18 - North Shore News — Wednesday. September 6, 2000

faich fo

Tim Pawsey

Contributing Writer

A recent unveiling of the B.C. Big, Reds from the vaunted “vintage of the decade” was billed as the heavyweight tasting of the year.

Certainly, 1998 in the Okanagan was one of the hottest years on record. If there was ever a time when B.C. could produce red wines on a par with the world’s best wine regions, this should have been it.

First, though, a word from our sponsors. This tasting was organized by the B.C, Winc Institute, which means it only encompassed Vintners” Quality Alliance (VQA) wines and excluded pos- sible contenders Blue Mountain, Poplar Grove and La Frenz (; 2 (produced by former Quail’s Gate winemaker Ji Martin), among others.

That said, wines you'll find sooner or later on local shelves (or wine lists) were well represented among the 54 poured. However, I’m hopeful the day when we can finally taste everything side by side will come soon.

The blind tasting was overseen by Marjori King of Agriculture Canada Secreta Who rurs all VQA tastings as well as the Okanagan oem Festival tastings. Her partner Rod King

pair grow grapes in a specta jaramat2 lakeside setting) was also on hand to psuvide the .. Niticulturalist’s perspective. The buzz in wine cir- cles is: if you couldn’t make good wine in 1998 then you probably shouldn’t be making wine,

period. .

sheae things by “degree day” calculated by ese things by “degree days,” It

adding daily high temperatures over 10C (which

is when the vines respond). The *98 total for

‘Penticton was a whopping 1493, compared toa

dismal 1059 in cool and wet "06, and 1157 (the

TLR PS PRI Toei ITIN RE RINE EPEC A ERE OD at Ne

norm) in “97. Records show

“98 was the hortest in 40 years,

with only 94 coming close.

But heat works both ways.

Ina year like “98, the need for

close monitoring in the vine-

yard as to when to pick fruit

that ripened (in some cases) a

month ahead of normal was

critical. If this tasting delivered one message it was that experi- ence pays off Some (but not all) of the wines which showed best tended to come from the larger producers.

Several of these are pending release. interested, you may 4 ant to put your name down now. Watch for:

B Cedar Creek VQA '98 Platinum Reserve Pinot Noir.

One of the vailey’s best so far, with ripe, forward strawberry and cherry flavours linger- ing long beyond the oak. Soft, generous and rounded. $34.95 (winery);

B Inniskillin Okanagan VQA 98 Pinot Noir.

Great value. Luscious, ripe berries up front with good structure, weight and a long close. $19.95 (winery);

@ Mission Hilf VQA 98 Estate Shiraz. Unquestionably, the shape of things to come from Mission Hill’s Osoyoos vineyard. Produced from only two-year-old vines, for- ward, sweet cassis notes all the way through with tannin and black pepper spice to close. coming soon. (winery, some private wine stores); B Quails Gate VQA 98 Old Vines Foch.

“Treat it like Shiraz” said former winemaker Martin, and they do.

Hard to believe these grapes used to wind up in the Kelowna grape stomp. inky in the glass, generous and lush on the palate with rich black cherry flavours and some spicy notes. $19.95. (winery, some private wine stores); Feller Estates VQA Limited Edition 98

t.

issed

.G. reds

Soft and supple layers of sweet berry fruit with integrated oak and soft tannins on the close. $16.95;

@ Hawthorne Mountain Vineyards VQA °98 Merlot.

Intense ruby in the glass with generous plum and cassis notes. $18.95. September release;

@ Jackson Triggs Proprictor’s ’98 Grand Reserve Merlot.

(Barrel sample). This is actually the “reserve reserve” of the black label. Show‘ng very well. Price tba. Spring 2001;

Sumac Ridge Estate 98 Merlot.

Berries on the nose follow through with vibrant layers of blackcurrent and black cherry on the palate with some spice at the end. $19.95. September release;

@ Sandhill 1998 Cabernet Franc.

It would appear that, across the board, Calona has switched its better fruit from the Artist Series label to Sandhill. Medium weight with strawberry and cherry flavours, some cedary notes and a hint of licorice. A good buy at $15.95. {available}; @ Inniskillin 98 Cabernet Franc.

Pink tinged deep ruby in the glass. Slighdly cedar aroma precedes generous berry fruits and anise. $22. Wier 98 release);

B Sumac Ri 'S Meritage.

The first winery to make Okanagan Meritage — and it shows. Deep ruby, extracted fruit, rich layers of black cherry and cassis with anise and cedar held by firm tannins and bal- anced oak. An immense wine that should age very well. September Release $19.95; Hawthorne Mountain °98 Meritage.

Ripe berry fruits intermingle with prune. and brier flavours and some peppery nuances. September Release $19.95.

Other menticns include Fairview Cellars Cab- Merlot and Prpich Hills Merlot-Cabernet, recently noted here and both availabl: from Edgemont Village Wines.

As for whether 1998 really was the vintage of the century, only time in the bottle will tell.

HALF PRICE (8

Wakeboards & Waterskis

Wines bring home medais

Deana Lancaster

News Reporter dlancastcr@nsnews.com

SO what’s the point of all these wine

competitions anyhow?

It seems every week brings a fresh batch of hot-off-the-press news releases cataloguing which varietals, blends, bubbles and ice wines have won awards or been rated in competitions or by wine publications.

As in any industry, awards can reco; genuine achievement, identify cree, and heip consumers identify quality products.

InterVin is one wine competion which prides itself on translating its find’ :2 in a way that consumers can understand. ‘:.: © smpeti- tion’s judges evaluate each wine ‘c:xered on. identical standards, regardless of country of ori- ~

gin. Ir’s a process in contrast to other competi- fons which judge wines in categories according to nation and/or price. Wines must achieve at’ icast 75 points to achieve a Bronze medal, 82 points for a Silver and 90 points for a Gold. o

This year (the 2000 InterVin International. : Wine Compettion), B.C. wines fared well. Ten -. of oar province’s wineries garnered 20 Gold awards. Among them was Burrowing Owl”. Vineyards’ 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon — an |: impressive showing for the first vintage from’ -

the winery owned by North Vancouver’s Jim: |”

and Midge Wyse. Burrowing Owl’s 1998

Chardonnay also scored high, it received a_ _

Silver award from the’ jadges and was among 32

' wines from 12 B.C. wineries to garner Silver: medals. In the Bronze category, 21 wines from - ae

13 of the province’s winenes were re

by the judges. Orher wineries that. made ~~ :

impressive showings include: Calona Wines, °~ : CedarCreek Estate Winery, Tinhorn Creek. Vineyards and Summerhill Estate Winery. For

more information about InterVin, check out its ."::

Web site: <www.intervin.com>.