An Okanagan Three-Way

Some days just seem to require an extra boost to them - more succour than even a couple glasses of wine can provide. Today was one of those days. As such, Boo and I thought we'd go the route of an Okanagan three-way: a "go to" red wine, a fruit dessert wine and a craft vodka.

1953.  2012 Elephant Island Apricot (Naramata Bench - Okanagan Valley)

Okanagan Spirits Vodka

Grade 1 arithmetic aside, there are times when 1 + 1 can = 3. This might just be one of those occasions. We're long time fans of Elephant Island's Apricot dessert wine. If you're partial to apricots, this wine, on its own, just thrills you with the sweet, ripe apricot flavour heeled with a good brace of acidity. However, I remember - from many years ago - when we bought our first bottle, the last comment from the winery staffer behind the tasting bar was that the Apricot wine makes a great addition to a Vodka martini. Two parts Vodka, one part Apricot wine. Jackpot.

That's where the Okanagan Spirits Vodka comes into play tonight.

OK Spirits has been around for just over a decade now. Originally established in Vernon in 2004, they added a second location in Kelowna at the end of 2011. Having started with Liqueurs and Fruit Brandies, their "harvest-to-flask" philosophy of 100% locally grown fruits and grains has expanded to include Vodka, Gin, Whisky, Grappa, Aquavit and Absinthe. I can attest to the fact that it's difficult to leave their tasting room without a full shopping cart for the bar at home.

Their success at grasping the whole distillery concept is well substantiated as well. Okanagan Spirits was named "Distillery of the Year" at both the 2013 and 2015 World Spirits Awards. 2013 also saw them named "North America's only World Class rated distillery, a distinction [they] still hold proudly today."

Unflavoured Vodka isn't known for flavour, but this OK Spirits version was made from 100% pears and I noted a distinct fruitiness to the base liquor. Paired with the Apricot wine, we were well on our way to getting over the day's toils.

1954.  2008 Sandhill - Small Lots Sandhill Estate Vineyard Block C8 Merlot (Okanagan Valley VQA) 

Merlot may be the most highly planted red grape in the Okanagan but not many wineries or winemakers can work their magic on the grape like Sandhill winemaker, Howard Soon, does with this Small Lots, single vineyard, single block beauty. I first ran across this bottle at the 2011 Vancouver International Wine Festival. It can be hard enough to get your hands on many of Howard's Small Lots wines but, with a production of only 119 cases in 2008, the Festival was likely going to be my only chance to grab me some.

Even with a few year's ageing, it's a big wine with plenty of dark, ripe fruit and a lush nose. This is not a Merlot that Myles from Sideways (you remember him) - or anyone else - should sneer at.

It may have been a rough day but I think our little Okanagan three-way smoothed out some of the edges.

Platinum Bench

Having just added a Rosé to The List, why not go for another. After all, doesn't the phrase go "One good Rosé deserves another?"

Well, my literary acumen may be somewhat suspect but, if that phrase is off, how about addressing, "A Rosé is a Rosé is a Rosé."

Okay, agreed, Gertrude Stein didn't have the accent on her Rose. But, it's just as well because, nowadays, Rosé wines go all over the map - dead dry, fruity, delicate, robust. You name a preference, you can likely find it quite easily. One Rosé is definitely not guaranteed to be the same as the last one you tried. As was the case here.

1951.  2014 Platinum Bench Rosé (Okanagan Valley VQA)

Platinum Bench is still a relatively new find for me. The winery opened its doors in June 2012 but my first conscious recollection of them was last year during the Half Corked Half Marathon. While a good portion of the race followed the Black Sage Bench, the course didn't run by or through Platinum Bench itself. The winery did, however, have one of the water (cum wine) stations in the second half of the race. What stood out for me at their table was the specialty bread they served along with the wine. That bread hit the spot and definitely required a visit to the winery the next day.

And a repeat visit after this year's run at the end of May. This Merlot and Gamay Noir-based Rosé was one of the treats that came home with us.

Comparing the glass of Platinum Bench to the Poplar Grove Rosé from the other day, I think you could fairly say that the two wineries take a somewhat different approach to their Rosé production. The deeper hues in the Platinum Bench were supported by bolder fruit flavours and bigger body - not to mention it clocked in at 14.9% alcohol, rather a robust level for most BC Rosés.

And the beauty of producing Rosé is that neither winery is "right" in its approach. Both wines suited my palate just fine and were equally approachable.

I just wonder what Gertrude Stein would have said. Maybe she didn't drink Rosé.

Half Corked - Again

For the second year running, Mr. Cool and I have donned our grass skirts, Hawaiian shirts and Nikes to take part in the Half-Corked Half Marathon. Along with a thousand other wine-loving crazies, we arrived at the Hester Creek start line ready for a glorious day of taking in the Golden Mile and Black Sage Bench for what is definitely one of the most celebrated runs in Canada.

We were lucky to be positioned in the first wave of runners because the day was already heating up by the 8 a.m. start time and it was promising to be a hot one. We arrived just in time to act as witnesses for a wedding of two participants. The vows were timed to finish just before the starting gun. So, naturally, there was a toast to the happy couple as we all readied to start them off on their honeymoon.

Nothing like a few first sips of wine before starting a half marathon. It's definitely part of a proven training regime when it comes to this race.

The course winds its way through the southern half of the Okanagan Valley, traversing up and down the rolling terrain (or is that "terroir" given this is wine country?), through grapevines and along service roads. Although incredibly scenic, it's quite the taxing course. No one sets out to run a personal best on this race. Indeed, it quickly became evident that grapes grow best on slopes - a fact that we can all attest to now.

Of course, one of the most appealing aspects of the run is that water stops are regularly scheduled every one or two kilometres as the course passes through or by another winery. And, funny, but for some reason those water stops all featured wine tastings and occasional bites of artisanal foods.

A few highlights of the fifteen water wine stations were Sandra Oldfield and Tinhorn Creek's Sangria party tent, Rustico's western themed BBQ (not that I ate the baked beans as a courtesy to the other runners) and, my personal fave, Stoneboat where they'd MacGyver'ed part of a crusher/de-stemmer to provide a chillingly refreshing shower and offered an icy granita of their Piano bubbly. Admittedly, I added three or four of the granitas to my pineapple water bottle for the next part of the course. Even watered down, it was just so perfect for the occasion.

Unfortunately, I starting having a problem with my left knee shortly after the race began. So, poor Cool, he had to deal with my intermittent run/walk means of tackling the race. Even after the medical tent at Silver Sage tried to jerry-rig a tape job on my knee, it was slow going at best. Cool could easily have finished the race a whole lot sooner than we did but he was good enough to stick it out with me, all the time offering encouragement like, "alright now, I figure that, if we jog it out for a couple hundred metres, there's bound to be another wine stop just around the corner."

It might have been a sad finish to the race but, lo and behold, there was a festival tasting at the end - featuring all the Oliver-Osoyoos Wine Association members that weren't encountered directly on the Half-Corked route. By then, my knee was in pretty bad shape; so, we didn't stick around too long at the race festival - just long enough to watch some Flintstones, I Dream of Jeanie gals and sock puppet monkeys join us at the finish line. As sacrilegious as it might seem, I chose an afternoon nap and a heavy dose of ibuprofen over continued wine tasting.

