See Ya Later Ranch
Brut NV – $21.99 – **** – It has been a couple of years since i’ve seen this wine on the shelves of the LCBO. I hope we see it again soon. Clean and Crisp with nice acidity. There are nice apple notes over citrus. There is a nice yeasty note of rising bread dough. Simply put this is delicious sparkling wine and an affordable addition to your turkey day dinners as we head into that season.
2015 Jimmy My Pal – $13.99 – **** – Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer are what you find in this bottle. I have a personal attachment to this wine as the silhouette of the dog on the bottle vaguely resembles my own Puggle Henri. All personal biases aside, this wine is a great patio sipper. There is a nice mineral note that follows the wine from nose to finish. Flavours of melon, peaches and apple are nicely concentrated with crisp acidity on the finish of this dry wine.
2015 Chardonnay – $16.99 – **** – There are aromas of Butterscotch and Vanilla over Peach and Pineapple. The fruit is very ripe and warm in this glass. This truly feels like a hot summer in a bottle. The flavours match the nose with Pineapple, Orange and Peach that really take over everything your whole mouth. The finish to this wine is clean with nice acidity but there is a bit of baking spice on the finish.
While I stopped by the winery I was able to taste two different vintages of Rover side by side. Rover is a Shiraz/Viognier blend, but frankly it’s a little softer and more elegant than any of the other examples of Syrah I tasted in the Okanagan.
2014 Rover – $21.49 – **** – The nose is a lot of black pepper but there is red and black fruit buried under it. The red fruit is soft and delicate and there is a slight cocoa note on the finish of this wine before the black pepper lingers again on the finish.
2012 Rover – **** – This is soft and delicate from the outset with Raspberry Jam on the nose and on the palate. Even though the fruit is a little warmer on the palate it somehow stays restrained. There is spice in this wine but it is reversed compared to the 2014 vintage… spice is poking through under all the very ripe fruit.
2014 Ping (Meritage) – $22.99 – ****+ – This is a gorgeous wine with fantastic aging potential. While the tannin is firm and this wine is a little tight and will need some time in a decanter if you don’t have the patience to wait 5-7 years to let this wine relax. There are lots of red fruit – Cherry, Strawberry, Raspberry but then it moves to Black Currant and Blackberry.
