Wednesday, April 8, 2015

On the Road 13 Again

1892.  2007 Road 13 Pinot Noir (Okanagan Valley VQA)

I'm going to admit that I was pleasantly surprised that this Road 13 tasted as fresh as it did for a 2007 bottle - particularly since it had such a heady bouquet of bright and ripe fruit. The balance of flavours of the palate was equally enjoyable. All in all, we were happy boys finishing off this beauty.

Thinking back, I probably shouldn't have been as surprised as I was. In its younger days, Road 13 used to be known as Golden Mile winery (before they graciously gave up the name so that the region could use "Golden Mile" as the regional trade name and, ultimately, BC's first sub-appellation). I remember being introduced to Golden Mile (and the "questionable" purple and gold-ish yellow labels featuring the castle) and its Pinot. It had a price point to knock your socks off (I think it was $13) and it was about as close to a "house" wine that I had when you could find it.

A change in branding, ownership, price increases and the proliferation of new wineries and products from the Okanagan has meant that I haven't tried nearly as many of their Pinot Noirs in recent years. If all of the vintages have been as tasty as this, I've been missing out and need to start picking up some more to throw in the cellar.

No comments:

Post a Comment