by Doug Sloan
Many of us have come to realize over the last few years that our BC home-grown VQA white wines are among the best in the world. An astonishing number of otherwise reasonably knowledgeable winelovers still believe that BC red wines are second-rate.
Since the Vintners Quality Alliance certification program was begun in BC in 1989, after the great grape-pullouts helped replant BC vineyards, our best winemakers have had better fruit to work with almost every year. Nearly twenty years later, truly mature vines are producing consistently riper and more complexly flavoured grapes.
Some of us still haven’t figured this out - not necessarily a bad thing for those of us who have. There’s never enough BC VQA wine to go around. And there has never been such a variety of excellent reds available grown right here in British Columbia.
Frequently and foolishly overlooked – for not being its more respected offspring Cabernet Sauvignon? - Peller Estates Heritage Series Cabernet Franc (+582833) $12.99 is a lush dry red with an underlying layer of savoury herbs and 
liquorice adding complexity to the brooding jammy blackberry fruit. Pair this with blue cheese!
Blends are becoming more common, as winemakers start to work with grapes that grow well in British Columbia rather than trying to compete with traditional notions of what makes great red wine elsewhere.
Rigamarole Red (+77156) $15.99 is a curious blend of Gamay, Pinot Noir and Merlot with whimsically humorous labels.
It would be easy to suspect that there’s an element of “confused, rambling, or incoherent discourse” here but that definition (of “rigamarole”) doesn’t quite catch the sappy berry fruit flavours or the unique, lingering dash of white pepper that sizzles in the finish of this light-bodied red wine.
From time to time, BC winemakers take old standards and blow away the international competitors with their own grape varieties. Gamay Noir is a great example!
Using a grape variety rescued from southern Burgundy (where it makes often unfortunately indifferent Beaujolais) Sandhill Gamay Noir (+627687) $17.99 is a delightfully intense surprise. It’s difficult to believe this deep mouthful of dark, jammy blackcurrant and coffee flavours has any relationship to the light reds we routinely get from Beaujolais.
An ambitious blend of 10% Gamay Noir, 30% Marechal Foch, 30% Merlot and 30% Michurinetz Mt.Boucherie Summit Reserve Melange Noir (+287516) $21.90 veers towards full-bodied, pomegranate and blackberry fruit flavours. The Foch and Michurinetz add chocolate and spicy –almost ‘salty’ - coffee notes. All sliding across the tongue like velvet - lusciously tasty! This red should be on the “to do” list of anyone who values complexity over sheer density.
After years of making varietal wines that seemed modelled on the over-the-top styles popularized in California and Australia, our best winemakers seem to be moving towards silkier, more complex definitions of what makes BC’s best reds.
Slickly packaged and sporting an up-to-the-minute screwcap Fork In The Road Oliver Block 249 Red (+292854) $24.99 is just as incredibly smooth as Melange Noir. This dry and elegant blend of 50% Merlot, 35% Syrah and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon comes together in a marvellous medley of mulberry, ultra-ripe fig and silky blackberry fruit flavours built on a subtle base of vanilla and cappuccino undertones. As mellow as it is magnificent!
In the Penticton Western News, discussing boutique wineries, Antelope Ridge proprietor Olivier Combret said, “Paying a lot for a bottle of wine does not necessarily mean it's going to be good. It can just mean that production costs were high. Often small wineries offer better quality wines at a lower price because they are not forced to incur the costs of larger operations. The winery can, therefore, pass on more savings to the consumer.”
Antelope Ridge Equilibrium (+167544) $32.90 is one of the newest releases from the “Golden Mile” bench winery that used to be Domaine Combret. Aged 20 months in expensive oak, fashioned from Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, this is arguably one of the most traditional and age-worthy European styled reds being made in the Okanagan – in the same very small and exclusive category as Osoyoos Larose (+129999) $40.00.
A huge fan of BC wines, Doug can be reached by email at douglas_sloan@yahoo.com
This curious and ambitious blend of first-rate opinions does not represent the views of anyone other than the author.
