BC Wine

[Paul B]

We've been drinking two BC wines quite a bit lately. The first is the Summerhill cabernet. It's around $19 (more than I usually like to spend) but has huge taste. The second is the Wild Goose rose ($12), a refreshing and rather alcoholic wine.

If you're really interested in BC wines you should come by West Van and go to the Bellevue Wine Company store on Bellevue avenue, between 14th and 15th. Nice folk, good selection, and a huge map of the Okanagan valley with all the wineries marked. I'm there at least once a week.

[makanmakan]

We had a bottle of Zanatta's Allegria Brut Rose last night. Very lovely with our dinner. Can't remember the price as we picked it up during the summer.

If you are in that area of the Island, do go by their winery as all the bubblies we've had from there are fantastic!

The Taglio Rosso brut was fantastic with a dark chocolate cake.

[mkjr]

....

I am not sure that she is correct is using such broad brush strokes in describing purported Canadian defensiveness.  I think in large part Canadians are reticent to shill Cdn products and are reticent..understandably...to pay the increasingly higher prices being sought and apparently paid for the better bottles when there is so much competition from offshore.

There may be persons in the industry who overstate Canada's importance in the world of wine but I have not met many members of the general public who do.

I do agree about the complaint relating to Product of Canada, Bottled in Canada.  There should be better labels to make it clear that this is foreign plonk.  Mind you I don't buy that wine and do not know many, if any people who try to buy Canadian who do.

...

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I agree with you on all points but I do think that people are very defensive about Canadian wine but that is just my opinion. About the whole Canadian thing....has Futureshop stopped using the maple leaf on their doors to make people think it's still Canadian? I suspect wine companies in BC/Ont are not rushing out to advise people the wine is made from bulk second rate juice that was not good enough from where it came to put into bottles or if so it would comand a much lower price, again just my opinion.

[barolo]

Marquis Wine Cellars is having a BC release this weekend:

BURROWING OWL VINEYARDS:

2004 Burrowing Owl Vineyards, Cabernet Franc, $28.90 

(1 bottle limit per person)

2005 Burrowing Owl Vineyards, Chardonnay, $26.90 

(2 bottle limit per person)

2005 Burrowing Owl Vineyards, Pinot Noir…?  TBA

QUAIL'S GATE:

2004 Quail’s Gate, Family Reserve, Cabernet Sauvignon, $44.90 

(1 bottle limit per person)

2004 Quail’s Gate, Reserve Old Vines Foch, $44.90 

(1 bottle limit per person)

2004 Quail’s Gate, Family Reserve Merlot, $44.90 

(1 bottle limit per person)

BLASTED CHURCH:

2005 Blasted Church, Dam Flood, $16.90 

(no per person limit)

HERDER:

2004 Herder, Josephine, $32.90 

(1 bottle limit per person)

JOIE:

2006 Joie, Unwooded Chardonnay, $21.90 (no per person limit)

2006 Joie, Noble Blend, $22.90 (no per person limit)

2006 Joie, Rosé, $20.90 (no per person limit)

2006 Joie, Muscat, $20.90 (no per person limit)

2006 Joie, Riesling, $21.90 (no per person limit)

Date: Saturday, March 10th

Time: 11 am SHARP!

Location: Marquis Wine Cellars, 1034 Davie Street, Vancouver

[Sam Salmon]

Whatever happened to Wine Trails Magazine?

Spring issue no where to be found in the 'hood.

[mkjr]

Marquis Wine Cellars is having a BC release this weekend:

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When did QG's Foch get so expensive. Yikes!! Gone are the days when it was under $20. Still have a few bottles of the 97 kicking around.

[BCinBC]

^ We last passed through Quail's Gate in 05, picked up some OVF at the time (probably the 2003 release) and I assure you that it was not $45 - because I have yet to pay that much for a BC wine (not including restaurant markup of course).

A similar scenario / thread is going on on another forum. Again a few years ago I picked up some See Ya Later Ping (I think it was 02) for approx $20. I then checked the website and the same vintage was selling for $50.

Is this actual valuation of 5 year old BC wine? Cause they are outperforming my stocks!

[nwyles]

^ We last passed through Quail's Gate in 05, picked up some OVF at the time (probably the 2003 release) and I assure you that it was not $45 - because I have yet to pay that much for a BC wine (not including restaurant markup of course).

A similar scenario / thread is going on on another forum.  Again a few years ago I picked up some See Ya Later Ping (I think it was 02) for approx $20.  I then checked the website and the same vintage was selling for $50.

Is this actual valuation of 5 year old BC wine?  Cause they are outperforming my stocks!

←

Before you start getting your knickers in a twist, they are talking about the RESERVE Old Vine Foch, not the regular stuff.

