Anthony Gismondi offers up five of B.C.’s best bottles of Pinot Gris
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Pinot Gris is an important grape, with a long history, in British Columbia. As we wrap up 2021, the local Gris celebrates 45 years of growth. It ranks first among all white varieties in the ground and third overall among all provincial plantings.
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The first 50 Pinot Gris vines came from Alsace in 1976 as part of what would become known as the Becker Project.
Dr. Helmut Becker, the director of grape breeding at Germany’s Geisenheim Institute, came to the Okanagan Valley and, recognizing its cool climate, offered a selection of vines from the famed Geisenheim research plots to Gray Monk founders George and Trudy Heiss. The Heiss family took a chance on the cultivar and even named their winery after the colloquial expression used for Pinot Gris in Austria and Hungary — the rest, as they say, is history.
The growth of Pinot Gris has been impressive, to say the least, especially for a grape that hasn’t received a lot of love from the media or the trade. But consumers have different ideas about Pinot Gris, and as they always do, they vote with their wallets, and in B.C., they vote a lot.
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There have been some important style changes in the last decade, and they illustrate how eventually the wine world works — often, a handful of top-flight labels emerge and slowly pull the rest of the category along in their wake. Translation: when a few reach for the stars, it can inspire the many to follow. Think California Cabernet Sauvignon, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc or Argentine Malbec.
We love that the style evolves at the top after suffering through a decade of too many off-dry, fruit salad-flavoured Pinot Gris. The change is part of a larger B.C. movement with growers experimenting with various techniques, including oak and concrete and, more importantly, growing better clones on sites better suited to the variety. The result is vibrant, true cool-climate wine that comes with a level of energy, excitement, acidity, minerality and mouth feel that few in the world can match.
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We mention all this in the face of the Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio results last month at the National Wine Awards in Penticton. While hardly a tsunami, the six gold medals awarded tripled the last result in 2019 and exceeded the total gold medals the category collected over two decades. The even better news is eight out of the top ten were from B.C.
The top six golds were all close in quality, but our list ranks them according to their scores. The top-rated were: 50th Parallel 2020 Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley ($25.98), Bordertown 2019 Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley ($19), Mission Hill 2020 Reserve Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley ($21.99) and Hillside 2020 Un-oaked Pinot Gris, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley ($26.45), Gold, Rathjen Cellars 2019 Pinot Gris Saison Vineyard, Vancouver Island ($30) and O’Rourke’s Peak Cellars 2020 Skin Kissed Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley ($30).
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Other top picks include Volcanic Hills 2019 Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia ($25.29), Free Form 2020 Vin Gris, Okanagan Valley ($27.90), Indigenous World 2020 Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley ($20.99), SpearHead 2020 Golden Retreat Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley ($23.10), Liquidity 2020 Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley ($21) and Deep Roots 2020 Rhododendron Pinot Gris, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley ($29.90).
It’s an important moment for Pinot Gris and one that is sure to happen more often over the next 10 years because just being a varietal wine is no longer good enough. The future of Pinot Gris is all about where it is headed, not about its past.
Red Rooster Pinot Gris 2020, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
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$16.99 I 89/100
UPC: 058976502585
It is advertised as a lot of fun to drink, and it is. Balanced and packed full of perfectly ripe, juicy fruit with a hint of minerality and a touch of cool (clay loam soil) weight, all of which heightens its mouth feel. A terrific summer white you can follow this into the fall and winter with most any favourite shellfish dish — more, please.
Spearhead Pinot Gris Golden Retreat Vineyard 2020, East Kelowna, Okanagan Valley, BritishColumbia, Canada
$20.99 I 89/100
UPC: 626990441175
Golden Retreat Vineyard is in Summerland, and like Naramata and perhaps the Similkameen, these are the star sites for Pinot Gris. Winemaker Grant Stanley prefers the tighter, sleeker style of Gris, although I find this wine very accommodating in 2020 with its ripe citrus touched with honey and lees. Ten per cent of the fruit is fermented in two-year-old French oak barrels adding a touch of texture and weight to the mix. In fact, in 2021, most of the heft comes from very ripe orchard fruits, giving it a somewhat juicy tropical front end balanced off by a mineral finish. Perfect for richer seafood dishes this year. Super value.