As soon as the nap was over, we got back to real reason for this Odyssey and added another bottle to The List.

1924.  2012 Intersection Mile's Edge White (Okanagan Valley VQA)

I first ran across Intersection and its intriguing wines at the Vancouver International Wine Festival and The Grape Debate back in the spring. The winery is a relatively new entrant to the BC wine scene - although its principal, Bruce Schmidt, is a definite veteran. As early as the late-1970's, he was a marketing executive with Calona Wines and local writer, John Schreiner, reports that Schmidt is famously known for making Calona's Schloss Laderheim Canada's largest-selling white wine of its time. Schmidt spent the better part of the '80's, 90's and 00's working in other fields but he returned to the Okanagan in 2005 when he purchased an old orchard property and packing house.

Schmidt and team worked on converting the orchard to a vineyard and the packing house into a winery and they started releasing wines in 2010. Unfortunately, the 2008 and 2009 winters were so severe that they lost almost half the vines they'd planted.  After only being able to release a couple hundred cases of wine in those initial years, they finally reached their full production goal of 2500 cases in 2012.

Having been impressed with their offerings at the earlier tastings, Boo, Mr. Cool, Mimster and I stopped in to do a tasting yesterday and we grabbed this bottle as a weekend treat. An unusual blend of 75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Viognier, Mile's Edge White was a great afternoon sip on our deck overlooking Lake Osoyoos. Body. Aromatics. Fruit. Acidity. It might not have healed my sore knee but at least it helped dull the pain.

Following our Intersection interlude, we made our way to Tinhorn Creek and Miradoro restaurant. The winery was hosting one of its annual Canadian Concert Series nights and Rich Hope & His Blue Rich Raiders were playing away to a lively crowd in the amphitheatre below. I don't think too many of the revellers had taken part in the Half-Corked. Catchy music or not, there was no chance that I'd be dancing the night away.

2013 Tinhorn Creek Rosé (Okanagan Valley VQA)

I wasn't sure whether it was the 2012 or 2013 vintage that we'd enjoyed recently. Turns out that it was the 2013; so, I don't get to add this vintage a second time to The List. No matter. As the last vintage of Rosé where Sandra Oldfield was at the winemaking helm, it was a welcome addition to the table. It matches with all assortment of dishes and just goes down so darn easy. A welcome thing with this gang.

1925.  2012 Tinhorn Creek Cabernet Franc (Okanagan Valley VQA)

I couldn't have a dinner in wine country, on such an auspicious day as the Half-Corked, without adding a new bottle of Tinhorn Creek to The List though. So, a second bottle just happened to get ordered. Sandra pioneered the planting of Cab Franc in the Okanagan and her perseverance is now paying off as the variety is seen as being well-suited for the region. Instead of all the Cab Franc forming part of Okanagan Meritage blends, more and more varietal Franc wines are showing up on winery lists and they're deservedly proving to be popular pours.

This is a big, dark-fruited version, well-suited for our richer main courses and for our simple sitting back and enjoyment of the concert.

With luck, the knee will recover quickly and I can think about coming back for next year's Half-Corked. After two years of knee issues, I could use a bit of "third time lucky" coming my way.

For some strange reason, Mr. Cool is all ready to suit up again. Maybe it's the wine.

Bunny Shades and Bubbles

Time for another family Easter dinner at my sister, Vixen's. She said that this year's was to be lower key and not as stress filled. That could only be less stress on the cooking and hosting side because there's no avoiding the inevitable stress that permeates Easter dinner with our family. After all, Easter dinner means making the cherished paper plate Easter bonnet. Never meant to be a competition, but you just know that the trash talk will be flying and that there's going to be judgment and ridicule to spare if your bonnet is anything less than spectacular.

To encourage greater ingenuity and cachet with our bonnets, everyone is allowed to bring along one embellishment - a little something to give you some added "Je ne sais quoi." I figured I'd snagged a real winner this year when I found a pair a bunny sunglasses. And, then, I had to let out a big, old "You Bitch!" when Vixen pulled out virtually the same glasses. So much for my unique extravagance and spectacular one-upmanship.

Good thing there was some wine to soothe my rattled nerves.

1889.  N.V. Stoneboat Faux Pas Rosé Brut (Okanagan Valley VQA)

I thought that I'd bring along a bottle of bubbly to help with the celebrations. Plus, Stargirl, my oldest niece, is starting to take a liking to wine and I thought a Rosé Brut would be a good fit for her, especially since this bottle is fashioned to be a bit of a BC Prosecco. The Faux Pas Brut Rosé is a fairly new companion bubble to Stoneboat's popular Piano Brut. Made in the Charmat Méthode, the winery website states that this classic method "is an ideal process for natural carbonation while preserving more youthful freshness and aromatics of the finished wine."

If the Faux Pas proves to be as popular as Piano, I'm sure the winery will be hoping to produce more than the 250 cases they managed with this vintage. This bottle went quickly enough with our gang.

1890.  2012 River Stone Pinot Gris (Okanagan Valley VQA)

River Stone is a small family owned winery that I ran across (literally) during last year's Half Corked Half in the Oliver-Osoyoos region. I think it's the northern-most winery on the Black Sage Bench, a little south of McIntyre Bluff and just north of Oliver. They were one of the wineries that had a "water" (read "wine") station along the route.

The Pinot Gris is one of two whites produced by River Stone (the other being a Gewürztraminer). The winery name alludes to the primary nature of the vineyard's soil and it certainly seems to lead to a more prominent minerality to the wine than is often found with BC Pinot Gris.

Thankfully, all the wine helps the imagination flow for our Easter Bonnet designs. Everyone is then expected to parade their bonnet at the start of dinner and, as Vixen delivered the evening's carrots in her finished bonnet, she was as proud as a peacock. Although I don't exactly see a paper plate incorporated into that bonnet. Looks like a disqualifying factor to me.

1891.  2009 Bodega Castillo de Maluenda - Punto Y Coma Garnacha Viñas Viejas (D.O. Calatayud - Spain)

Our last wine of the night was a big, fruit laden Grenache. It was probably a bit much for our dinner of ham but, as is often the case with Spanish Garnacha - full bodied or not - the wine can be sipped along all on its own.

Punto y Coma is one of the brands that produced by the Bodegas y Viñedos del Jalón, a large collaboration of three wineries that joined, in 1999, together to further "develop the grape growing, wine production and commercialization" of wines for 34 of the 67 municipalities forming the Calatayud region. It would seem to be working for them seeing as how their wines have made it all the way to our little Canadian Easter Bonnet Parade.

And, the way I see it, the more wine that makes it the better because not only do all the bonnets look better after wine but you can always drink more if you need to assuage your wounded pride if your bonnet isn't as well-received as it so rightly deserves to be.

A Biercraft Blast (From the Past)

This could be an ad for how the internet and social media can enhance your life. A chance crossing of paths on LinkedIn prompted a night out with Camper and the Sand Queen - two old university pals that I haven't seen for, well, too long. The plan was to get together for a quick drink, a bite to eat and a bit of a catch-up. That drink morphed into drinks and a bottle of wine and a full meal - all while holding court at the corner of the Biercraft's well-appointed bar.

