Kettle Valley vintners Bob Ferguson and Tim Watts long have been supporters of fruit from British Columbia's Similkameen Valley, so their families developed vineyards in river rock near the Great Northern Railway and created this brand around their investment. Tim’s son, world-traveling winemaker Andrew, spearheaded this project, harvested Oct. 19 at 24.4 Brix and partially … [Read more...] about Great Northern Vineyards 2013 Viognier, British Columbia, $21
British Columbia
Gehringer Brothers Estate Winery 2013 Private Reserve Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley, $15
Best Buy! Walter and Gordon Gehringer continue to shine with wines from their estate plantings near Oliver, British Columbia, and along the Golden Mile Bench — just a government official's signature away from becoming the Okanagan Valley’s first sub-Designated Viticultural Area (DVA). Their dry-style of Pinot Gris (0.7% residual sugar) shows aromas of peach cobbler, baked pear, … [Read more...] about Gehringer Brothers Estate Winery 2013 Private Reserve Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley, $15
Wild Goose Vineyards 2013 Riesling, Okanagan Valley, $19
One of the New World’s premier producers of aromatic white varieties continues its tradition with another stunning example of Riesling in the Pacific Northwest from vines planted in 1980s under the direction of German patriarch “Fritz” Kruger. The nose offers hints of granite dust, white pepper, jasmine, lavender and clove behind the lead of Asian pear, Gala apple and lime. … [Read more...] about Wild Goose Vineyards 2013 Riesling, Okanagan Valley, $19
Upper Bench Estate Winery 2012 Estate Merlot, Okanagan Valley, $35
Naramata Bench winemaker Gavin Miller met his cheese-loving wife, Shana, through his work for Poplar Grove, which set the standard in British Columbia for producing and presenting wine and cheese. Now, the Millers are pairing their passions again under their Upper Bench brand, which Gavin developed after leaving Painted Rock in 2010. This bottling is off their estate 7-acre … [Read more...] about Upper Bench Estate Winery 2012 Estate Merlot, Okanagan Valley, $35
Bella Wines 2013 Sparkling Blanc de Blanc Oliver West, Okanagan Valley, $24
British Columbia winemaker Jay Drysdale has a laser-focus on Chardonnay for his sparkling wine program, and this is one of his four vineyard-designates. Two of them hail from Oliver, the wine capital of Canada, and this is from Secrest Mountain Vineyard near the iconic McIntyre Bluff. The harvest on Sept. 1 came at 19.5 Brix at a crop load of 4.1 tons per acre, leading to … [Read more...] about Bella Wines 2013 Sparkling Blanc de Blanc Oliver West, Okanagan Valley, $24