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Clos du Soleil Winemaker’s Series Whispered Secret Vineyard Pinot Gris 2020, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia, Canada
$21.99 I 90/100
UPC: 626990344957
Organic Pinot Gris from Whispered Secret Vineyard in Keremeos is fermented in stainless steel barrels, tanks, and French oak puncheons. Like other Similkameen 2020s, it has a presence in the bottle that is almost unnerving. There is a complexity and layers of flavours you don’t normally associate with Pinot Gris, including texture, precision, power, and finesse. Of course, it is only a Pinot Gris, but what the heck? It is a good one. The finish is dry and crisp with a twist of lime pith. We love the price, serve with raw or lightly cooked shellfish and raw or barely cooked tomato dishes or fresh goat cheese.
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Mission Hill Reserve Pinot Gris 2020, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
$21.99 I 90/100
UPC: 776545991171
Mission Hill is a model of consistency at the Reserve level and continues to tweak the lineup in search of something special each time out. Their 2020 is a mix of Naramata (freshness) and Oliver (ripeness and orange peels) fruit. Some 46 per cent is fermented on oak, but only nine percent is new. It has just about all you want in fruit, texture and weight, with nectarines and oranges vying for the flavour profile. Clean refreshing with a creamy, leesy finish. Stylish and ready to drink. Fish tacos, creamy pasta, and soft cheeses all work here.
Phantom Creek Estates Pinot Gris 2018, Okanagan Falls, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
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$33 I 92/100
UPC: 626990404828
There are Alsace clones and an Alsace style. Still, mostly those are only words in the New World unless Olivier Humbrecht, the legendary Alsace winemaker and biodynamic guru, happens to be the consulting winemaker. There is nothing showy about the wine, but rather it is all nuance and innuendo, mixing mostly tart fruit flavours, desert scrub, and sagebrush with a lime peel finish. Complex and persistent, this is a wine for thinkers and drinkers. It is painstakingly fermented over four months to dryness using only indigenous yeasts. It is a new benchmark for Pinot Gris in B.C. and gives me hope for the many hectares of Pinot Gris planted locally to reach a higher goal.
Tired of turkey? This dish created by Jenny Hui, executive chef of The Lazy Gourmet , puts Cornish game hens on the table. The flavourful dish sees roasted tomatoes added to the mix to adding a nice a touch.
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Roasted Cornish game hen with roasted tomato sauce
6 Roma tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
1/2 small white onion, julienned
2 tsp (10 mL) minced garlic
4 tbsp (60 mL) olive oil
4 x 1 lb (454 g) Cornish game hens
8 cloves garlic
8 sprigs thyme
8 sprigs oregano
4 tbsp (60 mL) butter
1/4 cup (60 mL) white wine
3/4 cup (180 mL) chicken stock
2 tsp (10 mL) balsamic vinegar
Preheat oven to 375F. In a medium bowl, combine tomatoes, white onions and minced garlic. Drizzle with 4 tbsp of olive oil. Mix well, until Roma tomatoes are coated with oil.
Lay tomatoes on bottom of roasting pan. Place rack on top and set aside.
In each of the hen cavity, place 2 cloves of garlic, 2 sprigs of thyme, 2 sprigs of oregano, and 1 tbsp of butter. Rub some olive oil over each hen and season with salt and pepper, as well as inside the cavity. With butcher twine, tie the legs together.
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Place hen on top of rack. Place in oven. Roast for 15 minutes. While the hen is roasting, combine wine and chicken stock.
Remove hen from oven and pour stock/wine over the hens. Return to the oven. Continue roasting until temperature of hen is 165F.
Remove from oven. Gently tilt the hen so the juices fall out of the cavity. Place hen on platter and allow to rest.
Pour roasted tomatoes and drippings into a small pot. Bring to a boil.
Puree the sauce and mix in balsamic vinegar. Re-season if needed. Remove the herbs and garlic from the inside of the hen. Serve with sauce. Enjoy.
Serves 4.
Roasted Cornish game hen with roasted tomato leads us to Tuscany and Chianti Classico, where wild foods and tomatoes are a staple.
Fontella Chianti Nero 2018, Tuscany, Italy $14.99
A delicious drinking red wine with juicy, red cherry fruit flavours that will cut through the hen and melt into the tomatoes.
San Felice Chianti Classico 2018, Tuscany, Italy $22.99
Cherries and red currants with tart cranberry acidity and just enough tannin take on the roasted hen straight-up bite after bite.
Source: vancouversun.com
