Posted By Wine With Karl
Today I was at the wine festival waiting for the doors to open. My strategy as I am there today and tomorrow, is to taste mainly white wines today, and red wines tomorrow. Also since BC is the theme region, I'd taste the BC wines before exploring the international offerings. The BC wines I tried:- Black Hills Estate winery who are noted for their Nota Bene Bordeaux style red blend
- Blue Mountain Vineyard and Cellars
- Burrowing Owl Estate winery
- Cedar Creek Estate Winery
- Church & State Wines
- Dunham & Froese Estate Winery
- Garry Oaks (I also recorded an interview with Marcel Mercier from Garry Oaks)
- Road 13 Vineyards
- Sandhill (check out the picture of me with Howard Soon their wine maker, and Louise Wilson their sales rep and Sommelier)
- Stoneboat Vineyards
- Tantalus Vineyards (I recorded another interview here)
- Tinhorn Creek Vineyards
- Twisted Tree Vineyards & winery
- Wild Goose Vineyards
Keeping things short and sweet on the blog, the Tantalus Riesling and Old Vines Riesling were exceptional. Sandhill has a wonderful Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. Road 13 has a nice pinot noir. Garry Oaks pinot noir was quite beguiling. Cedar Creek's Ehrenfelser is a neat change to a gewurztraminer. You can't go wrong with Burrowing Owl's Pinot Noir or Chardonnay.
On the international side I tried:
- La Joya Viognier Reserva 2007 (Chile)
- Bouchard Pere & Fils Beaune du Chateau Blanc Premier Cru 2006 (Burgundy, France)
- Catena Chardonnay 2007 (Mendoza, Argentina)
- Champagne Deutz Cuvee William 1998 (Champagne, France) LOVED It But >$150 a bottle.
- Erath Pinot Gris 2007 and Pinot Blanc 2006 (Willamette Valley, Oregon)
- Vina Errazuriz Sauvignon Blanc Single Vineyard 2008 (Aconcagua, Chile) A wild ferment!
- Miguel Torres Milmanda Single Estate Chardonnay 2006 (Penedes, Spain)
- Bodegas Muga Blanco 2007, Rosado 2005 (Rioja, Spain) I enjoyed the Rosado so much I bought a few bottles.
- Murphy-Goode Sonoma County Chardonnay 2006 and "The Fume" 2007 (Sonoma, CA)
- Olivier Lefaive Wines Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champ Gain 2006 (Burgundy, France) an excellent wine but over $100
- Santa Margherita / Ca' Del Bosco / Kettmier Pinot Grigio 2007, Pinot Bianco Alto Adige 2007, Cuvee Prestige Franciacorta N/V. (Italy)
- Vina Santa Rita Floresta Sauvignon Blanc 2007 (Leyda Valley, Chile) good gooseberry flavour
- Sokol Blosser Winery Evolution N/V and Dundee Hills Pinot Gris 2007 (Willamette Valley, Oregon)
- Thompson Estate Chardonnay 2005 and Sparkling Chardonnay Pinot Noir 2005 (Margaret River, Australia) The sparkling just evaporated when it hit your tongue and was quite creamy. A buy!
- Miguel Torres Cordillera de las Andes Chardonnay/Viognier blend (Curico, Chile) Also a nice blend to try.
Did I try enough? I was at it for 2.5 hrs, then did a 2 hour sit down Pinot tasting. I'll blog about that another day. I will do indepth reviews of wines after the festival is over. Enjoy!
