Monte Creek, Kamloops

Photo: Contributed

For Canada’s 150th birthday this year, Castanet is featuring an Okanagan wine each week, celebrating the bottles of our Valley and the diversity of the Canadian wine industry, including suggested food pairings and Canadian music artist to listen to while enjoying a glass. For current availability, consult the winery.

Wine: Ranch Hand Red Reserve (blend), 2015

Winery: Monte Creek, Kamloops (Monte Creek)

Why drink it? Never mind that one of their other red blends just won “best red blend” at the Spring Okanagan Wine Festival, this wine shows that Monte Creek likes to have fun with blends and under-the-radar grapes such as Marquette and Frontenac Noir (give those a Google). The winery says it can hold till 2020, but this medium-bodied, straightforward red with Bing cherry and dark plum nuances is great to drink now. While it’s been aged for more than a year, it is already smooth with supple tannins, hints of cinnamon and nutmeg.

Price: $30

Pair with: Generally, a young-ish red blend calls for some meat. While this one is smooth enough for a glass on its own, it pairs well with a nice meat sauce ladled over pasta, or spicy pork meatballs stuffed with cheese, and…a takeout beef burrito when it’s been a long workday.

Classic cancon music pairing: New Frontier, Aaron Pritchett

Have a wine you'd like to suggest? Contact us at [email protected], and we will put you in touch with our wine writer.