Cowichan Valley - Part 2

Words and Photos by Liam Carrier
Edited by Sheila MacCallum

Twenty-Two Oaks Winery
The second stop of the day was Twenty-two Oaks Winery, the valley’s newest firm. Pinot Noir, Marechal Foch, Cabernet Franc and Tempranillo vines were planted in 2007 but have yet to produce a first vintage. The winery recently opened their tasting room, pouring wines that were produced for them by Summerland’s Adora Estate Winery: a Pinot Gris and two red blends: a Syrah-Merlot-Gamay and a Syrah-Foch.

I didn’t take the time to properly review or score these wines as they are not representative of what the winery will produce in the years to come. Of the current wines for sale, the Syrah-Foch blend is worth a try but at $22 is a bit over-priced. I look forward to tasting their first vintage, which may not be available until Spring 2011 – especially Vancouver Island’s first Tempranillo.

Zanatta Winery and Vineyards

The next stop was to the island’s oldest winery and vinfera plantings; Zanatta Winery and Vineyards who offer a flight of both sparkling and table wines. Named for the now-deceased family patriarch, the winemaking is currently headed by daughter, Loretta Zanatta, who specializes in Champagne-style sparkling wines. Sadly, the tasting was limited to the current still wines on offer which was disappointing. I would have happily paid for a taste of their flagship sparklers. Unfortunately, I was left with tasting a flight of table wines that overall seemed as though they were produced as an afterthought.

At Zanatta we tasted:

2008 Ortega - $15.95Produced yearly from 1989 and commercially available since the winery opened in 1992. A decent dry white with some layers of fruit flavours. 82pts.

2008 Pinot Grigio - $17.95A stainless-steel fermented bland Pinot lacking acidity and complexity. 80pts.

N/V Damasco - $15.95This is a non-vintage blend of four varieties that has an intense floral-perfume nose but falls flat on the palate with muted acidity and tropical fruit flavours. 80pts

2007 Pinot Nero - $21.95This was the best of the bunch and would make a nice accompaniment to roasted duck in a fruit-based sauce. Decent acidity and berry flavours, medium tannins and finish. 84pts

I was left feeling disappointed and annoyed that the winery wouldn’t show off what some of the locals had raved about: their sparkling wines – even for a fee. On a positive note, the restaurant/wine bar attached to the winery looks interesting and inviting. Should I have more time upon my next visit I will give it a try. All wine can be improved by a judicious pairing with food.

In part 3: Godfrey-Brownell Vineyards...

Cowichan Valley - Part 1

Words and Photos by Liam Carrier
Edited by Sheila MacCallum

Cowichan Valley

Vancouver Island, off the west coast of British Columbia, is home to a number of wine sub-appellations. Cowichan Valley is the most widely planted and was the focus of a recent trip to the Island in September, 2009 to visit family. Access to the Island is limited to flying (expensive) or via the provincial-run ferry system from the mainland where you can either take your car or purchase a walk-on fare. Transit options to the wine regions are limited if you don’t have your own car or a tall uncle waiting for you on the other side as I did.

Knowing that we would have only a few hours free for wine tasting (this was primarily a family trip and not a business trip) I took full advantage of the two-hour crossing time on the ferry to research the wineries I wanted to visit. The list contained the largest, the newest, the oldest and the most “granola” of the Vancouver Island wineries.


Averill Creek Vineyard

The first stop of our short tour was Averill Creek Vineyard, home to the Island’s largest estate planting of vinifera. Positioned on south-facing slopes at the base of Mt Prevost, the winery boasts 30+ acres of vines: Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Merlot, Gewürztraminer, Marechal Foch, and an early ripening Foch-Cabernet hybrid.

Proprietor Andy Johnston, a former private-practice MD from Edmonton, was on hand to conduct the pour in their modern tasting room with stunning views to Saanich Inlet. Based on his sincerity, professionalism and friendly demeanor, he was likely an MD with a long waiting list. Meeting him I was reminded of the Richard Attenborough character from Jurassic Park with his white hair and beard, who “spared no expense” to bring his dream to fruition. Of course, Andy is neither delusional, nor fictional but his dream of operating a world-class winery has benefited from a similar do-it-right attitude.

At Averill Creek we tasted:

2008 Somenos Rose - $17
A blend of Marechal Foch, Pinot Noir and Merlot, cold fermented. This wine has a nice balance of acidity to fruit flavours that would make for a lovely summer patio sipper. I wish I had discovered this Rosé earlier in the year. 87pts

2008 Pinot Grigio - $18
Fermented in stainless steel, this wine, along with its Pinot Gris cousin, shows the skills of the Averill Creek team in handling the white varieties. This is a gold-medal winner that showcases the fruit and mineral flavours a quality Pinot Gris can offer. 90pts.

2007 Pinot Gris - $23
This is a barrel-fermented cousin of the Grigio (from the same grapes) that has gone through a full maloactic fermentation which infuses butter and cream fruit flavours. Despite this calming of the acid application, the wine possesses enough residual acidity to balance the oak and fruit flavours, resulting in a special wine. A future gold-medal winner. 91pts.

2007 Pinot Noir - $28
Johnston next poured his 2007 Pinot Noir, taking out proper Burgundy glasses for the tasting. I could tell this varietal was a labour of love for him and the Averill Creek product does show great promise. The winery uses the Stelvin enclosures on all its wines which ensures freshness and limits post-production flaws. It also slows the aging of a wine to a crawl and you can taste that with this Pinot Noir - it is very young. Given time this Pinot will open up and deliver. 87pts.

