Mr. D's Zinfully Sweet B-Day

Mr. D. dropped by to see us and hear some vacay stories. Since his b-day was just around the corner, we invited him to stay for dinner. We haven't had a whole lot of weather for al fresco dining yet this year. So, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to give it a whirl. If it's warm enough for Mr. D. to sport shorts, we can probably handle an entrée and some wine.

1143. 2008 Rustico Farm & Cellars - Bonanza Old Vine Zinfandel (Okanagan Valley)

This is the second bottle of Rustico that I've added to The List after running across the winery for the first time during the BC Wine Appreciation Society's annual bus tour last fall. Since I'm under the gun to catch up with my posts, I won't repeat those first impressions of the unique winery on the Golden Mile. (My incredibly fascinating commentary can be found back at #932.)

That first visit to Rustico was prompted by a sign proclaiming "The Zin is In" on the side of Hwy 7. Zinfandel is not commonly grown in the Okanagan - there might be a dozen wineries that make a Zin; so my interest was piqued. Turned out the wine was just as flavourful as Bruce Fuller, the man behind the winery. We're not talking big California Zin here; the wine has a bit more restraint behind it. However, it still has some heft for a BC wine and there was lots of dark fruit on the nose and palate.

And, if we can put a little zin into Mr. D's b-day, all the better.

1144. 2008 Orofino Late Harvest Muscat (Similkameen Valley)

We didn't have a cake for the birthday celebration but we did have anothe bottle of wine to toast with. Orofino is found one valley over from Rustico and I've added a number of its wines to The List over the life of this blog. This is the first dessert wine I've tried from them though and, if Mr. D. hadn't come over tonight, we likely wouldn't have popped the cork (or, rather, unscrewed the cap) for awhile longer.

Good thing he came by because the Muscat was light (as opposed to cloying) and just sweet enough that it could pair with Boo's rhubarb-strawberry pie. The aromatics were nicely escalated and I think it might relate to the label's mention of "a touch of old vine Gewürztraminer."

I couldn't actually find much information about this wine online but I believe the grapes are sourced from Orofino's estate vineyard on the Cawston Bench. When John & Virginia Weber purchased the vineyard, they inherited a block of Muscat that had been planted in 1989, making them some of the oldest vines in the Similkameen.

I would have liked to find out about the steps John took in harvesting and making the wine before we drank it, but it was a spur of the moment kind of thing. I suppose I'll have to wait until the next time we drop by the winery.

The only sad thing about this bottle is that we might not be able to find it any more as the vineyard's Muscat is now going into Orofino's new Moscato Frizzante. If that's the case, a bottle of the Frizzante sounds appropriate for Mr. D's birthday celebration next year.

I think we'll likely see Mr. D's name in the blog a bit before then however.