Neil

[mkjr]

^ We last passed through Quail's Gate in 05, picked up some OVF at the time (probably the 2003 release) and I assure you that it was not $45 - because I have yet to pay that much for a BC wine (not including restaurant markup of course).

A similar scenario / thread is going on on another forum.  Again a few years ago I picked up some See Ya Later Ping (I think it was 02) for approx $20.  I then checked the website and the same vintage was selling for $50.

Is this actual valuation of 5 year old BC wine?  Cause they are outperforming my stocks!

←

Before you start getting your knickers in a twist, they are talking about the RESERVE Old Vine Foch, not the regular stuff.

Neil

←

The OLD VINES RESERVE was the regular stuff in 1997 and they did the old switcherooo - ala rebranding!!. You can do a little research and find out what they did which was take the stuff that was the regular bottling and split the same. Just give DL at Marquis a call. He will explain it to you.

Edited March 8, 2007 by mkjr (log)

[BCinBC]

^ Ah, thanks. I just checked the website, indeed the "limited release" ie regular stuff is $25 and the "reserve" aka the la-dee-da label is $40.

And Neil, my knickers will be in a twist for the rest of the week because you replied to my post!

[SushiCat]

Anyone know any easy way (without drinking a bottle) to determine optimum drinking windows for BC wines?

I bought a few bottles for the cellar (maybe three cases) about three years ago on an Okanagan trip and I have limited data on when they might be best. I have limited data on Quail's Gate wines, none on anything from Tinhorn Creek or Mt. Boucherie or Lang or ... the list goes on but is not too long.

I've done a few web searches but there is not much readily published (it seems) on this front. Appreciate any words of wisdom either here or via PM.

thx

[Daddy-A]

Anyone know any easy way (without drinking a bottle) to determine optimum drinking windows for BC wines?

The obvious solution (and one I'm sure you've considered) is to contact the wineries themselves. IIRC Mission Hill, Tinhorn Creek and others do provide cellaring info on their web sites. I'm sure a quick email to any of them would yeild positive results.

I've also been using the Cellar Tracker web site recently. Most wines catalogued on this site will have "best consumed" dates attached to them. Unfortunately the info on BC wines is sketchy for the majority.

A.

[mkjr]

I recently drank some of the 95, 96 and 97 Quail's Gate Family Reserve Pinot Noirs. My advice is drink these wines early as they do not seem to age very well. I have rated them OK to good in my book. I have also drank a few Pinot Noirs from Blue Mountain from 97 and 98 recently (within the last year) and I have the same views although the 98 is a little better and I think the 98 is actually not too bad (I have a bottle of the 98 Oculus (sic) that is just sitting in my drink as these wines are close to dead box...not sure if this is true for this one since the weather was great this year). If anyone is interested I can flip you a few of these older QG Family Reserve Pinot's to try...for a price of course (I am sure most did not know they were making these wines this old...and fewer will remember they came in wood and wrapped in tissue...ooooohhhhh). PM me if you are interested. I really have no desire to drink these wines and may just end up using them to cook with. I agree, CT does not have much CDN wine but the probably just reflects the fact that even with the many many bottles I have there are probably less than 2 cases of Canadian wines. The QG wines were held specifically to see how they would age. In their youth they were good.

[lauraf]

We opened a bottle of the 2002 Sumac Ridge Pinnacle this week. A taste upon opening, without decanting, was actually unpleasant and my first thought was that it might be corked. After a couple of hours with air, it was drinkable, but (excuse my terminology, I'm no wine professional) overly vanilla-y, with very little tannic structure to counteract. Shouldn't one expect that a 2002 BC red would cellar for five years minimum?

[SushiCat]

I recently drank some of the 95, 96 and 97 Quail's Gate Family Reserve Pinot Noirs.  My advice is drink these wines early as they do not seem to age very well.  I have rated them OK to good in my book.  I have also drank a few Pinot Noirs from Blue Mountain from 97 and 98 recently (within the last year) and I have the same views although the 98 is a little better and I think the 98 is actually not too bad (I have a bottle of the 98 Oculus (sic) that is just sitting in my drink as these wines are close to dead box...not sure if this is true for this one since the weather was great this year).  If anyone is interested I can flip you a few of these older QG Family Reserve Pinot's to try...for a price of course (I am sure most did not know they were making these wines this old...and fewer will remember they came in wood and wrapped in tissue...ooooohhhhh).  PM me if you are interested.  I really have no desire to drink these wines and may just end up using them to cook with.  I agree, CT does not have much CDN wine but the probably just reflects the fact that even with the many many bottles I have there are probably less than 2 cases of Canadian wines.  The QG wines were held specifically to see how they would age.  In their youth they were good.