And, by "well-appointed," of course I mean that the girls thought the bartender was worthy of our attention and tips.

1885.  2012 Sandhill Merlot (Okanagan Valley VQA)

As you might guess, the sip of choice at an establishment called "Biercraft" is more likely made with hops than with grapes - and, in a multitude of variations. The wine list wasn't overflowing with opportunity; however, I saw the Sandhill and figured there wasn't much chance of going wrong with that (plus there's that whole Sandhill for the Sand Queen thing going on). Sandhill has been a long-time - and remains a current - favourite BC producer of mine. No doubt I'd find that I've added more of winemaker, Howard Soon's, Small Lot bottles to The List but the regular Sandhill label has been seen as a bang-for-your-buck, well-made and (most importantly) tasty wine pretty much from the day the winery was established in 1999.

Everyone I know in the BC wine industry enthusiastically approved of Howard's being named the 2015 Spirited Industry Professional Award winner at the recent Vancouver International Wine Festival. With 35 years in the business, the awards ceremony referred to Howard as a "trailblazer" and recited "an impressive series of firsts to his credit: the first BC winemaker to release a series of single vineyard designated wines, the first to produce a Super Tuscan blend and the first to receive Red, White and Winery of the Year at the Canadian Wine Awards." I wasn't in attendance at the luncheon but I recall tweeting that I couldn't think of a nicer guy in the BC wine business as soon as I heard about the award.

Having toasted Howard in my mind, it was back to the gab-fest at hand. Now, Merlot may not be my standard first choice for moules-frites (mussels and fries) but these little guys were aggressively flavoured and up for the task and, as mentioned, you can't really go wrong with a Sandhill wine in any event.

The three of could easily have added another bottle to The List but it was still a "school night" for all of us and we'd managed to hold onto our little corner of the bar for nearly three hours. Rather than jeopardize our mornings after, we agreed to do it all over again - hopefully sooner than later.

Desert Hills Gamay

We/ve been watching a new condo development go up on The Drive for what seems like years but the commercial spaces at street level have started opening. We've walked by JamJar, a small restaurant that serves Lebanese folk dishes, for awhile now and it always seems to be crowded; so, Boo and I decided to start the weekend off with a visit.

There was a bounty of hot and cold mezze to choose from - well beyond the regular hummus and baba ghanous. Not only did all the dishes on offer sound delicious but many of the names brought back grand memories of our two visits to the Emirates when Boo and I experienced some Arabic culture with Miss Jaq while she was working in Abu Dhabi.

Seeing as how the dishes encompassed all ranges of tastes, I thought a lighter red might pair nicely. It wasn't a big wine list but I've always liked Desert Hills' Gamay and it was there. So, I was happy to give it a go.

1861.  2013 Desert Hills Gamay (Okanagan Valley VQA)

As Gamay Noir goes, this was a big one - bigger than those I recall from Desert Hills in the past. Maybe it was just the vintage and the heat on the Black Sage Bench but I don't think I would have identified the wine as Gamay if it had been served to me blind. Not that it mattered. There was still an abundance of fruit and a bit of spice on the palate that matched the subtle spicing on our lamb and beef dishes.

Between the mains and an assortment of mezze, we likely ordered more than we needed. So, we passed on the dessert and waddled back onto The Drive to make our way home.

As we strolled by Cafe Deux Soleils, we noted that it was hopping and that the evening's draw was - wait for it - a drag show. CDS is known for open mic nights and slam poetry, but drag? Granted, I've seen many a drag show - top of the line pro and first time amateur efforts - but this was something neither of us had encountered in our neighbourhood. And it was about to start at the entirely reasonable hour of 9 pm.

I haven't seen a lot of drag in over the last decade or so. The shows are generally found in the downtown bars and start too late in the evening for this old boy's liking but, all the same, I've been aware of a growing stable of East-side drag divas. I just hadn't actually seen a show further east than Main Street. How could we pass it by?

This was also the first time I've seen Thanks Jem - and her guest gal pal Celestial Seasons - in action. Anyone serving up Annie Lennox is okay in my book.

All in all, not a bad evening. We got to take in two new welcome additions to our hood in one pass. I know we'll make our way back to JamJar (hopefully with Miss Jaq in tow) and I'll just hope to hear of more drag on The Drive.

Two, Two Landmarks In One

As you'll note if you scroll down the blog through the more recent posts, I've taken some literary licence and jumped over a bunch of bottles that make up this 2001 Bottle quest. I promise you all the "missing" bottles were opened - and finished. I've just decided to try and stay a little more current AND flesh out those missing posts when I get a chance.

Part of the reason for doing so, was that I'd kind of lost track of what number I was at in my tally. A little sleuthing revealed that another landmark in the blog's tally had come and gone without me knowing it. Luckily, my #1800 bottle was befitting of that landmark number but I'm sure I was only so fortuitous because we were celebrating a landmark that night - my little sis, Vixen, was turning (ahem) 39+ (again) and we had a little surprise soirée for the young lass.

Despite the fact that she'd had a the biggest party of her life a couple of months back when she got married, she wanted a big party for her birthday. I told her that she shouldn't look to me because she'd exhausted that account when she "demanded" that we throw her a Jack & Jill shower before the wedding. She was so mopey though that I told her, if no one else threw her a party, I'd have her and Big Trucker over for dinner. Since we'd been talking about the possibility of have her friends, The Guru (as in wine) and Bride of Frank-n-Wine, over as well, she arranged for them to attend when it became apparent that there wasn't going to be any other party.

The only "problem" with the surprise plan was that Vixen was expecting a big dinner and hadn't eaten all day. Luckily, since we have neither the space nor the budget to throw a dinner party for two dozen folks, we were ready to keep a sufficient array of hors d'oeuvres going through the evening. Otherwise, Vixen was going to be a helluva hooched little sister. And, at her age, the morning after recoveries aren't as quick as they used to be. With all the kitchen and hosting duties, I didn't have time to drink all that many wines during the party - despite the large number of corks that were pulled.

In between kitchen and bar duty, overhearing conversations on Botox and everyone telling stories on how close folks had come to giving away the surprise element of the evening, I did manage to return to my glass enough to try these four wines:

1797.  2008 Desert Hills Cabernet Merlot (VQA Okanagan Valley)

A number of Desert Hills wines have been added to The List over the years. Having Burrowing Owl and Black Hills as neighbours on the Black Sage Bench, they see their share of visitors at the winery and that's how we first ran across them all those years ago. This was a bottle brought by one of the party guests though.

I often find Black Hills' big reds to be a tad on the over-ripe side of things - all sorts of huge, dark fruit that I can find to be a bit stewed - but this blend was a little more subdued than their more premium Meritage blend, Mirage. Boo was more than happy to find a little more wine still in the bottle when he went to refill his glass.

1798.  2009 Giesen Marlborough Pinot Noir (Marlborough - New Zealand) 

The Guru brought this Pinot along (from his voluminous collection) and I think he might have discovered Giesen the same way that I did - at the Vancouver International Wine Festival a couple of years back. I think they've gained a bit of a foothold in the local market with their good value entry level wines. I don't get to sit back and sip with The Guru very often but I'm always intrigued to see what wine he brings along whenever we do get the chance. Interesting to see that he earmarked Giesen as well. - particularly since he's quite the pinotphile.

