Bay Area native Sandra Oldfield, a proud winemaking product of the University of California-Davis, and her team picked from seven blocks of Merlot from their Diamondback Vineyard on the Black Sage Bench for what a number of Canadian wine critics have described as the best work with Merlot by this trendsetting brand. Lead winemaker Andrew Windsor works with cooperages in France, … [Read more...] about Tinhorn Creek Vineyards 2014 Estate Merlot, Okanagan Valley, $22
British Columbia
Township 7 Vineyards & Winery 2016 Romar Vineyard Viognier, Okanagan Valley, $23
A number of British Columbia’s top wines come from the South Okanagan Valley near the town of Oroville, Wash., and Naramata Bench winemaker Mary McDermott is practically on the border’s doorstep with Osoyoos Lake’s Romar Vineyard. A fanciful nose of muscat and gooseberry includes white peach and celery seed. The palate carries more peach flavors, along with white pineapple. … [Read more...] about Township 7 Vineyards & Winery 2016 Romar Vineyard Viognier, Okanagan Valley, $23
Bella Wines 2016 Keremeos Pét-nat Sparkling Chardonnay, Similkameen Valley, $40
Last year marked the third vintage for Jay Drysdale's natural ancestrale sparkling wine program, aka pétillant naturel aka “col fondo.” His is Western Canada’s first pét-nat, the process in which juice ferments in a neutral barrel to dryness, goes into bottle by hand and permitted to complete the fermentation in the bottle. There’s no secondary ferment and no dosage. And these … [Read more...] about Bella Wines 2016 Keremeos Pét-nat Sparkling Chardonnay, Similkameen Valley, $40
Church and State Wines 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, Okanagan Valley, $23
University of British Columbia product Barbara Hall, who spent several years at Chaberton Estate Winery in the Lower Mainland, returned to the Okanagan Valley and works with Cabernet Sauvignon from the sandy Sunridge Vineyard near the border town of Osoyoos. The Oct. 28 harvest makes for a robust Cab that opens with aromas of plum, blackberry tea and cardamon and closes with … [Read more...] about Church and State Wines 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, Okanagan Valley, $23
Tinhorn Creek Vineyards 2013 Oldfield Series Estate Syrah, Okanagan Valley, $32
Devotees of cool-climate Syrah have a sweet spot for their research in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, and yet Sandra Oldfield’s estate sites, particularly Diamondback Vineyard on the Black Sage Bench, receive plenty of heat to ripen this red Rhône grape. Blended with the winery’s namesake vineyard on the Golden Mile Bench, the 18 months in French oak supplied bright and … [Read more...] about Tinhorn Creek Vineyards 2013 Oldfield Series Estate Syrah, Okanagan Valley, $32