Anthony Gismondi: B.C. wine for the week of June 16

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Wild Goose Vineyards in Okanagan Falls is back running at full speed after last year’s sale to the Wyse family, longtime Okanagan proprietors of Burrowing Owl Vineyard and Winery.

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Most of the Kruger family and their team have remained at the winery allowing for a smooth transition.

The Tasting Room is open for walk-in tastings Monday to Friday but you’re also encouraged to book a reservation online for a half-hour tasting experience sampling four estate wines.

In addition, the barbecue-focused Smoke & Oak Bistro is open Thursday to Sunday for the season, from noon to six p.m. 

• In a Drinks Business report, Edgardo Del Pópolo, general manager and grower at Susana Balbo Wines in Argentina, said: “Argentina producers are finally making Malbec for themselves.”

Del Pópolo, along with owner and chief winemaker Balbo, has decided that a more modern, fresher style of Malbec is the new game, in essence leaving market expectations at the door. Del Pópolo thinks the new style emerging over the last decade is a “natural movement in Argentina.”

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The transition from using a lot of new oak to a more minimal intervention style has set the grape free to tell the story of its high-altitude origins. The third organic vintage of Balbo’s first organic Malbec, made using no sulphites, has now been released with a limited run of 12,000 bottles to wide acclaim.

Abandoning the taste of the U.S. market takes guts but so does making better wine. Go Argentina.

B.C. wine of the week

Corcelettes Oracle Rosé 2021, Similkameen Valley

$23.90 I 91/100

UPC: 626990190486

This rosé has improved every time out and now ranks among the very best in Canada. It’s the perfect vehicle to show off the many attributes of the Similkameen from its pale, barely-there Provencal colour.

The mix of guava and raspberries is flecked with stony mineral bits and a creamy, pink grapefruit finish. The finesse almost belies its makeup of 70/30 Pinot Noir and Syrah, but it’s aided by a 90/10 stainless steel and neutral barrel fermentation, and aging vessels.

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Best of all, it’s dry. Dungeness crab, anyone?

Wine for the cellar

Unsworth Vineyards Pinot Noir 2019, Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island

$32.40 I 90/100

UPC: 626990259008

You will love the light and juicy expression of this Vancouver Island coastal Pinot Noir.

The entry is silky with alluring forest floor aromas streaked with cherries and spice. The palate is a complex mix of dry, black cherry and wild raspberry notes that barely make it out of the glass — piercing acidity to keep it all taut demonstrating Cowichan Valley Pinot at its best.

The majority of the fruit comes off the immaculate Saison Vineyard mixed with 15 per cent Unsworth estate fruit and eight per cent from the nearby Zanatta Vineyard.

The complexity comes from a mix of clones: 115, 667, 777, 828 and a clone whose origin is unknown, all grown over marine sediments.

The winemaking is simple: the fruit is de-stemmed and whole berry fermented in stainless before spending one year in barriques, where only 10 per cent are new.

The tannins are mellow. I’ve tasted this serval times this year, and there is no rush to drink it but a big rush to buy it before it’s all gone.

I can’t wait for the 2020 release.