For some unfathomable reason, a lot of Vixen's gifts involved alcohol. Perhaps, in an odd way, she does take after her big bro. I know she was taken with the bottle of Marilyn Merlot that Boo and I gave her. Vixen has long had a jones for Marilyn Monroe. This was a perfect way to indulge two of her Vixen's great loves. I'm hoping she's going to open it when I'm around and can add it to The List.

Just prior to the slide show, gifts and cake, however, I presented Vixen with another special gift - and we immediately popped the cork - plastic though it was. Funny thing was that Vixen knew what it was before she'd even opened the gift bag.

1799.  N.V. Andrès Baby Duck (Canada)

As defined by Urban Dictionary: "cheap wine...younger kids drink it now for recreation. Older folks can't believe it's still around."

You would be correct if you raised your eyebrows, and thought this doesn't seem like a bottle that a supposed wine lover would celebrate with, when you saw a bottle of Baby Duck being added to The List. This particular bottle was given to me by Vixen when I turned (ahem) 39+ as a joke (I think). Surprisingly, we weren't quick to pop the cork. As I kept having to dust the bottle as time passed, I decided I might as well keep it and give it back to Vixen on her birthday.

Not many bottles of Baby Duck are aged for six years before they're opened. So, this is a very special bottle and, I feel, deserves to be on The List - even if it isn't as high falutin' as some other that have been added. I don't think, however, that Baby Duck is supposed to be as tawny coloured as this one was. Isn't it normally pinkish or something like that? In any event, there weren't many takers but Vixen and I toasted each other and then we added some Aperol and Orangiata to make a sort of Spritzer. It wasn't exactly the same as relaxing on a Venetian piazza, but it was tolerable enough that my niece, Stargirl, and her roommate, Five of Seven, each had a glass as well.

Baby Duck. Go figure. I'm just glad that it wasn't my #1800 bottle added to The List. Can you imagine the shame? As fortune would have it, #1800 was a pretty special bottle - but in a different manner from the Baby Duck being "special." Worthy of being a landmark number on The List, I'd say.

1800.  N.V. G.H. Mumm Cordon Rouge Brut (Champagne AOC - France)

We were pretty much down to immediate family by the time we popped the cork on the Mumm's. Vixen had brought this, thinking we might toast her b-day during dinner, and who were we to deny her that pleasure? I don't think you need me to tell you that the Cordon Rouge was head-and-shoulders better than the Baby Duck.

As tasty as the Mumm's was - and as fun as the gift opening and the slide show of Vixen's (ahem) years, the biggest screams of the night emanated from the kitchen when Vixen tried on Elzee's shoes - only to discover that they not only fit but that they were Manolo Blaniks. After watching countless seasons of Sex & The City, even I know that this is a big thing for gals that love shoes. Vixen certainly qualifies for that. I don't think, however, that Elzee agreed to loan them out - and I know she definitely wore them home that night.

All the same, Vixen was thrilled with her party and I'm pretty stoked to find out that (even if we didn't know it at the time) we celebrated another landmark number in the Odyssey with a stellar bottle of wine.

I'm going to keep much better track as the last landmark numbers approach so that I can give them their proper due. Now, I just have to find a way that I can keep a promise to stay ahead with my writing the actual blog posts. Given past history, that might not be as easy. Here's hoping.

Cheers to That - A Half Corked Success

I may have a few marathons and trail runs under my belt but, admittedly, that was a dozen years and many added pounds ago. Back in my running days, though, I was always enthralled with the thought of running one of the marathons through wine country - whether that be the Napa or the Bordeaux run - but I was never able to make it happen. When the Oliver Osoyoos Winery Association introduced its Half Corked Half a few years back, I knew I was going to have to make it happen one way or another.

I didn't hear about the race in its first year until just before the start and it was too late to get involved. An injury and lack of training prevented any thought of running the next couple editions. Now, here we are at the fourth running and fortunately for the Winery Association - but unfortunately for would be runners - the Half Corked Marathon has almost become a victim of its own success. Demand for starting numbers has become something fierce. Such that, last year, all the spots were gone within a minute of them going on sale. Wanting to be as egalitarian as it could be, the Association introduced a lottery system to gain entry into this year's run.

I know about a dozen people who entered the lottery and not a single one of us saw our name picked in the initial draw. Hard to believe that you could be so disheartened by being told you can't run a half marathon, but it's true. We were all drowning our sorrows and bemoaning the training that we had under our belts. A week or so had gone by when, magically, I got the call that my name had been picked in the supplementary draw. Mr. Cool and I would be able to cruise through Okanagan vineyards after all.

As wrote in the posts leading up to race day, I'd actually picked up an injury over the last couple months. It was diagnosed as bursitis on the knee and it pretty much meant that I wasn't able to train for about 3 weeks leading up to the run and I wasn't sure that I'd even be able to complete the race. Having managed a couple 16k training runs for the first time in over a decade though and knowing how difficult it is to even get into the run, I was damned if I wasn't showing up at the start line - even if it meant that I had to walk a good part of the course or that Mr. Cool needed to carry me for a couple kilometres.

If you haven't guessed from the first couple pictures, this may still be (just shy of) a half marathon, but it is definitely operated as a fun run. A healthy proportion of the runners show up in costume - and there were some incredible outfits. Mr. Cool and I worked with the tiki room theme because it was easy to run in but I'm hard pressed to figure out how some of the participants were able to finish with their costumes in tact. The course winds through wineries - and some stunning scenery - on the Golden Mile and Black Sage Road benches but - costume or not - it isn't a course where one might look to complete a personal best time.

This part of the Okanagan is the northern tip of the Sonoran Desert that runs up the West Coast from Mexico. Therefore, the heat of the day can easily become an issue for participants. Knowing this, the organizers have wisely ensured that there are 14 water stations along the route to keep the runners hydrated.

And, since this is wine country, naturally, each of the water stations is manned by one of the 31 wineries that make up the Association. It was left to each winery to decide what to serve at their station and there was certainly a wide-ranging array of offerings - everything from Sangria at Tinhorn Creek and campfire wieners & beans to accompany Riesling at Rustico to a full spread of food and wine at Silver Sage.

I have to admit that the spray shower, set up at Stoneboat, was as welcome as any wine along the route though.

The award for best costumes went to the Red Planet team - we caught up to Marvin the Martian and crew at one of the pit stops and we marvelled at the thought of their running the whole race in their spaceship. After the race, I was gobsmacked to find out that they hadn't tried running in their ship even once before the start of the race. Yowzer!

Other favourites among the runners were the Walking Red, the various bridal parties - with or without pregnant bride, the grape bunches, the Ron Burgundy newscast team, the Dutch Brigade, and my own personal favourites: the grape-stomping Lucies. All decked out as Lucy from the infamous grape stomping episode (luckily for them, it was in the pre-fight wardrobe), there were more than a couple calls of "Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do!" heard over the day.

