints of citrus. It is dry with medium-plus acidity and medium body, with flavours of citrus, apple, pear and peach with a medium finish. It is pleasant and not overly complicated.The 2014 Screaming Frenzy Sauvignon Blanc has a New Zealand-style nose of citrus, gooseberry and some grassy notes. It is dry with medium-plus acidity and medium body, with flavours of citrus, lime, and some tropical notes. The Hobo Series 2014 Semillon has a ripe nose of red apple, pear and melon. It is dry with medium acidity and body with a round mouthfeel. It has flavours of apple, pear skin and some citrus notes. It is pleasant but the finish drops off. I next tasted two Chardonnays from different tiers. The Screaming Frenzy 2013 Chardonnay has aromas of peach, pineapple and toasty notes. It is dry with medium acidity and body and flavours of apple, citrus, oak notes and clove with a medium-minus finish. The Black Swift 2013 Chardonnay has a nose of apricot and citrus with a light intensity and some hints of floral. It is dry with medium acidity and body, flavours of citrus and spice and a short finish. The Hobo Series 2013 Gamay (fruit from Secrest Vineyard in Oliver) has a nose of cherry and raspberry. It is dry with medium acidity, medium body and medium-minus tannins. It has flavours of berry and cherry with a short finish. The Screaming Frenzy 2013 Pinot Noir (fruit from two vineyards in the Similkameen) is light garnet-ruby in colour with aromas of raspberry, cherry, spice and a hint of herbaceous notes. It is dry with medium-plus acidity, medium tannins and medium-minus body with flavours of cherry, raspberry and pepper with a medium-plus finish. The 2012 Pinot Noir (fruit from the Reimer Vineyard in Kelowna) is a pale-medium ruby in colour. The nose kind of threw me because it didn’t smell like a Pinot Noir – it smelled like a fortified Port-style wine with stewed fruit and notes of fruitcake, cherry and raspberry. It was dry with medium-plus acidity, medium tannins and medium body with flavours of tart red currant, cherry and raspberry with a long but slightly disconcerting finish. I finished off my tasting with the Screaming Frenzy 2012 Meritage, a blend of 60% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, all of it Similkameen fruit. It is a medium ruby in colour with chocolate and hints of liquorice on the nose. It is dry with medium-plus acidity, medium-plus tannins and medium body. It has flavours of ripe cherry and black forest cake with a medium finish.

Impromptu Tasting & Lunch at Evolve Cellars

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bc wine, bottleneck drive, Cabernet Merlot, okanagan, Patio, Pinot Blanc, rosé wine, Sauvignon Blanc, summerland

I have been trying to get out wine touring this year and haven’t been overly successful yet. However, I have now promised myself that each week, on one of my days off, I will go out and visit at least a couple of wineries, particularly some of the new ones! Last week J and I decided to head up to Kelowna and made a couple of stops en route. The first one was at Evolve Cellars in Summerland.

For those of you not familiar with Evolve Cellars, it is in the former location of Bonitas Winery, at the north end of Summerland; but the location is where the similarities end. Evolve Cellars comes under the umbrella of Encore Vineyards (along with Time Estate Winery & McWatters Collection) from Harry McWatters and his daughter Christa-Lee McWatters-Bond, who have been involved in the BC wine industry for the past few decades. I was very happy to hear that they had taken over the building and the vineyards with the stunning views over Okanagan Lake and had been looking forward to visiting and trying the new wines (they did NOT purchase existing wines with the building). We met up with a friend of ours at the winery and were persuaded to stay for lunch on the patio after our tasting. I chose four wines to try: two whites, a rosé and a red. I started with the 2014 Pinot Blanc. It has aromas of apple, pear skin, peach and citrus. It’s dry, with medium-plus acidity, medium body and a round mouthfeel with flavours of apple peel, pear, melon, grapefruit and peach, with a medium finish. The 2014 Sauvignon Blanc has tropical aromas, along with some apricot and peach notes. It is dry, with medium acidity and body. If has flavours of melon, tropical fruit and nectarine, with a lingering finish – quite tasty. The 2014 Rosé is a blend of Pinot Blanc, Syrah and Merlot. It is slightly off-dry, with flavours and aromas of berries and candy apples. The 2013 Cabernet Merlot (Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot) has aromas of dark cherry, berry, cassis, spice and caramel. It is dry with medium-plus acidity and tannins with medium body. It has flavours of rich ripe fruit, plum, cherry and berries with a medium-plus finish. This is a very easy-drinking red wine that I think I’ll enjoy come winter, but that day was too hot to really enjoy reds. The prices are very reasonable here too – all of the wines in their portfolio (six whites, a rosé and two reds) are in the $15-20 range.

