Canada : Tiny Bites

The road to Thanksgiving: Day 2

6 Comments Karen HamiltonOctober 17, 2008

Saturday morning unfolded groggily as a result of the inebriated 1am family reunion the night before. The maple-orange french toast and heaps of bacon did much to perk us up and whet our appetites for the wine tastings to come.

While my sister-in-law drove to the Kelowna Farmers Market to source fruits and veggies for the rest of the weekend, the remaining 7 piled into the family minivan and crossed the bridge towards CedarCreek, whose 2002 Cabernet Merlot featured prominently at our wedding festivities in 2006.

We got to the estate just in time for the next tour. Meeting point was at the Half Barrel, an aptly named pavilion in the middle of the rose garden. According to Casey, our informative tour guide, roses are often grown alongside Okanagan vines, as grapes and roses are susceptible to similar infestations. Problems with the roses alert staff that something may be threatening the grapes. I didn’t realize flowers could be so useful.

Another interesting tidbit was the significance of Lake Okanagan to the wine-friendly climate of the region. The lake reflects sun and heat in the summer and acts as insulator as the seasons change.

We were led through the processing facility and into the barrel room, which smelled like a forest of berried oak. So much seems to pivot around appropriate barreling–new vs. recycled barrels; American vs. French oak; length of exposure; the toast of the wood itself. Four special Colbert barrels were on display, cut from forests commissioned by Napoleon himself. In these woods, smaller trees were strategically seeded around the oaks in order to grow tall, straight trunks that were free of knots. Their original purpose was for warships, but as the age of galleys declined, acres of these forests were sold to barrel masters to foster wood for the finest oak barrels in the world.

Only three wineries in North America were bestowed with Colbert barrels. CedarCreek is the only one in Canada with this distinction. They are on reserve for the day that the estate produces a Bordeaux blend worthy of being placed inside these esteemed barrels.

CedarCreek Estate Winery
2007 Pinot Gris
2007 Gewurztraminer
2006 Merlot
2006 Platinum Reserve Pinot Noir
2005 Estate Select Meritage
2005 Platinum Reserve Meritage
2006 Platinum Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Casey then returned us to the wine shop for a primer in tasting and a survey of eight CedarCreek wines. The two whites were eclipsed by the reds; the $40 Platinum Meritage was particularly noteworthy. The pinots were alright but not exceptional. Perhaps the fabulous pinots from our visit to Quail’s Gate still lingered on our palates.

Appreciation of wine is hardly complete without sampling its partner in crime, so off we went to the nearby Carmelis estate, producers of artisan goat’s cheese and other goat’s milk products. We enjoyed a lunch of feta and gruyere paninis while pondering which of the specimens in the pen were responsible for the cheese that graced our sandwiches.

St. Hubertus Estate Winery
2007 Vintner’s Reserve Chasselas
2007 Vintner’s Reserve Pinot Blanc
2007 Oak Bay Grand Reserve Gamay Noir
2007 Oak Bay Grand Reserve Marechal Foch

St. Hubertus was 5 kilometres away and our third stop of the day. More chasselas, pinot blanc, foch, and our first Okanagan encounter with gamay noir. Nothing stuck out at me or my husband, but a few of the fam liked the reds enough to grab bottles of the gamay and the foch for dinner.

Tantalus, home of exceptional gewurztraminer riesling according to Annika of SocialBites.ca, was unfortunately (for us) sold out of all of this year’s stock and was therefore closed for the weekend. The only other winery in the area was Summerhill–a wine producer that never failed to disappoint us in the past–but onward to Summerhill we headed, nevertheless.

Summerhill Pyramid Winery
2007 Ehrenfelser
2006 Foch
Chalice N/V (non-vintage)

We should have known from the chartered bus of tourists and the half dozen giant tacky sculptures (one being a gravity-defying champagne bottle) that this establishment would be little more than a tourist trap. The tasting area was nearly a hangar stuffed with disinterested out-of-towners and even more nonchalant staff.

Our wine guide barely spoke a word to us other than demanding our photo ID. My relatives reluctantly produced theirs, while I, who had never been asked for ID in all of the wineries we’ve visited, made it quite clear how improbable my return to the car would be, simply to prove that I was pushing 30. My outrage must have been palpable because our guide slid me a glass and didn’t press the subject further.

I almost wish the ID requirement prevented me from participating in the tastings, as each of the 3 wines put in front of me left horrible impressions on my tongue. They went down the throat like vinegar (my husband suggested ‘battery acid’ but I found that harsh for even these wines). No way were any of us paying to see what the reserves were like.

It was too bad that our wine tastings ended on a sour note, but our homecoming more than made up for it. We returned to a cottage permeated with that homey scent of bread and cinnamon. My sister-in-law, back from the farmers market, had decided to greet us with a freshly baked cranberry loaf. I didn’t need much prodding to cut myself a thick wedge as the family relaxed into the evening.

Our resident Welshman manned the mojito station, giving us something else to wet our whistles besides wine.

Shortly thereafter, a steaktacular dinner was prepared by my husband.

More baking by my sister-in-law (apple crisp this time), all washed down with the Sumac Ridge cab franc and the St. Hubertus gamay noir.

After dinner, half of us transformed the dining room table into a euchre tournament while the rest trash talked throughout the season’s first Hockey Night in Canada. We continued to savour each other’s company into the wee hours of the night.