I'm happy to say that, with Mr. Cool's incredible patience and amiable pace, we managed to cross the finish line in tact and together. And, despite what I said earlier about no one being concerned about times, we managed to finish in personal bests. Admittedly, those personal bests didn't stem from stellar pacing, rather it's the fact that the course length of 18.6 km isn't a standard race length. Since this is the first time we'd run this distance, it couldn't help but be a personal best. Fancy that.

The race concludes with a festival-style tasting event with all of the Association's wineries that didn't man a water station during the race. I think it's safe to say that most of the runners sampled a whole lot more wine at the finish than they did during the race itself. Mr. Cool and I were sure to try at least one wine at each of the 14 stations but I definitely filled my coconut glass with water and ice along the course - as opposed to taking a free pour of wine to go - that is, until our final couple stations. I figured I could finish off the last so many kilometres wine in hand. I took it as a badge of honour that we crossed and toasted the finish line with some Quinta Ferreira Rosé in our tiki coconuts. It only seemed fitting for a run through wine country.

At the finish line tasting, I was reminded how I've always chuckled over the stories of women lifting their skirts for photos in front of the old Golden Beaver sign. The winery may have changed its name to its Latin translation - Castoro de Oro - but I thoroughly enjoyed telling the story to one of the blushing brides - with golden blonde locks - as he sidled up to the tasting table. Being the demure bride that he was, the skirt immediately came up. There were shorts though; so, I suppose we'll never really know if he was a natural blonde.

As the tasting wound up, surprisingly enough, Mr. Cool and I were thrilled to let the Mimster play chauffeur and take us back to the hotel for a well deserved nap.

On most days, a nap after a long run can easily signal the end of my day but, being in wine country, we decided to celebrate with dinner at Miradoro. We scored a skookum table on the balcony - from which we not only enjoyed our delicious dinners but had a great view of the first show of Tinhorn Creek's 2014 Concert Series. The Town Pants were serving up some rollicking Celtic tunes and it was a superb addition to a great day. I don't think my legs would have been up to much of the abandoned dancing that was happening below us but I did manage to tap my toes a bit to the wild rhythms.

If you look really closely at the photo below you might even see the ever-effervescent Sandra Oldfield kicking up her heels a bit to a jig or a reel. Girl's got some moves.

For a day full of wine, I haven't been adding a whack of bottles to The List. Admittedly, I did go back for multiple pours of Culmina Riesling at the finish line tasting but that didn't a bottle make. Ultimately, I couldn't miss adding a bottle from this event though and dinner provided the opportunity to do so - and add a very tasty bottle at that.

1616.  2009 Tinhorn Creek - Oldfield Series 2Bench Red (VQA Okanagan Valley)

Canadian wine scribe, Rick Van Sickle, called the '09 2Bench Red "simply the best red I have tasted from Oldfield." A Bordeaux blend of 45% merlot, 30% Cab Sauv, 22% Cab Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, it certainly hit the spot with us that evening. Dark and earthy, it got the blood coursing through my tired, old legs again. Maybe not enough to go for another run in the morning but at least enough to make it back to the hotel for a whole lot of log-sawing.

All in all, it incredible day - and weekend. The organizers and wineries deserve huge thanks and I'm not surprised to see why the run has become so popular in such a short time. I think it's safe to say that we're more than game to give the Half Corked Half another go next year. Indeed, Mr. Cool is already talking more elaborate costumes. Hopefully, I'll be up and running again by then - and be lucky enough to get starting numbers in the lottery.

Hard Core Training

The 4th Annual Half Corked Half Marathon is coming up this weekend and I luckily scored a double entry into the race. Patterned after the full marathons in Médoc (Bordeaux) and Napa, the Half Corked Half sees participants run a course through wine country in the Southern Okanagan - and, probably more to the point - that offers up a dozen or so water stations at various wineries and strategic spots along the route. If you haven't already guessed, the folks running the water stations turned that water into wine tastings and bites of food (along with the water, of course).

Problem is that the race has become so popular in its brief existence that the race organizers, the Oliver Osoyoos Wine Association, needed to introduce a lottery system to select its participants. Spots in the 2013 race were in such demand that all the spots were taken within a minute of them being offered.

Despite knowing that you'd have to run 18.6 km - likely in costume while sipping away - this is one difficult race to get into. I knew about a dozen folks that had entered the lottery and I'm the only one that got in - and even that was on the second round draw to fill empty spots.

Building my running distance back up to acceptable distances had been going along nicely but about six weeks or so ago, my left knee started hurting. At first, it wasn't anything that a little wine after the run couldn't overcome - until, a couple of weeks back, my race buddy, Mr. Cool, and I ran a 15km course in miserable weather, after which the knee started kicking up something fierce. Training hasn't been going well since. In fact, it hasn't been going at all.

Hoping I'd still be able to fight my way through the race, I started some physiotherapy to check things out. As luck would have it, the diagnosis was bursitis and the physio figured I could struggle my way through the race without doing much more, if any, damage. Of course, I did have to face a few chuckles when I told friends that those most vulnerable to my injury were middle-aged, overweight women. Go figure.

All this meant that I simply had to focus my training on the drinking-wine part.

In recognition of the fact that the race is just around the corner and that we'd be running along the Black Sage Bench, I thought it would be appropriate to open a bottle from one of the wineries supporting the event.

1612.  Burrowing Owl Merlot (Okanagan Valley VQA)

Burrowing Owl wines have made The List on enough occasions that I don't really need to go into news about the winery. Check out one of the other posts for more on that front.

Now that we've finished off this bottle, I see that John Schreiner, one of BC's top wine scribes, wrote in February 2012 that it was time to start drinking the '06 Burrowing Owl reds. He confirmed that he thought 2006 was "one of the strongest vintages of the decade" but he figured that they'd peaked and that they might only hold for another year or two.

I suppose we might have pushed that limit somewhat, but I'm happy to say that Boo and I both thought there was still plenty of life left to this Merlot - and I'll be quite happy to open the last two bottles that we have tucked away. Maybe that should be sooner than later though.

Now, the hope will be that I've got as much life in this tired, old frame to get through the race without Mr. Cool having to carry me too far on his back.

TNT & A Little Bit of Funk

I was glad to run across tonight's bottle because there isn't much of it to be found - only 150 cases in total - and I'm all over the story behind the wine. Being only the third wine to be made as part of the Okanagan Wine Campus program, I'm totally intrigued to discover the choices made in producing the wine.

The Okanagan Wine Campus was started in 2011 by the folks at Okanagan Crush Pad as a mentorship program where whomever is named Vancouver's Sommelier of the Year at the annual Vancouver International Wine Festival is awarded the opportunity to make around 100 cases of a wine of their choice. Kurtis Kolt, 2010's winner, made a Semillon and he was followed by 2011 champ, Owen Knowlton's, choice of a Cabernet Franc. I was able to get my hands on a bottle of the Kurtis Semillon but, unfortunately, I missed out on the Cab Franc.

1479.  2012 TNT Chardonnay (Black Sage Road - Okanagan Valley)

Simply put, the name, "TNT," acknowledges that the man behind the juice is Terry Nicholas Threlfall. The 2012 winner worked with OCP's resident winemaker, Michael Bartier, with OCP partner David Scholefield and even had the opportunity to discuss the project with "flying winemaker," Alberto Antonini, while he was consulting on various Okanagan projects.

