If we need to put a theme to this weeks wine review, it would be elegance and beauty. We too seldom see this in BC wine but we do have the talent, land and climate to allow for this recipe to unfold. Today’s selections are from the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys respectively and, as always, it is important to bear in mind that these are two distinct viticultural areas.
Tinhorn Creek 2Bench White 2010 13.7% alc. Okanagan Valley, B.C. Under $30.00
With the surge in the popularity of BC wine and the resulting increase in wineries coming to market, it’s easy to overlook the pioneers that set the standard for the quality we now expect and enjoy.
Vintages may vary but a talented winemaker can produce a good wine out of even a challenging year. Sandra Oldfield is such a winemaker. As she continues to explore sustainable practices her wines at Tinhorn Creek are strikingly assured and restrained. Over the years that I’ve enjoyed these wines, it’s become clear that there is a push to elegance.
2Bench White dances its way across your palate with a bristling clarity and acidity. It’s a blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Viognier and Muscat. Aromas and flavours of stone fruit such as apple, pear and white peach drift into insinuations of melon. All of it is supremely refined and seamless finishing rather dry. It’s a bit of magic this bottle: as delicate as a whisper but a whisper from centre stage.
Equally good with a Portuguese pork and clams Alentejo or a Chirashi bowl.
Orofino Beleza 2009 14.8% alc. Similkameen Valley, B.C. Under $45.00
Okay, this is pretty dreamy stuff. The aromas hit you like a cocktail of coffee and macerated black cherry liqueurs with background notes of drying chamomile in a sun-struck field.
Owner/winemaker John Weber has been going from strength to strength with his wines and with Beleza we can place him in the company of BC’s most highly respected red wine producers.
This classic Bordeaux blend is comprised of 40% Merlot 30% Cabernet Sauvignon 20% Petit Verdot and 10% Cabernet Franc. The fruit for this comes entirely from the Cawston bench and the wine has enjoyed it’s beauty sleep for a period of 20 months in French and American barrels and is aged a further 6 months in bottle before release making for a substantial and complete drinking experience upon opening.
The flavours are harmonious offering dark berry and the sweet woodiness of all-spice and toasted buttered almond all finishing with tannins as playful as running your tongue over a lint brush in the wrong direction: soft but pronounced. The oak has been well managed and does not interfere with the fruit by trumping it with its own tannins. While a big wine with considerable alcohol, it has a refreshingly feminine side and would be well paired with beef tenderloin rather than a fatter ribeye. One of BC’s finest reds newly released so availability should be good in the short-term.
Ralf Joneikies is the General Manager of Viti Wine & Lager in downtown Vancouver. Having trained at Niagara College he has a background in wine making, wine chemistry and viticulture and in 2008 was fortunate to assist in winemaking duties at one of Germanys pre-eminent family-owned estates. In 2009 he was invited to participate as a reviewer with the LCBO Vintages tasting panel and in November of that year assumed the role of GM at Viti. Viti proudly services a broad range of tastes and price considerations and is recognized as one of Vancouver’s premier destinations for Craft Beer and Single Malt Whiskies.
Viti Yaletown Liquor Store – 900 Seymour Street Vancouver
Viti Wine & Lagers
ph: 604.683.3806
info @ vitiwinelagers.com
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Dine Out Vancouver is back and the participating restaurants for 2012 look better than ever. Below is a list of fantastic Yaletown restaurants offering exceptional tasting menus at great prices. There is no better time of year to try something new. 
This wine is big on crushed black fruit aromas carried on the plumes of volatile acidity that appears as airplane glue so very fleetingly. Finishing flourishes come as pepper and fresh cedar- this is a heady wine that will keep you inhaling as if you had a bigger problem.
This Cab is still young enough that the nose is a little shy but blackberry and currants make an appearance with a backup of plum and violets in the chorus. The tannins have been well-managed and through the dark fruit flavours there’s a pleasant saltiness that’s stimulating enough to keep you drinking through the black pepper and toasted nut notes.
You won’t too often find Chardonnay & Marsanne blended together. Why would you? Yet because the Emiliana name can be trusted to offer value-for-money, this idiosyncratic blend does deliver some pleasurable drinking for wine adventurers.
Cremant is the term used by the French to describe wines made using the Champagne method but outside the borders of the Champagne region.
Some Vancouver residents may recognize this liqueur from a recipe out of Barbara Jo McIntosh’s delightful volume of Parisian reminiscences Cooking for Me & Sometimes You: A Parisienne Romance with Recipes. 
Pink Elephant is made using the more labour-intensive traditional champagne method which explains both the price and the creamy effect from the lees (dead yeast) contact during its slumber in the bottle before disgorgement. 
