Where is strut wine made

Different house styles become apparent across their portfolios. But the one feature they share is the combination of refreshing acidity and sweet ripe fruitiness. No telling where the juicy fruit for this off-dry white really comes from… but from the generosity of apple, pear, lemon and honeyed melon flavours California might be a good guess.

Their brands range from classic and traditional to irreverent and fun. The newest addition to their family of fascinating wines are the wines from Pendragon. Green apple and ripe pear flavours slide seductively into a luscious tropical fruit medley of flavours. Subtle savoury spices swirl into dark chocolate, sweet black cherry and damson plum in the aftertaste of this medium-dry red.

Take the opportunity to explore these new wines. Previous story Think before you drink. Next story Sample some of the intriguing wines from Italy. Post a Comment. Thursday, April 4, Island wineries strut their wines.

Zanatta's Jim Moody with his island Merlot. The scheduling seemed — dare I say it? For the record, the Orthodox Easter is May 5 this year. But those who attended the event, held in the venerable Fairmont Empress, clearly enjoyed the tasting, even on such a solemn day in the Christian calendar. Since Jesus turned water into wine as his first miracle, he would hardly have objected. Indeed, in the difficult vintage on Vancouver Island , the winemakers might have used such a miracle after an unusually cold and wet year.

Fortunately, he had a good stock of his wines a superb island vintage and some from In , he turned to Okanagan sources for grapes. John was not among the 19 wineries at The Empress.

However, I stopped in for a tasting on the way to Victoria and was amply rewarded with delicious wines. The vintages on offer from the WIVA wineries ranged from to A surprising number of wineries succeeded with fruit, as will become clear from the following notes. The vintage yielded riper grapes; the wines were easier to make and are probably more harmonious.

I ran out of time before I could taste at all of the tables, but I made a point of visiting with new producers as well as with veterans, along with some fruit wineries, a meadery and a distiller. Here are my notes. Averill Creek Vineyard. He has 14 hectares 36 acres of vines and last season, he produced 3, cases of wine.

As in Beaujolais , carbonic maceration of whole berries produced a playful and juicy red meant to be enjoyed chilled in summer and year-round in the hot tub. Here is what some vintners did with Pinot Noir that was not optimally ripe. The lees contribution balances the acidity nicely. The wine has strawberry aromas and flavours and a crisp, dry finish.

Fermented in tank, this wine is crisp and refreshing, with aromas of green apple and citrus. Pinot Gris signifies a style that should be quite different from Pinot Grigio.

Andy achieved this by barrel-fermenting the wine and leaving it in oak for nine months. However, the oak flavours are nicely subdued, leaving the starring role to the flavours of grapefruit, peach and ripe apples. This wine shows classic aromas and flavours of cherry and strawberry and has an appealing texture. This is a remarkable wine, deep in colour, with dark fruit aromas and with flavours of black cherry and mocha chocolate.

The texture is rich and silky at the same time. The two Cabernets are red hybrids developed by a Swiss plant breeder; they are being grown in a number of island vineyards. This medium-bodied wine is bright with red berry aromas and with flavours of cherry and cranberry. She is not just referring to developing the winery. In the adventurous couple, who had previous careers in the oil industry, sailed a yacht across the Atlantic. Beaufort is an acre property, including eight acres of vineyard and plenty of room for more vines.

Because theirs was the first winery in the Comox Valley , the Vandermolens cautiously did not rush to plant much vineyard, first figuring out what works on the site. In the meantime, they have also have purchased Okanagan grapes and made wines both from these and from their own grapes that garnered many awards. It is juicy and delicious, with flavours of apple, peach and grapefruit. During a previous adventure in Morocco , the Vandermolens had heard of a seductive goddess of lust called Qandisa.

Somehow, that seems like an appropriate personality for a seductive dry white from the Siegerrebe grape. This wine is packed with aromas and flavours of spicy grapefruit. The wine has aromas and flavours of strawberry and cherry. It is refreshingly delicious. It is a firm red, with flavours of cherry, blackberry and chocolate. Blue Grouse changed ownership last year when founder Hans Kiltz and his family sold the winery to Paul and Cristina Brunner.

He is a retired mining engineer and businessman who had developed an interest in wine during an international career that included some wine-making countries. I posted a complete blog on site last August. The winery will complete the transition from Hans when it releases the new Blue Grouse wines this summer. Blue Grouse came to the Victoria tasting with library wines, as they should. Hans made excellent wines throughout his 20 harvests on this Cowichan Valley vineyard.

This is made in the classically crisp Hans Kiltz style with amazing youthful freshness. The aromas and flavours include citrus, green apple and herbs. This is a cerebral white, crisp with citrus and herbal aromas but with generous fruit on the palate. It is a crisp and refreshing white with flavours of lime, green apples and herbs. Perhaps this wine has peaked and is starting to move on.

It is a touch austere and earthy, with flavours of cherry and hints of chocolate. Blue Moon Estate Winery. Blue Moon is a fruit winery that George Ehrler and Marla Limousin opened in on a beautiful organic farm near Courtenay. Considering that they both had long careers as consultants in the Canadian Arctic, they have turned out to be superb wine makers.

They make fruit wines that, for the most part, are dry and easily paired with food. Made with nine varieties of apples, this crisp and refreshing wine has layers of flavour, giving it a good deal of complexity. It is nine varieties of apples and three varieties of pears, making a wine that finishes with a refreshing crispness.

This is a lovely pear wine, with cleanly focussed flavours and a dry finish. Here is another nine-apple tour de force, perhaps less dry that Sirius, This is blackberry and blueberry with a touch of black currant that gives the wine a rustic austerity. Disclaimer: I am not a fan of black currant wine … but the winery has won a gold medal in competition with this, so what do I know? Making good dry blackberry table wine often eludes amateurs.

George, who can now be considered a pro, nails it, with authentic berry flavours but without the bitterness sometimes found in dry blackberry wine.

This is a dry raspberry wine with an intriguing dusty and smoky aroma and a clean, tangy finish. An intense and concentrated blueberry and blackberry blend made by the solera method. There is residual sweetness on the finish. This is a medium-bodied blackberry port, packed with fruit flavours and happily not overly sweet.

The owners of this bucolic property, which includes an excellent bed and breakfast, are Marsha and Dave Stanley and their friend, Alison Philp.

The wines are both grape and fruit wines, typically with a lavender grace note. The lavender was perhaps too strong in some of the debut vintages but the owners have tamed those flavours by using carefully modulated dashes of lavender syrup rather that lavender tea.

There is no lavender in this crisp and delicately fruity Pinot Grigio but the owners are so dedicated to the concept that they named the wine for a variety of white lavender. It is crisp and tangy with flavours, of course, of rhubarb. The winery recommends it for spicy foods, such as Thai curries, and I would second that idea.

This is a medium-bodied dry blackberry table wine. The dash of lavender complements the berry flavours. Named for another lavender variety, this is a blend of fruit and grape wines; the backbone is the Castel grape grown on the property. It has appealing flavours of cherry and raspberry and the finish is dry.

This Saanich winery opened in on a lovely country property with views of Mount Baker from the wine shop. And I missed a few of the other estate-grown wines, distracted by answering wine questions posed by a pretty fellow attendee.