The fruit was sourced from a single vineyard on the Black Sage Road in the Southern part of the Okanagan Valley and Threlfall has been quoted as saying that he was going for a Chablis-like character to his wine. In aiming for that profile, he decided to ferment and age the wine in concrete and steel - as opposed to oak - in an effort to capture a purer sense of fruit, bold acidity and minerality that isn't always a prominent feature (or goal) of BC Chardonnays. It had a definite citrus note but, for me, it was a more stark minerality that stood out.

Tim Pawsey, in his blog Hired Belly, has posted a sound clip from an interview with Threlfall, wherein the former Hawksworth sommelier, states that he was looking for a texture and tension that lends the wine to being food friendly. Threlfall says, "I wanted that salty, mineral vibrancy to the wine - and also a little bit of funk. A little bit of funk is good in wine. I wanted a little bit of an edge to it."

The label (and any number of online comments) declares that the wine "cries out for a plate of freshly shucked BC oysters." We settled for roast chicken but I think the minerality might have paired a little better with the oysters. Note to self: next time, read the label before you plan dinner.

A nice facet of the project sees proceeds from the sale of the wine go to the BC Hospitality Foundation to further build their wine scholarship fund that assists students pursuing higher level wine certification. A healthy $10,000 has gone towards scholarships thus far - helping eleven students further their studies along the way.

Dynamite, eh. (Sorry, but you know I had to end with that.) Next up from the Wine Campus will be 2013 Sommelier of the Year, Samantha Rahn's, effort. As soon as her name was announced at last year's Wine Festival, the smart money was betting that she'd be moving directly to satisfy her penchant for Shiraz and Syrah. I'll be keeping my eye open for that.

A Vintage Mirage in Those Desert Hills

1467.  2004 Desert Hills Mirage (VQA Okanagan Falls)

Desert Hills is one of the Black Sage Road wineries that we ran across when visiting Burrowing Owl years ago. I've got to admit that we haven't dropped in much in recent years though.  I still run across their wines regularly at various events but we just haven't had enough time to fit in stops to the tasting room at the winery. Indeed, I think this '04 vintage might be from our last visit - and that would make it some time ago.

Mirage is Desert Hills' entry in the Okanagan Meritage stakes. This vintage was a blend of four the five Bordeaux grapes - with Cab Sauv playing the dominant role at 48%.  Merlot was next at 30%, with Malbec and Cab Franc making up the balance. Mirage is generally big and full of fruit and this baby was no exception; however, this bottle wasn't an over the top, extracted wine - like I've found some of their vintages to be. The bottle's contents certainly seemed to vanish far more quickly than we would have liked.

Bravo (on the wine that is; not the speed at which it disappeared from our glasses). Too bad we don't have another bottle or two hanging around.

A Second Look Ahead to WBC13 - Tinhorn Creek

Sandra Oldfield. Tinhorn Creek.

Need I say more when it comes to BC wine and social media? As such, I think it only makes sense to pay a virtual visit here for my second stop at a BC winery as we lead up to WBC13.

If you're a blogger who's attended a previous Wine Bloggers Conference or you're intent on making your way to the 2013 Wine Bloggers Conference - or even if you just immerse yourself in the social media side of wine - you're probably well acquainted with @SandraOldfield and her blog, Oldfield's Wanderings, She's prolific. She's interesting. She's responsive. When you add in she's full time mom, I swear she must be the busiest woman in the business. And she happens to make some fine wine to boot.

Sandra started out as a California Girl. She grew up there and completed her Masters in Enology at UC Davis. It was there that she met her future (and current) husband, Kenn Oldfield. Once the schooling was completed, Sandra joined Kenn when he returned to Canada and the Oldfields established Tinhorn Creek with their business partners - Calgarians Bob and Barbara Shaughnessy. The Oldfields arrived back in BC in 1994. During the intervening nineteen vintages, the four partners have built the winery from nothing into one of the most dynamic operations in the province.

Moving to a new country and to a fledging wine region had to have caused some trepidation for a woman who had previously worked for California's Rodney Strong Vineyards and did the leg work for her Master's thesis in Robert Mondavi's To-Kalon vineyards. She called the Mondavi experience a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; however, Sandra also advises that when she "first saw the Okanagan stretched out before me, it was not a difficult decision. It is simply spectacular up here and a new wine industry that I could grow with was right up my alley."

The Okanagan's experience with growing European vinifera grapes really only started in 1988 with the introduction of the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the US. Prior to that the Okanagan was primarily planted with hybrid vines or even old lambrusca grapes. Accordingly, the Oldfields and Shaughnessy's put that UC Davis schooling to test when deciding what grapes to plant in their two vineyards - found between Oliver and Osoyoos. They knew that they only wanted to rely on estate-grown grapes. They also knew that they wanted to focus primarily on red wines - there was just that feeling that it might be too challenging to ripen Cabernet Sauvignon in the Okanagan. So, they planted Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir. For whites they planted Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer. Be it global warming or not, weather patterns have changed enough that the folks at Tinhorn have added sections of the later ripening Cab Sauv, Syrah and Viognier, plus a bit of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon.

Although hardly exhaustive, they have a good selection of varieties to work with. The flip side, of vourse, is that there has been plenty of speculation in the press in recent years as to whether or not BC needs to focus on a specific grape varieties - or grape varieties - if the industry ever wants to garner a bigger global reputation. Sandra's take on the debate is that the Okanagan is far from being "one homogenous area." She notes that neither Pinot Noir nor Riesling thrive in the Southern part of the valley where Tinhorn is found and, similarly, the Northern parts of the valley around Kelowna find it difficult to ripen red varieties (with the exception of Pinot Noir). Far from wanting to see the local industry pigeonholed like a Kiwi Sauv Blanc or an Argentine Malbec, Sandra loves that the Okanagan, with its range of micro-climates, is still in "high experimental times" and notes, furthermore, that the main markets the region is serving love the diversity of wines that are available.

Despite her love of variety in the vineyard, there's no doubt that Sandra has become a bit of a spokesperson for Cab Franc. She was a pioneer in BC when she insisted on those original plantings and Tinhorn has probably been alone in having made a varietal wine since 1996. As a testament to her perseverance, a couple of years back, Sandra delivered one of the BC Wine Appreciation Society's more memorable tastings when she shepherded BCWAS members through a 12 vintage vertical tasting of her Cab Franc - every vintage that had been released to date from the first vintage in 1996. The tasting even included some of the difficult 1999 vintage that Sandra referred to as her "Jesus wine." I no longer have my notes from that tasting but local wine luminary, Sid Cross, wrote that Sandra called the wine that because "it started out as bad green beans but with age has turned into an unusual orange peel chartreuse like wine - Jesus turning water into wine." She also admitted that the '99 vintage almost made her turn her heels and head back to California.

Luckily for us, she decided to stick it out though and, earlier this year, Sandra took to Twitter to proudly announce the first release of a reserve level 2010 Oldfield Series Cabernet Franc. The wine is a single block beauty from their Diamondback Vineyard on the Black Sage Bench and it was one of the wines Sandra poured this year at the Vancouver International Wine Festival. Folks needed to jump quickly if they liked it, however, because only 374 cases were made.

