Think globally if you must but consider shopping locally for your dinner wines this Festive Season!
Just in time for the festivities, some local producers and retailers have marked down their wines to make them extremely affordable choices.
Mission Hills Five Vineyards wines always offer great value. With grapes sourced from five different sustainably farmed vineyards, the wines are always well balanced and complex.
Grapes from Mission Hill Road Vineyard in West Kelowna between Boucherie Ridge and Okanagan Lake remain frost free for most of the growing season and this vineyard is especially well-suited to Riesling and Pinot Noir.
East Kelowna’s Lakeshore Vineyard has excellent air drainage which, combined with the lake’s moderating effect on nighttime temperatures, results in a warmer and frost protected environment and is ideally suited to the cool-climate varieties that flourish here.
The proximity of Naramata Ranch Vineyard to Okanagan Lake makes it especially valuable, with the lake providing a moderating effect and allows for an extended ripening period.
Black Sage Bench Vineyard in Southeast Oliver is planted to a wide range of grape varieties in different blocks in vineyards, both east and west Osoyoos, and Naramata. The Black Sage estate includes a snake hibernaculum, four microclimates, and many soil types and is rich in flora and fauna.
Due to the Osoyoos Vineyard’s proximity to Osoyoos Lake an array of different wine lots from the various vineyard blocks are produced. There are over two hundred frost-free days a year and a long growing season which yields consistently high quality and unique wines.
Typically priced at $14.99, Mission Hill 5 Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc (315309) is a great bargain at $9.92. Offering up zesty lemon and lime and undertones of honeyed mango and passionfruit, this is a tropical tippler, well-suited for pairing with traditional turkey and ham.
Grown in vineyards in Oliver, east and west Osoyoos, and Naramata, Mission Hill 5 Vineyards Chardonnay (518548) is also a great bargain at $9.92, instead of its usual price of $14.99. With 8 months in French and American oak, there are notes of vanilla over the classic aromas and flavours of green apple, lemon and peach.
A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot, typically priced at $16.99 Mission Hill 5 Vineyards Cabernet Merlot (208439) is a steal at $11.43. Black cherry and cassis aromas on the nose extend through the first sip with hints of sage, vanilla, lavender, and sandalwood. Light enough for turkey and ham, this red is just as suitable for pairing with veal or beef dishes.
A much smaller operation than Mission Hill Vineyards, Perseus Winery is owned and operated by Terrabella Wineries. Acquired in 2011, Perseus Winery is proud to celebrate the diversity of the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys by farming grapes with some of the best growers in some of the best vineyards in British Columbia.
Perseus is committed to celebrating the diversity of the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys by farming some of the best grapes with the best growers in British Columbia.
Priced at $17.99 at the winery, Perseus Pinot Blanc (538041) can’t be beat at $15.99. A Gold Medal winner at the All Canadian Wine Championship, it oozes aromas of yellow apple, peach, and honey. A crisp, clean palate with plenty of ripe stone fruit, spice notes, and citrus laced acidity make this a prefect pairing for crab and oysters.
Sold out at the winery – at $18.99! – Perseus Pinot Gris (7930) is an amazing find at $15.99. Aromas and flavours of peach, apricot, and pear lead into full bodied and spicy flavours. With rich notes of honeyed peach and melon over crisp, citrus acidity, this white pairs wonderfully with spicy Asian dishes.
Priced at $19.99 at the winery, a blend of 65 per cent Cabernet Franc and 35 per cent Merlot from the esteemed Bordertown Vineyard near Osoyoos, Perseus Cabernet Merlot (849273) is seriously affordable at $15.99. This rich, medium bodied red wine is made to drink immediately and over the next 5 years. Enjoy the notes of black cherry, blackberry, and plum with hints of earthy wild sage.
Whatever your festive dinner plans, be sure to include some bargain priced BC VQA wines!
Reach WineWise by emailing douglas_sloan@yahoo.com or visit WineWise online at www.dougsloanwinewise.com