I highly recommend lunch on the patio at Evolve Cellars. The views are fabulous and the food from Chef Telea Bremer is delicious. We shared the baked riblettes to start and the meat just melted off the bone. I had a salad with fresh greens, apple, blueberries and blue cheese and a lovely vinaigrette. (Note: the blue tinge in the photos comes from the umbrella providing lovely shade from the 38-degree heat!) I also had a couple of bites of the Buffalo Mozzarella with tomato & basil on baguette – yum! I think the best was the pulled pork sandwich that J ordered. It wasn’t your typical pulled pork with coleslaw. On one side of the bun was some provolone and the pulled pork, and on the other side was an olive tapenade, artichoke hearts and roasted red pepper.

Okanagan Wine Festivals Best of Varietal Winners

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Arneis, bc wine, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Dessert Wine, Gamay, Gewurztraminer, Icewine, Malbec, Marechal Foch, Meritage Blends, Merlot, Okanagan Wine Festivals, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Red Blends, Riesling, rosé, Sangiovese, Sauvignon Blanc, sparkling wine, Syrah, Viognier, White Blend

Last week I was one of the judges for the Best of Varietal competition in the 21st annual Okanagan Spring Wine Festival. Tonight I attended the Awards Reception where all the winners and finalists in each category was announced to the public and everyone was able to sample the top wines. For each category, the number of finalists was based on a percentage of the number of wines submitted. For example, there were 39 White Blends submitted, so there was one winner and 8 finalists chosen. Other categories with fewer entries had fewer finalists. This year there were a record number of wines entered: 479!

A big congratulations to the category winners!

Best Cabernet Franc
Harper’s Trail – Cabernet Franc 2013
Best Cabernet Sauvignon
Cassini Cellars – Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Reserve 2011
Best Chardonnay
Inniskillin Okanagan Estate Series – Chardonnay 2013
Best Dessert/Late Harvest/Port Style
Harper’s Trail – Late Harvest Riesling 2013
Best Gamay
Pentage Winery – Gamay Noir Estate Bottled 2013
Best Gewürztraminer
Wild Goose Vineyards – Mystic River Gewürztraminer 2014
Best Icewine
Inniskillin Okanagan – Dark Horse Vineyard Riesling Icewine 2012
Best Malbec
Sandhill Wines – Small Lots Malbec Phantom Creek Vineyard 2012
Best Marechal Foch
St. Hubertus & Oak Bay Estate Winery – Oak Bay Vineyard Foch 2013
Best Merlot
Sandhill Wines – Merlot Vanessa Vineyard 2012
Best Pinot Blanc
St. Hubertus & Oak Bay Estate Winery – St. Hubertus Vineyard Pinot Blanc 2014
Best Pinot Gris
50^th Parallel Estate – Pinot Gris 2014
Best Pinot Noir
Moraine Estate Winery – Pinot Noir 2012
Best Red Meritage Blends Cabernet Dominated
Moon Curser Vineyards – Cabernet Merlot 2012
Best Red Meritage Blends Merlot Dominated
Mt. Boucherie Estate Winery – Family Reserve Summit 2012
Best Red Blends “Other”
Quinta Ferreira Estate Winery – Alagria 2009
Best Red Single Variety “Other”
Sandhill Wines – Small Lots Sangiovese Sandhill Estate Vineyard 2012
Best Riesling
Wild Goose Vineyards – Stoney Slope Riesling 2013
Best Rosé/Blush
Baillie-Grohman Estate Winery – Blanc De Noirs Rosé 2014
Best Sauvignon Blanc
Clos Du Soleil Winery – Fume Blanc 2014
The Best Sparkling
Sumac Ridge Estate Winery – Steller’s Jay Sparkling Pinnacle 2006
Best Syrah / Shiraz
TIME Estate Winery – Syrah 2012
Best Syrah/Shiraz Based Blends
Daydreamer Wines – Amelia 2013
Best Viognier
Sandhill Wines – Viognier Osprey Ridge Vineyard 2014
Best White Blends
Noble Ridge Vineyard & Winery – Mingle 2013
Best White Single Variety “Other”
Moon Curser Vineyards – Arneis 2014