If anything, Sandra is heartened by the fact that Cab Franc is generating "great buzz" in BC - as are lightly oaked Chardonnays and Syrahs that are starting to reveal distinct regional variations. But, if she could serve one wine to all the incoming WBC13 attendees, it'd be her Cab Franc. In addition to the variety's ability to facilitate her desire to capture and evoke the unique terroir of the region - that of sage-covered desert - she'd love the opportunity to tell a story about Cab Franc from a "vineyard, cellar and social media aspect." Indeed, she's been working at this already. The team at Tinhorn followed one vine of Cab Franc over the past year and, in conjunction with an Ontario producer that did the same thing, discussed "the 2012 season through the use of those two vines" weekly for six months. You can visit Sandra's blog and click on the #CabFrancTuesday 2012 tab to read her comments and follow the vine's progression through photos. I understand that she's about to start a second journey with #Gewsday (Gewürztraminer Tuesday).

When it comes to adding a bottle of Tinhorn Creek to The List with this post, it might seem natural to open a bottle of Cab Franc - especially since I have a couple bottles of that 2010 Oldfield's Reserve - but that Oldfield's is just a baby and I'm going to let it lay for awhile. Sandra and Tinhorn also produce a series of blends - their 2Bench Red and 2Bench White - that I'm very fond of and I think one of them will satisfy just as well.

1279.  2009 Tinhorn Creek Oldfield Series 2Bench Red (VQA Okanagan Valley)

The 2Bench White has been part of the Tinhorn portfolio for a longer time than the Red but I happened to have a bottle of the Red at home. The 2009 2Bench Red is only the third vintage of Sandra's Bordeaux or Meritage blend for the premium series and this year's blend is 45% Merlot, 30% Cab Sauv, 22% Cab Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. This is also still a young wine but we allowed the bottle to breathe and took our time with it. Our patience was definitely rewarded in that the wine opened up noticeably and the tannins retreated some into the bright, dark fruit.

I suppose if I'm ever to finish this post before WBC13 actually arrives, I'd best make a few final points and call it a day. There is plenty to write about, however. Perhaps I should consider doing my own Master's dissertation on Sandra.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Tinhorn's efforts in sustainability and innovation. Tinhorn was the first winery in BC to try bottling wine with Stelvin screw cap enclosures when they bottled a portion of their 2001 Merlot. They introduced a sharp, two-bottle package that contained one bottle finished with cork and the second topped with the screw cap. It was novel and an effective way to show the BC market that the Stelvin closure could arrive in a good way and it let consumers see first hand if they found any difference. The winery carried forward from there and was also the first to bottle its entire portfolio with Stelvin caps.

The winery was additionally the first in Canada to be declared "carbon neutral" and it makes extensive efforts in composting, using biodiesel fuel and water conservation - among such other activities as habitat preservation.

The opening of Miradoro Restaurant at the winery, in April 2011, created quite a buzz in the Valley as it heralded a joint venture with two top names from the Vancouver restaurant scene. Being named, by Wine Access Magazine, as one of the "World's Best Winery Restaurants" only helped make Tinhorn even more of a destination winery. And that doesn't even take into account the winery's 350-seat amphitheatre that spectacularly overlooks the valley and plays host to a series of outdoor summer concerts.

One thing that doesn't come to mind when thinking of Sandra is shyness. The lady doesn't seem to have a problem when it comes to speaking her mind and I quite loved all the press she received last year as the debate over shipping wine across provincial boundaries was growing into a bit of a brouhaha. Sandra upped the ante by showing it's easier to order a firearm and have Canada Post ship it half way across the country than it is to order a case of wine and ship it to another province. It was legal for Sandra to order her first firearm - a Maverick 88 shotgun - and find it delivered four days later. It was not legal, however, for anyone to order a case of Tinhorn wine and have it shipped outside of BC. Steps are slowly being made on that front but I'm quite sure Sandra could give a tip or twelve to provincial bureaucrats when it comes to legislative regulations.

In fighting her good fight, Sandra has utilized social media to great effect and she launched #BCWineChat as a means of discussing topics near and dear to industry insiders and BC wine aficionados. BC WineChat and its 8-9 p.m. timeslot on Wednesdays is now a fixture on Twitter - regularly trending as a topic in BC and Canada - to the point where a recent Oysters and Wine topic attracted "porn-bots" en masse.

I'll end with Sandra's response to the question of whether there is any particular aspect of or fact about BC winemaking that she'd like visiting bloggers and guests to learn or be exposed to. She stated that, "I'd like them to focus on wines other than Icewine and not come with too many preconceived notions about us. I'd love for them to explore the touring aspect we have here - a beautiful area with many wineries and lot of other activities to do as well. it is a great place to go for a vacation. Lastly, there are many opportunities to combine touring with eco-tourism and agri-tourism that make BC so unique. There are wineries with major investments here - small and large and every size in between - so we are working hard at building on something here that will last." That about sums it up, doesn't it?

Speaking from experience, BC's oft-proclaimed "Twitter Queen" and Tinhorn Creek are well worth catching up with - and, should you run into her at WBC13, you can likely keep her willingly engaged by arriving with something Alsatian, a glass of Portugese table wine or a Riesling. You won't regret it.

This Is What We've Been Waiting For?!

Seeing as how tonight is the start of the 2013 NHL season, I thought it only natural to go with a bit of a hockey theme. It seems that, throughout last summer and this Fall's league lockout, the biggest - if not only - hockey topic in Vancouver has been what's going to happen in the Canuck goal crease? Who will Luongo be traded to? Is there even any interest in his contract? Who would be your dream choice of a player in exchange?

Well, it's opening night and we still have two goalies.

So, what could be a better choice of wine than one called The Goal?

1246. 2010 Bartier Bros. The Goal (VQA Okanagan Valley)

The "Bros." part in the winery's name refers to brothers, Don and Michael Bartier. Raised in the Okanagan Valley, their lives have taken divergent paths - that is, until they decided to combine their areas of expertise in this joint venture. Don had spent years in Alberta as an accountant while Michael has been making a name for himself as a winemaker for well-known Okanagan producers Hawthorne Mountain, Township 7 and Road 13. Business acumen meets wine skills - sounds like a good start.

The Bartiers have taken to naming their wines after notable accomplishments by exceptional people. "The Goal is a nod to the Penticton Vees downing Russia 5-1 in the 1955 World Hockey Championship."

Who knows? Maybe they could name a new wine after this hockey season should the Canucks manage to win the Stanley Cup.

Bartier Bros. is one of the original participants at Okanagan Crush Pad - the custom crush facility that allows winemakers to utilize on-site equipment and make smaller production vintages without all the costs of buying expensive equipment. The 2010 vintage was already in barrel by the time the Crush Pad opened in 2011; however, newer vintages will have benefitted from the centralized facilities.

