A New Take on Forbidden Fruit

Considering the fact that BC's major wine producing area, the Okanagan Valley, has historically been more centred on tree fruit than grapes, it seems only natural that there would be a few wineries trying their hand at fruit wines. Together with Elephant Island, Forbidden Fruit is probably foremost among those wineries that appear to be succeeding. Indeed, past posts to this Odyssey blog have seen plum and pear wines from Forbidden Fruit added to The List.

Despite the reference to the Okanagan's history as a fruit basket, Forbidden Fruit has been practicing its organic farming in the neighbouring Similkameen Valley - and it's been doing so for over 30 years now. The farm was actually one of the first to qualify under BC's organic certification program and even that was 25 years ago.

Thing is, this time around, I'm working with a different take on Forbidden Fruit. The winery has been winning awards for its fruit wines for years now, but for the past couple of vintages, they've introduced their "Earth Series." Using Similkameen and Okanagan grapes from vineyards that utilize low impact and sustainable farming practices, they now offer two varietal wines.

666. 2008 Forbidden Fruit Earth Series Sauvignon Blanc (BC)

Maybe it just flows from the "unfortunate" aspect of being associated with the "number of the beast" but this wasn't our favourite wine from Forbidden Fruit. I've seen that the Earth Series has garnered a couple of awards, but it just didn't hit the right spots with us - even for a Sauv Blanc. The varietal is about as distinctive as it gets but neither Boo nor I found this bottle to have any of those distinctive characteristics in a favourable way.

Maybe it was because we paired it with a crab risotto. Who knows? I just don't see us picking up a bottle any time soon.

There is a redeeming feature about the wine, however, and that is that the winery uses this series to raise funds for various projects that address "sustainable life on Earth." An early recipient has been the David Suzuki Foundation. It didn't make the wine taste any better, but it is a nice point to focus on.