Sweepin' Out the Bues

24. 2002 Golden Mile Meritage (Okanagan, Golden Mile)

The timing of this wine didn't quite work as far as my concept of drinking a Golden Mile wine during the first round Canuck games goes. The series was won a couple of nights ago, but I didn't get the chance to celebrate that win "properly." While it's great that the Canucks are through to the next round, I was rather enjoying the Golden Mile wines. I, therefore, decided that we'd have at least one more since it might be a week away before we rejoin the BC Team, BC Wine theme with a new winery.

This vintage was a blend of equal parts of merlot and cab franc (39% each) with the balance being cab sauv. You'll note that this is yet another label for the same winery, but this purple and gold version didn't last long (hmmmm...). I believe the 2002 vintage was the first for the Luckhurst family after they bought the already-named winery. The new label was a harbinger of the new ownership and a tip of the hat to the castle-designed winery building.

The wine was much better than the label might lead you to believe. Their labels improved and the wine continues to impress.

In general, I think most would say that the jury is still out the longevity of BC wines, but this bottle was still wonderfully fresh with a nose that still jumped right out at you. The palate also boasted plenty of fruit with balanced tannins and acidity still present. It may still only be six years old - but my guess is that this is a great indication of the aging potential we can look forward to with good BC reds.

In a way, I'm a tad disappointed that the St. Louis series didn't go a couple more games so that we could open some more Golden Mile. Four doesn't quite seem enough.