As for The Goal, the 2010 vintage is a blend of Merlot, Cab Franc and Syrah (40/30/30) - all of the fruit having been sourced from the Black Sage Road.  Bottled under screwcap, The Goal was still filling our glasses as a big wine with a good bit of life left in it for ageing and mellowing out. We found that, when drinking the wine on its own, the dark fruit was overpowered a bit by the heft of the tannins. That heft lightened up, however, when we paired it with the flank steak that we grilled up and the bottle had been exposed to the air for awhile.

Unfortunately, the game itself didn't quite match up to expectations. After months of waiting for the lockout to end, our boys gave up an early lead against the Anaheim Ducks and ended up getting skunked 7-3. Ouch! After all this time, that's what we were waiting for? Not exactly the start to the season we'd all wanted!

My guess is that we'll be pouring more than a couple of bottles as the hockey season carries on and that there'll be ups and downs during those games. "The goal" around here will just have to be to continually serve up winning wines as the boys hit the ice. We'll simply have to wait to see if we'll be toasting a change in the Vancouver goal soon or whether the team will continue with a 1-2 punch that has to be the envy of most other teams.

With any luck, everyone will be drinking celebratory tipples out the Canucks' first Stanley Cup at the end of the season! I'll raise a toast to that possibility! THAT will have been worth the wait!

Quinta Ferreira Chard

1344. 2008 Quinta Ferreira Chardonnay (VQA Okanagan Valley)

Quinta Ferreira is a winery that's found just outside of Oliver on the Black Sage Road. That being said it's on the far side of the tracks when driving down Hwy 97 and it on the opposite end of the road when we find ourselves on Black Sage Road to visit the likes of Burrowing Owl or Black Hills. As such, it's one of those wineries that I'm more familiar with the name than I am with the wines. The winery recently won Canadian Red Wine of the Year from Wine Access magazine for its 2009 Syrah; so, I figured it's high time we paid their wines another visit.

Family owned and operated, Quinta Ferreira was established in 2007. The Ferreira family, however, have been farming in the Okanagan since the 1960's when they immigrated from Portugal (which helps explain the roots to the name "Quinta"). Although the second generation in Canada continued to farm and grow tree fruit, John and Maria (now Mom & Dad) decided to start converting the orchards into grape vines in 1999. They now produce around 5000 cases annually in a wide array of wines - 10 reds and 7 whites - and son, Michael, is carrying on with the family's new direction by becoming the lead winemaker for Quinta Ferreira.

Despite not have many of their wines in our collection, I have added their Syrah, Malbec, Pinot Blanc and an earlier vintage Chardonnay to The List. This 2008 joins the '07 that was added to The List all the way back at #141. The winery now offers both an oaked and unoaked version of Chardonnay. We opened the oaked wine and it saw barrel ageing in both French and American oak. I'm not a big fan of heavy oaking with my whites but the winemakers showed some restraint with this vintage and I could still sense enough fruit coming through to find that it paired nicely with the cream and shrimp sauce.

I did manage to score a couple bottles of that 2009 Syrah and I'm looking forward to when we pull the cork on one of those bottles. In the mean time, the Chardy might not have pulled in the same hardware I think it helps show that the winery is definitely moving in the right direction.

Fortissimo

One of the Okanagan wineries - or should I say two - that I've been wanting to learn more about are LaStella and Le Vieux Pin, sister wineries that started up around five years ago. Although I've tried some of their wines at various tastings, I've only added one bottle from either winery to The List so far (Le Vieux Pin's entry level white blend, Petit Blanc at #778). Until now.

Back in September, I finally joined up with the BC Wine Appreciation Society's annual Bus Tour and, during one of the extra days I managed to fit in, I made it a priority to drop in to the two wineries. Both LaStella and Le Vieux Pin are boutique operations - each producing only 3000 to 3500 cases of wine. The Salem family is the driving force behind both of the wineries and the wineries are located more-or-less just down the road from each other. Le Vieux Pin is on the Black Sage Road and LaStella is just below the Golden Mile on the shore of Lake Osoyoos.

One looks to produce wines in more of a French style, while the other looks to Italy for inspiration. I think you can determine which is which.

With their various vineyards being found on the northern tip of the Sonoran Desert, the annual rainfall averages around 8 inches a year. LaStella still chooses to primarily dry farm its established vines. This results in production levels that can be substantially less than those of the neighbouring vineyards. The yield for LaStella icon wine, Maestoso, is under one ton of grapes an acre. I generally think a winery is aiming for high quality, low cropped fruit when they look at two to three tons an acre. That's LaStella's average yield.

Intensely farmed grapes, not surprisingly, lend themselves to the creation of more powerful wines. But, fewer grapes also means a lower volume of finished wine which, itself, results in higher prices. Hence, the primary reason it's taken awhile to get around to adding some LaStella to The List. $35 for a "premium" wine is pretty standard for BC pricing, but it makes it a little more difficult to pop a cork on a Tuesday night - particularly when that premium wine is the winery's entry level red. No one says that passion comes cheap though.

1041. 2008 La Stella Fortissimo (VQA Okanagan Valley)

Intense Merlot wines are the stars at LaStella but the winery is capitalizing on the lure of La Dolce Vita with a homegrown version of a Super Tuscan. Equal portions of Merlot and Cab Sauv (at 42% each) are blended with 8% each of Cab Franc and Sangiovese Grosso. This is the first vintage that the Sangiovese is included as part of the blend - but that's simply because that most Tuscan of grapes was planted after the winery purchased its vineyards and the vines are only just starting to yield fruit that is ready to be made into wine.

Vintages of Fortissimo to come may see a higher percentage of Sangiovese as the vines mature; however, there are many who think that the viability of growing Sangiovese in the Okanagan is tenuous at best. The length of the Okanagan growing season is questioned when one considers the varietal's need for a later harvest date if it's going to fully ripen. Perhaps the folks at LaStella are thinking that a little more global warming might come in handy. The winery has stated that it isn't their intent to produce a 100% varietal Sangiovese wine though. Rather, the starting premise is to use the higher acidity and structure of the Sangiovese to frame the Merlot and to add another level of complexity to the wine.

On a different front, La Stella looks to engage the wine drinker with names that evoke the romance of the wine in the bottle. There are no simple "Merlot's" or "Meritage's;" the wines are named after Italian musical notes. Fortissimo was chosen to capture the boisterous nature of the Super Tuscan wine.

In my desire to try some LaStella, I might have opened this bottle a little bit early as it could easily handle some ageing. I think, with a year or two, all the components might integrate a little more cohesively, but that's where big, old meatballs and tomato sauce can assist the present day. And a boy can only wait so long.

As a definite tip of the hat to the wine and winery, Fortissimo was chosen as the "mystery wine" at the 2011 Canadian Culinary Championships for the opening night competition that saw the eight Gold Medal Plates winners from across the country be given an unlabelled, anonymous bottle of wine and $500 to shop and prepare a dish (for 350 folks) to pair up with the wine. Chef Jeremy Charles from Raymonds in St. John's, Newfoundland, won this challenge by assembling a "composition of creamy polenta, finely chopped bittersweet rapini with lemon, chili and garlic nuances, braised beef short rib, a potato ravioli topped with tomato concassé and a dab of a profound, almost offaly jus."

Thoughts of Tuscany, music, Okanagan sun, great food. What more can you ask of from a glass of wine? I'm going to look forward to some more LaStella down the road.