Wine Century Club: Varietals 31 – 40

Tags

bc wine, Loin de l'Oeil, Mauzac Roux, Mauzac Vert, Naramata Bench, Ondenc, Oregon, Petite Sirah, Pinot Blanc, Prunelart, Semillon, South West France, Syrah, Zweigelt

Here is the continuation of my tasting notes for some of the wines that I sampled on my trip to Europe in September, as well as some from my trip to Oregon and some local Okanagan wines, that I will be including in my list of varietals for the submission for membership into the Wine Century Club.31. Zweigelt, 2011 vintage, Upper Bench Winery, Penticton, BC, Canada: chocolate and candied cherry aromas and flavours, medium-minus tannins, rich mouthfeel, lingering finish.

32. Pinot Blanc, 2012 vintage, Ponzi Vineyards, Willamette Valley, OR, USA: clear, pale lemon colour, white floral, spice and lemon on the nose, dry, medium acidity, medium body, spice, citrus & complexity on the palate, medium-plus finish.

33. Syrah, 2010 vintage, Township 7, Penticton, BC, Canada: black cherry, raspberry, sweet spice on the nose, dry, medium-plus acidity and tannins, medium-plus body, cherry, plum, cranberry and spice on the palate with a long finish.

34. Semillon, 2012 vintage, Lake Breeze, Naramata, BC, Canada: citrus nose, dry, medium-plus acidity, round mouthfeel, flavours of citrus, gooseberry, tangerine, long finish. Tasty!

35. Mauzac Vert, 2012 vintage, Domaine Plageoles, Gaillac, France: pale gold colour, citrus nose with medium-minus intensity, dry, medium acidity, medium body, flavours of citrus and apricot, medium-plus finish.

36. Ondenc, 2012 vintage, Domaine Plageoles, Gaillac, France: pale lemon colour, peach and stonefruit on the nose, medium intensity, dry, medium acidity, floral, peach and citrus on the palate with a medium finish.

37. Mauzac Roux, 2000 vintage ‘Le Vin de Voile’, Domaine Plageoles, Gaillac, France: made in a style such as the ‘Vin Jaune’ from Jura. Pale tawny/dark gold in colour, oxidative qualities on the nose – nutty, saline, citrus, dry, saline, bit of rancio, lovely complexity, long finish.

38. Prunelart, 2010 vintage, Domaine Plageoles, Gaillac, France: medium ruby with a hint of garnet, medium-plus intensity, savoury nose with tar notes, dark red fruit, dry, medium-plus acidity, medium tannins, medium body, flavours of prunes, liquoirice, spice, hints of tar and leather – far more savoury than fruity, medium-plus finish.

39. Loin de l’Oeil, N/V, Domaine Plageoles, Gaillac, France: (undergone passerillage), medium gold in colour, pronounced intensity, honey-citrus nose, sweet, round mouthfeel, unctuous, medium-plus acidity, full-bodied, well-balanced, flavours of honey, peach and citrus, lovely long finish.

40. Petite Sirah, 2011 vintage, Nottinghan Cellars, Livermore Valley, CA, USA: deep purple colour, aromas and flavours of raisin, dark fruit, big chewy tannins, long finish.