The Outsider Guide to: British Columbia Wines (and other fun things)

Over the last decade, British Columbia wines (primarily from the Okanagan Valley) have really started coming into their own. When we first started experimenting with B.C. Wines, they were nice companions to dinner — but nothing special. Today, the better wineries are easily as good as the top wineries here in the States, and they are now winning prestigious awards, even here in California against local wines.

To me, the best grape in B.C. is the Pinot — Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc. Merlot seems to grow well, as do other grapes known for a more northern leaning: Riesling and to a lesser degree Gewurztraminer. There’s also Cabernet, but I haven’t been as impressed with the Cabernet Sauvignon from the region. On the other hand, this trip, we tried and enjoyed a couple of really rather kick-butt Meritage blends that mimic the Bordeaux region wines. It is also a region that is making some very nice dessert wines, especially ice wines. It is also a region that makes a number of good micro-brew wines, and also a number of very tasty hard ciders (based on both Apple and Pear). B.C. also has access to a number of single malts that aren’t imported into the States, if you’re into that (as, ahem, some people are).

The problem: unless you actually GO to British Columbia, you’ll likely never see a B.C. Wine. shipping into the states is very limited at best. So to drink this, you more or less have to go there (not that I’m complaining), and if you want some for your cellar — you have to bring it back. In theory, customs limits you to about 6 bottles of wine per trip; but that’s in theory. In practice, the duty for going over your limit is around $2.00 per bottle. We’ve actually yet to have to pay duty, because for small amounts, the border agents will many times waive the duty to avoid the paperwork. So if you go — buy what you want, declare it coming back, pay the duty if they ask; and realize it’s still a bargain. But — unless you drive, your ability to bring it back is limited, because you can’t ship it.

We’ve relied on two things to educate ourselves about B.C. wines: experimenting at the restaurants, and The Wine Barrel, on Broughton in Victoria. The owners (usually run into Wilf Krutzmann) are always more than happy to talk wine and will help you build carry packs to take back with you. It’s been their gentle guidance that’s helped Laurie and I figure out the details of the province. If you’re in Victoria, track down this place (it’s near the Bay (formerly Eaton) Center downtown), and ask them to set you up with a bottle or four.

This trip’s booty:

Cedar Creek is by far the best — and most recognized — B.C. Winery. This trip, we grabbed 4 bottles of the 2003 Pinot Noir for our cellar because, frankly, I always regret opening up the last bottle and not being able to replace it….

Red Rooster 2002 Meritage. Did I mention that we ran into some really nice Meritage releases this trip?

Slamka Cellar 2000 Pinot Noir: we tried an earlier vintage from this cellar, and I’m curious how it’s coming along.

Fairview Cellar 2003 Merlot-Cabernet: from a six acre vineyard in Oliver, a Merlot-Cab mix ready to drink now.

Domaine de Chaberton 2003 Bacchus Dry. Primarily muscat, this is the oldest winery in the fraser valley (based in Langley).

We also brought back three bottles of Pinot Gris: the Cedar Creek 2003, the Gray Monk 2003, and the Mt. Boucherie 2004 Estate Collection. Gray Monk is another winery we make a point of drinking from previous experience. The Mt. Boucherie is new to me, but was recommended by our friends in Victoria.

Dessert wines:

If you don’t drink dessert wines, a bit of explanation: They tend to be very sweet and thick wines with high sugar content. they are usually served heavily chilled (refrigerator cold, not wine-chiller cold) at the end of a meal, at the time you might normally drink a port or a brandy (or a single malt, or…. but I digress). Unlike those cheap sweet Rieslings that people who don’t really like wine foist off on you — you don’t come away feeling like you just drank a melted Popsicle.

A dessert wine is many times heavily concentrated — preferably normally. Ice wines are rare: the grapes have to be left on the vine until a heavy frost, then harvested and crushed while frozen. Harvests at 2AM are common to keep the grapes frozen through processing. The act of crushing while frozen pulls much of the water out of the grape as ice, leaving behind a much more concentrated sugar syrup.

You’ll also see the terms “late harvest”, “noble rot”, or “botytis affected”. Late harvest wines are grapes left on the vines longer than normal; this does two things: it forces the creation of more sugar in the grape, and it cases the grape to start to shrivel and lose it’s water — leaving it concentrated. “Noble rot” is a fungus that infects grapes, and which punctures the skin of the grape, causing the fluids to leak out. The result: what’s left is concentrated. Those grapes are then crushed when harvested. All forms of dessert wine are fermented to keep a high sugar content.

Because all of them tend to be pretty rare vintages (in many areas, ice wines are available by happenstance, not by design — three areas that consistently make ice wines are the Okanagan valley, the Niagara Lake area of Ontario, and some regions of Washington state), and because the wines are concentrated and therefore there’s less volume of wine from the grapes, none of them would ever pass themselves off as “Two Buck Chuck”. But once you get a taste for them….

If you like ports, then dessert wines are a natural thing for you to experiment with. And well worth trying. If you’re curious, Innskillin or Jackson-Triggs (their Niagara estate) are probably the easiest to find, or perhaps Columbia Crest out of Washington.
From Lang Vineyards, two of their ice wines: their 2000 Riesling, and their 2000 Merlot Icewine. Lang has been experimenting with grapes and process with icewine and some of their other vintages — their Merlot Icewine just has to be tried to understand it; we bring a bottle home every trip now when we can get it. We’ve also tried their Chardonnay icewine.

Quail’s Gate 2003 botrytis affected optima 375ml dessert wine. Riesling, Sylvaner and Muller-Thurgau grapes. I had a glass of this with dessert one night in Vancouver, and had to grab a bottle for later. Very intense and sweet, hint of apricots.

Also from Quail’s gate, their 2000 Riesling Icewine. WE opened it the other night with a friend, and it was truly awesome — thick and syrupy, with an undertaste of pear. We actually shared the bottle with some Rogers Chocolate Victoria Cremes, and it neither conflicted nor lost out to them. Awesome. Would be just as awesome with a cheese and fruit plate. Or without.

And finally — Quail’s Gate has come out with their 2002 FVF (Fortified Vintage Foch) — the first (I believe) port style fortified wine out of B.C. This one I’m really, really looking forward to trying a glass soon.

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