2007 Prevost - $22
This is Averill Creek’s sly take on a Bordeaux-style blend using Marechal Foch, Merlot and a Foch-Cabernet Sauvignon hybrid. The Prevost has many of the characteristics of a new-world Meritage blend: dark-ruby colour, big berry and oak flavours. 85pts

2008 Cowichan Black - $18
The tasting was capped with a quality fruit desert wine made of 100% Vancouver Island-grown blackberries. Semi-sweet with a slight acidic finish and only 16% alcohol makes this a great pairing for vanilla ice-cream or enjoy on its own. 86pts

Averill Creek Vineyard is a winery to watch. They have all the right ingredients to produce quality wines: a modern gravity-flow winery, up to date techniques and a superior terroir. They also have something less tangible – a desire to be a world-class outfit. That’s nice to see. Look for Averill Creek in the coming vintages, you won’t be disappointed. -LC

In part 2: 22 Oaks and Zanatta wineries...

2009 Ahmic Lake Pinot Noir Showdown - Part II

The Results:

The showdown was a success. All judges took the tasting somewhat seriously and no one claimed to know exactly what they were doing which made it fun as we were able to learn together and find commonalities and differences in personal experiences. It was also good that the judges did not agree on everything and peoples preferences really guided the rating.

Wine 1: Accumulated score was 34 out of 50.

Judge 1: Distinct. Nose was caramel and subtle. Palate was dry with a smooth mouth feel. The finish had tight tannins and long. 8.5 out of 10.

Judge 2: Nose was subtle and distinct. Palate was very light and dry. The finish was spicy, peppery, and long. 7.5 out of 10.

Judge 3: Nose was pleasant. Palate was dry and light. Finish was excellent. 8 out of 10.

Judge 4: Nose was cherry. Palate was oak, with smoky tobacco. The finish was dull and dry. 5 out of 10.

Judge 5: No comments. 5 out of 10.

Wine 2: Accumulated score was 41.5 out of 50.

Judge 1: Nose was chocolate, smoke, and strawberries. Palate was silky berries. The finish was tangy and long. 8.5 out of 10.

Judge 2: The nose was berries. The palate was fruity. The finish light and long. 9 out of 10.

Judge 3: The nose was sweet. The palate was fruity. The finish was sweet, tangy and long. 7 out of 10.

Judge 4: The nose was chocolate and strawberries. The palate was sweet and fruity. The finish was warm. 8 out of 10.

Judge 5: No comments. 9 out of 10.

Wine 3: Accumulated score was 41 out of 50.

Judge 1: The nose was fruit forward and floral. The palate was smooth berries. The finish was spice pepper and short. 9 out of 10.

Judge 2: Very good. The nose was very berry. The finish was smooth. 9 out of 10.

Judge 3: The nose was tangy. The finish was greasy?? 6 out of 10.

Judge 4: The nose was floral. The palate was smooth and fresh. The finish 8 out of 10.

Judge 5: No comments. 9 out of 10.

So in the end wine number two was had the highest accumulated score and is the preferred Pinot Noir out of the three, however wine 3 was an extremely close second.

The Winner:

Drum roll please. The people's preferred Ontario Pinot Noir out of the three tasted is the 2007 Le Clos Jordanne Village Reserve. This wine scored well from all. It was the cheapest of the three tasted and has the highest production, however it is hard to get outside of Ontario (i.e I have never seen any of Le Clos Jordanne in BC). The most interesting thing is that the Village Reserve is the entry level Pinot of a flight of four. I can't imagine what Le Grand Clos is like. If the entry level is this good watch out for the others.

The runner-up for the Pinot Noir Showdown is the 2007 Tawse Pinot Noir. Personally I thought this was the best of the bunch, and except for one judge who scored it low, this would have been the preferred wine.

Last but certainly not least is the Thirty Bench Small Lot Pinot Noir. This was by far the most distinct of the three tasted and I think had a little more complexity than the others. It was not as fruit forward as the other two. An interesting note is that Pascal Marchand who helped consulted for Le Clos Jordanne was hired by Tawse for their Pinot's and this was evident looking back especially in the taste.

Conclusions and Insight

This experiment was an interesting test to find the people's preferred Ontario Pinot Noir out of three in relatively the same price range from similar appellations. For the most part the variables that could bias the results were accounted for and the results are fairly reliable. After completing the experiment there were a few things that I learned that were insightful that should be considered for similar showdowns in the future:

1) More judges would definitely add to the reliability of the results. The more people judging will lessen the impact of one or two outlier scores that might have skewed the results.

2) A better mix of judges. Although there was a reasonable cross section I think an equal number of educated wines drinkers compared to average drinkers would be beneficial and give a more representative indication of how the wine performs.

3) Average wine drinkers like tastes they can easily identify. The fruit forward wines tended to score better than the subtle and distinct one. This does not necessarily mean that the distinct wine is better however the wines that were fruitier were more liked by the judges.

In conclusion all the wines tasted in the showdown were excellent, however the Le Clos Jordanne came out on top. Overall this was a great experience to get insight into what people prefer and how to improve on future experiments. The 2009 Ahmic Lake Pinot Noir Showdown was a great success in market research and fun!! HC