Anthony Gismondi: B.C. wine for the week of May 26, a bottle to cellar and calendar items

Article content

A Taste of Sechelt festival, a collaboration between the Sechelt Downtown Business Association and Lighthouse Liquor Store, welcomes locals and visitors Saturday, May 28, for a day of shopping, exploring, and tasting.

Article content

From noon to 2 p.m., you can purchase an etched Taste of Sechelt wine glass at a central downtown location and use it at a dozen participating retailers to enjoy complimentary samples of wine, spirits, beer, or cider. In addition, several local eateries will be offering special $6 menu items.

The main event features 25 winery tables, each pouring four to five local or international wines at Seaside Centre, a beautiful “West Coast” space with exposed beams and lots of windows.

Samples will be paired with appetizers from local restaurants, and Joe Rotundo and the Interstellar Riders will provide live music.

Doors will open to all ticket holders from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available online at Taste of Sechelt Main Event.

Article content

Heads-up if you are heading to the Okanagan at the end of July. Meyer Family Vineyard will host an evening with Jack and Jill on July 30, at the Okanagan Falls winery.

The doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the bands will play from 8 to 11 p.m. Guests are asked to bring their dancing shoes, blankets and lawn chairs.

Wine will be available by the glass or bottle, and $20 shuttle runs from Oliver, Penticton, and Osoyoos will be in place. Several local food trucks will be selling food. Tickets are $35 at mfv.com.

B.C. wine of the week

CheckMate Artisanal Winery Attack Chardonnay 2019, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 

$115 I 94/100

UPC: 776545802941

At the top of the heap, most every year, Attack is a co-ferment of Dijon clones and the Dekleva clone from Jagged Rock on the Black Sage Bench near Oliver and Border Vista Vineyard on the Osoyoos East Bench. Their 2019 was fermented and aged just under 500 days in two French oak foudres reducing the new oak with a positive effect to 50 per cent. The foudres have set this Chardonnay free. When you add the change to organic growing, there is a freshness and lift along with a characteristic sea salt aroma and flavours throughout that underpin pear and mandarin notes, all at a comfortable 13.8 per cent alcohol. Finally, a light reductive note and a dash of minerality tighten up the wine and keep its pure fruited Chardonnay flavours in check — an impressively reliable next world Chardonnay.

Article content

Wine for the cellar 

Langmeil Hangin’ Snakes Shiraz 2019, Barossa Valley, South Australia, Australia 

$34.99 I 90/100

UPC: 9325387500006

Thanks to a drier than average growing season and spring frosts, 2019 is the smallest vintage in 20 years, The harvest was quick and conducted under hot, dry conditions threatening excessive sugar levels. Warm and dry was the antidote to disease, so what fruit got to the winery was in immaculate condition and fully ripe. There is only two per cent Viognier in the mix, but it does what it is supposed to do: lift the Shiraz off the floor and give the wine a kickstart. The nose is aromatic with plums and blueberries mixed with soft, sweet fruit and plenty of savoury notes. It is a wine for the barbecue — rich, round and drinkable it is suited to pork or beef favourites. The alcohol stabilizes at 14.5 per cent as the wine ages for 10 months in seasoned American and French oak — a great wine for summer backyard parties.