Taking Stock on Boxing Day

Well, our "Twelve Wines of Christmas" may be all finished and wrapped now, but I know there's still plenty of wine to be enjoyed before all the seasonal treats are similarly completed. Case in point, it may be Boxing Day - and, hence, the time for packing up the season - but here we are opening up and bringing out a little something more to celebrate with.

302. 2006 Laughing Stock Vineyards Pinot Pinot (Naramata Bench - Okanagan)

Laughing Stock wines can be both difficult to find and a tad on the higher end of the pricing scale, but I do like to try and get my hands on their Pinot Pinot. Around the $20 mark, it's still within my budget and I really enjoy their blending of two of the white varietals that might be best suited for our province - Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc.

The winery's owners (and winemaker), David and Cynthia Enns, both had pasts in financial management and I love how their background whimsically shows in many aspects of their marketing. The bottle design cleverly incorporates information about the wine inside and shows the closing market values of a number of stocks on the vintage date.

The Pinot Pinot is part of the winery's Small Cap Program which, according to their website, allows them to "explore smaller market plays" with varietals that they don't necessarily fit into their primary wines. There were only 170 cases of the 2006 vintage and they saw a blend of 75% Gris and 25% Blanc. The Pinot Gris saw some fermentation in second-fill oak barrels and the Pinot Blanc saw stainless steel the whole way - thereby allowing for a fullness from the Gris and additional acidity and fruit from the Blanc.

I'm sold. I'll be sure to invest in another couple bottles if I can find them.