May 29, 2020
It opens up beautifully. But it opens up slowly. There is definitely a matrooshka doll onion skin Pandora’s box motif going on. It’s beauty does not give it the full marks the vintner and pointsters do: it is a tad thin and not nearly as eloquent as other PNs in this price range, and of course BM (not to be confused with BS) likes to amp up the price. Stick to their under-valued and reasonably priced lovely Pinot Gris…
Time was, when we swore by BM PN, buying it by the case; the “regular” and reserve. Then it went over $30. Then it went over $35. Then it went over $40. Now we can rest our case, so to speak.
Price: Gifted, how wonderful is that, but $40 at the vineyard and a yardstick more at private wine stores in YVR.
Market Liquidity: A bit too much clique and not enough populism.
Posted in British Columbia, Pinot Noir, Red Wine, Uncategorized |
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December 3, 2019
By way of extension from yesterday’s post on Burrowing Owl Pinot Noir, we did a quick compare with an Oregon bottle, sort of a standard-bearer here on the West Coast when it comes to PN. It was silky, smooth, approachable, balletic in its lightness and deftly textured with berries and the thinnest whiff of cedar. But it was also pale and thin and sipped well but died an inglorious death with dinner (a simple vegetarian bean casserole with parmesan and fennel).
This is the sort of wine you could sip all afternoon and not know you’re sipping wine. Which is a compliment. A bit of a back-handed compliment, but judgy-ness aside, it’s someone’s cup of tea. Maybe not our, but someone’s. I’m not big on embroidery, but I know it takes skill…
Generally, the Oregon PN is just too dear as a day to day, although BCL put this one up with a substantial discount, and it was well worth the price, comparatively.
Price: $29, but regularly $37. That’s total value in the BC market.
Market Liquidity: Pretty, but not perfect.
Posted in Pinot Noir, Red Wine, Uncategorized, USA: Oregon |
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December 2, 2019
Uh-oh. That was my note on the first bottle. Notes. Sum total. Uh-oh. So we didn’t post. I just couldn’t wrap my head around this.
But, as is our wont, we got around to a second bottle and gave it some thought and I guess it’s more of a what’s up BO than yikes. This is definitely not the PN you expect, there is no more Burgundy in this bottle than there is butter in Parkay. The nose is a tad astringent but the mouth is weirdly and wildly tropical, the coconut overpowers, and the fruit is pineapple and kiwi, not a berry to be found. It really defied expectation and I’m not sure in a good or bad way. To be clear, it’s enormously palatable, but line it up with some heavyweight Pinot and you’d be hard pressed to guess the varietal on a blind test.
Price: $35 at the vineyard.
Market Liquidity: Sisters are Burrowing Owl is doing it for themselves.
Posted in British Columbia, Pinot Noir, Red Wine, Uncategorized |
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August 7, 2019
A mostly Pinot Gris with a Jamie Oliver sized dab of Gewürztraminer, this is astonishingly good value. In BC, the sparklers generally go, in this order, bats piss to Prosecco to Australian and European bubbles to OVERPRICED BC faux-champers then onto the real McCoy. And here, in a lovely pocket to compete with Cava, is a drinkable and exceptionally food friendly bubbly.
There are flaws, I mean let’s be clear. The bubbles are madcap; they are Seth Rogen laughing at a Between Two Ferns episode with Whoopi Goldberg storming off The View: they fly in all directions, too many, too fast, and explode on the palate like Pop Rocks. The finish is not long enough and attractive with no staying power. But then let’s take a breath and review: Two bottles of this or one of Stellar’s Jay? I mean let’s be social, go two. A sort of minor revelation and a great way to liven up some tapas.
Price: $20 at the vineyard, hard to find in general.
Market Liquidity: Day drinking anyone?
Posted in Blend, British Columbia, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir, Uncategorized, White wine |
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May 28, 2019
So we’re out for a meal at the AGO in Toronto and the waiter suggests a Niagara Pinot, all in for under $50. In a restaurant. A joke? It sounded like a joke. I nearly did a spit take. Anything but however. Who knew Niagara could be so uncompromising?
