FEBRUARY 2024
The month began with a superb tasting hosted by Artisan Wine Shop of North Vancouver. A new venue in the Stack building downtown Vancouver was the perfect setting to enjoy high-end bottles from wineries owned by Anthony von Mandl of Mission Hill fame. We sipped from exclusives like vintage Martin's Lane Riesling, sublime Checkmate Chardonnay, and exciting unoaked Barbera from young winery Red Barn, as well as reserve John Oliver Syrah from Road 13, and silky Pinot Noirs from CedarCreek and Liquidity. Ten-year old companion wines from the BCWAS cellar showed of the aging potential of Road 13 Syrah Malbec and Liquidity Pinot Noir.
Later in the month the second Cellar Series vertical featured six superb bottles of red blend "The Legacy" from Poplar Grove, covering the odd vintages from 2007-2017. It was another opportunity to examine how a blend increases in complexity as new varieties are added over time (a little Petit Verdot can go a long way), and made for an altogether challenging pick of favourites! |
JANUARY 2024
The first Cellar Series vertical tasting featured six vintages of Oliver boutique winery Fairview Cellars' big red blend - "The Bear". The long table at our winery storage facility made for the perfect venue, and the bottles didn't have to be carried far! Later this spring we'll have another Fairview Cellars tasting but this inaugural Cellar Series featured the "odd" vintages of 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2015. Obviously lots of vintage variation but founding winemaker Bill Eggert's skill was obvious, as was the potential for well made BC wine to age! The Bear started out as a Cabernet Sauvignon-heavy blend, but later vintages included all five typical Bordeaux varieties as Bill added complexity, with 2013 and 2015 including 5% Malbec as far as we could tell (the precise details are hard to come by). The 2007 was drinking particularly well after a short 17 years - what an opportunity!
The winery is in good hands with new owners Danielle and Dermott Hutton, who are continuing Bill's legacy while he spends more time travelling and sailing after many years of being a virtual one-man-band. Cheers to Bill and best of luck to the Huttons! |
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