buyingbcwines

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.

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.

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.

Battle of the less expensive Okanagan Pinots.  Sort of like a Pinto and a Maverick in a late 70s showroom.  We would expect the older and slightly more expensive Savard to take this slam dunk but in fact it was the Moraine.

The Savard, with its light tannins and forward acidity came on strong but was weak on the finish.  We expected a velvet smoothness, Mel Tormé, but in fact got something much rougher, more Adam Levine.  At nearly 15% alcohol it definitely faltered: Promise without the promise.  The Moraine, young and juicy and loaded with potential, was like a new best friend.  Some ethereal hook lies in the balance, the fruit, the oak, the undercurrent of clay, it all melded beautifully on the palate. And ooh-la-la what a lovely price point.  You would be hard pressed to find as good a BC Pinot in the mid-20s.  Or, in my estimation, in the high 30s.

Prices: We scored the Moraine on sale at Save On Foods for a heart-warmingly $23.50 before taxes.  We paid just over $26 for the Savard.

Market Liquidity: The Moraine in two, 6-4, 6-2.

We started off the mid-summer August long weekend with our last bottle of this spectacular Pouilly-Fuisse.  Then we turned to a local red, which I initially found egotistical and with an inflated sense of self (i.e., too much praise in the wine press) but have developed a particular fondness for.  Still, it hit the local shops three years ago at $35 and each vintage it creeps up in price yet more; I wholeheartedly feel it’s too expensive for what it is.  So I’ve made it a “gift list” wine.

Not to be confused with the white label (bleachh) or the Waters & Banks, the Canyonview is (in my opinion) the benchmark for Haywire, and their PN this time round is a particular gem: Light, paper thin, ethereal, juicy, slight but not innocuous, it isn’t especially food useful let alone food friendly, but a perfect sipper and easily addictive (one of those the more you drink the better it gets reds).  If the American wine companies win their NAFTA suit to shut down the “BC only” wine market, this is the sort of boutique bottle that will bite the dust.

The third vintage for Canyonview; not their finest moment but certainly not the worst.

Price: Gifted, but it’s a $40 bottle minimum.

Market Liquidity: Add it to your Christmas list.

Summer heaven: Salade Nicoise