Eight Flamboyant Reindeer

For Our Eighth Wine of Christmas, My True Love drank with Me,

And Eight Flamboyant Reindeer.

293. 2007 8th Generation Dry Riesling (Okanagan)

The bottle might read "Since 1783;" but 8th Generation is a fairly new winery in the Okanagan. The label refers to the fact that proprietor, Bernd Schales', family has been in the winemaking and grape-growing business for eight generations back in Germany. The Canadian connection for the Schales family began when Bernd and his wife, Stephanie, decided to set up shop in the Okanagan after brief stints in New Zealand and South Africa.

It would seem that Germany's "loss" is our gain. The winery's first commercial white wines were from the 2006 vintage. I'd seen the winery represented by a table at three tastings over the last year or so and I walked away each time thinking that they've hit their stride straight out of the blocks. I'm now starting to see their wines show up on some shelves around town as well - which is going to make it easier to actually try a few more bottles.

As might be expected with the German background, to me, this Riesling is more indicative of a European style - a bit more tree fruit and lower acidity than some of the sharp acid and citrus that is common with some of the big name Rieslings we see on the BC market. Since my preference tends a bit towards this type of Riesling, I really look forward to seeing what their wines are like in the years to come.

(I also note that they've already changed their labels since the initial offerings and I quite like the new artwork.)

Eighth wine. 8th Generation. Eight tiny reindeer. It seemed to make sense.