This is small batch Pinot made with the utmost care. It’s baffling in its deliciousness, delicate berries with a gorgeous spring blossom perfume, the hintiest hint of oak, deftly crafted, food friendly to within an inch of its life. To which I could go on about Bachelder, after the rabbit hole of Google led me down some serious biographical detail, but to see the limited production not spread past the Canadian Shield left us chill. Too bad; this is g as in gorgeous, as in gobsmacked.
Price: Less than $50 with the restaurant markup.
Market Liquidity: Wow wow.
Posted in Ontario, Pinot Noir, Red Wine, Uncategorized |
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May 27, 2019
Uh-oh.
Another BC disaster. Enough acid to bring on GERD. No subtlety, no lightness of touch, no deft currant slash raspberry slash oak. Heavy and dull. Just baffling that wine this uninteresting and inconsequential is sitting on the shelf at $30.
Price: $30 from Save-On.
Market Liquidity: Brash and ineloquent.
Posted in British Columbia, Pinot Noir, Red Wine, Uncategorized |
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February 3, 2019
We felt the 2013 Canyonview set the benchmark for Haywire, a house we more or less adore, but, um, the 2014 feels lost in the rush to make a splash in Decanter and wow us with spectacular whites. Hey Haywire, don’t forget about this vintage, it’s your calling card. It’s like the Ford Mustang: Introduced for Americans who wanted “stickshift action and room for four” it quickly became a ghost.
The 2014 vintage is meaty, funky, chewy, hefty. It’s no Swan Lake in the Burgundy Pinot style. Sure, it has the cache of the Haywire grey label wines and it’s pleasing but it is so definitely not the “ethereal thin juicy” Canyonview of last year. So not. We didn’t even get that tangy, eloquent acidity we loved in the 2013.
Price: A not unreasonable (for this echelon of red) $36.50 at Brewery Creek.
Market Liquidity: Fading from memory as we post.
Posted in British Columbia, Pinot Noir, Red Wine |
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January 17, 2019
From our (very) mixed case of La Frenz in 2018 I would say the reserve Pinot not as appealing or satisfying as the less expensive Blue Mountain run of the mill (and we are halfway through our BM Pinot, loving every bottle). We opened the La Frenz up as a sipper for the Globes and I don’t know, we had it lying down for several months and just expected more I guess. While it doesn’t disappoint there is simply no wow. The layers of flavour and degrees of nuance we anticipated were all there, but not strikingly so, and while it is jammy there is no mushroom or black olives as LF bills it. The finish seemed alarmingly terse.
Price: You can fine it in private wine stores for around $40, or in the low 30s on release from the vineyard.
Market Liquidity: Bronze. At best.
Posted in British Columbia, Pinot Noir, Red Wine |
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December 29, 2018
Too bright and cheery for this holiday season. Like an inflatable Santa, it’s just not up to snuff. Cross check it with some half decent Burgundy and this would be an embarrassment.
Too cherry to boot. Acidic. Tart. A bit thin on top of all that.
Although we have a general fondness for Nichol (we return on a regular basis to the Cab Franc and Syrah and Pinot Gris), I would call this a failure on all fronts. Not so Gismondi who said something like earthy, dusky, finessed and slapped it with 90 points. Shurely shome mishtake? Let’s support the home market by all means but when they bottle an 87 pointer, tops, let’s not give them a pass.
Price: Around $30 give or take depending on where you buy it and in what volume.
Market Liquidity: An imposter.
Posted in British Columbia, Pinot Noir, Red Wine |
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November 5, 2018
We drink at least a case of Blue Mountain every year. It’s very good value, if not valuable, and generally a crowd pleaser, gentle reds and lively whites. The 2013 Pinot, well that sort of put us off their PN, and we reduced our intake the last few years, but the 2016, the entry level base market 2016, is just plain tasty; comfortably round, soft, berry flavour accented by a hint of sharp pepper and some cedar vanilla. Too bad BM can’t seem to shake the cork for screw tops. But kudos for free delivery to Vancouver.
Is it a $30 wine? Well it sells out almost overnight, whether that’s fans or scalpers is anyone’s guess. I’d never shell out $60 in a restaurant, but at home it’s a welcome addition to any basic cellar.
Price: $30 from the vineyard.
Market Liquidity: If not for the cork, a corker.
Posted in British Columbia, Pinot Noir, Red Wine |
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