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hmmn, well all of our 9x vintages of QG are gone, but we have some early 2000's that I'll start drinking before they go off. Sad to hear of your loss (so to speak), exactly why I'm asking these questions!

Daddy-A, I did think of emailing the wineries, I think that is best bet since there doesn't seem to be much data. I too am using cellartracker, (seen some wines we have in common) but alas, there is virtually no data on drinking windows for BC wines.

[barolo]

Whatever happened to Wine Trails Magazine?

Spring issue no where to be found in the 'hood.

←

I saw the Spring 2007 issue at the news stand on Granville Island today.

[Edible Vancouver]

Whatever happened to Wine Trails Magazine?

Spring issue no where to be found in the 'hood.

←

I saw the Spring 2007 issue at the news stand on Granville Island today.

←

We have a few copies left at Edible BC on Granville Island.

[Sam Salmon]

Whatever happened to Wine Trails Magazine?

Spring issue no where to be found in the 'hood.

←

I saw the Spring 2007 issue at the news stand on Granville Island today.

←

We have a few copies left at Edible BC on Granville Island.

←

Well Ess Aych Eye Tee!

I walked right by there this AM!

Thanks for letting me know you carry-it will keep eyes open next time I'm in the 'hood.

[mkjr]

 

"hmmn, well all of our 9x vintages of QG are gone, but we have some early 2000's that I'll start drinking before they go off.  Sad to hear of your loss (so to speak), exactly why I'm asking these questions!

←

I do not think of the QG as a loss but of an experiment gone bad. Since no one was keen on some old QG wine I had for sale, I drank the last 94 I had on the weekend, which was palatable but not much more. Very little varietal characteristics. This stuff does not hold up. The others I think I will donate to some BC charity auction for a tax receipt. I will not bother drinking them. QG sets out the drinking windown on their site. Funny, but the 94 was not even listed. I recall it may have been the first one.

http://www.quailsgate.com/media/QG_WineMaturationChart.pdf

[mkjr]

^ We last passed through Quail's Gate in 05, picked up some OVF at the time (probably the 2003 release) and I assure you that it was not $45 - because I have yet to pay that much for a BC wine (not including restaurant markup of course).

A similar scenario / thread is going on on another forum.  Again a few years ago I picked up some See Ya Later Ping (I think it was 02) for approx $20.  I then checked the website and the same vintage was selling for $50.

Is this actual valuation of 5 year old BC wine?  Cause they are outperforming my stocks!

←

Before you start getting your knickers in a twist, they are talking about the RESERVE Old Vine Foch, not the regular stuff.

Neil

←

The OLD VINES RESERVE was the regular stuff in 1997 and they did the old switcherooo - ala rebranding!!. You can do a little research and find out what they did which was take the stuff that was the regular bottling and split the same. Just give DL at Marquis a call. He will explain it to you.

←

As I was unable to find another to purchase the last 97, 98 and 99 bottles of the old vine Foch from QG that I had (all pre-switcheroo when QG came up with a way to make two Foch bottles and charge more for the "reserve" so 1990s Mondavi) I drank them all in some house cleaning over the last few weeks - boy have I consumed lots of wine that should be drunk long time ago (I wonder what a good wine tastes like as for every 20 over the hill wines we consume, my wife lets me drink one hammer). I must say that the 99 was by far the best bottle. I had thought since 98 was such a great year for heat that it would be the best but the nose was just so funky that never blew off and showed the most age. To my surprise the 99 was actually drinking very well and I enjoyed it very much. I would give it 85 pointss and it is one of the better reds from BC that has a little age on it that I have had. I have only a few oldies left but now my BC wine is down to about 5 bottles max in my entire collection. If you have any of these DRINK UP!!

[Mark Donnelly]

I've just returned to Vancouver after 18 years in London. Compared to Spanish, Portugese and Greek wines, BC wines are poorer in quality and more expensive. Compared to French and Italian wines, BC wines are poorer in quality. Overall, wine in BC is just too expensive. I pay 30%+ more for wine here than in London. ANd I thought London was an expensive city!

If good quality BC wines exist, then they are (i) hard to find, (ii) in short supply and (iii) flipping expensive.

BC's wine reputation outside of North America is zero (and for good reason). Inside NA I don't know what it is. As long as the industry is not protected, then the market will decide. For me, I'll give it a wide berth.

[tangaloor]

If good quality BC wines exist, then they are (i) hard to find, (ii) in short supply and (iii) flipping expensive.

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A big part of the high cost of wine here is the high tax paid on liquor--sales tax is well over 100% for alcohol.

That's something that applies to alcohol across the board, though. I would agree that BC wines tend to be more expensive for similar quality than wines from Spain and Portugal, and to my mind Italy and France as well.