Last weekend, the 15th Annual Spring Wine Festival wrapped up and by all accounts, it was the most successful Spring Festival so far. Much like the Fall Festival, wine tastings, winemaker dinners and wine events were held up and down the valley including the emerging Similkameen Valley.

The Spring Wine Festival is usually when new wines are released onto the market. Watch out for some of the new 2008 whites, 2007 reds and few 2006 reds that have been held back by selected wineries for extra aging.

Case in point would be the 2006 reds from the tiny Naramata Bench winery, Nichol Vineyard. Proprietor/winemaker Ross Hackworth has produced three outstanding reds, a Pinot Noir, Syrah and Cabernet Franc. All are true to varietal characteristics with loads of personality. Check them out.

I have been a fan of the wines from the tiny Cawston winery, Orofino, for about four years now and they never seem to disappoint.

The new release of the 2008 Orofino Riesling ($22) is sourced from owner/winemaker John Weber’s own 18-year-old vineyard and neighbour’s Lee and Cheryl Hendsbee 3-year-old Riesling vineyard. A great tasting wine, look for buckets of fresh green apple, lime, white peach, pear, nectarine with hints of honey, clover, orange and mango. The palate and texture is lush and juicy with intense orchard and tropical fruit and an almost creamy mouth feel. The finish is tart and crisp making this a perfect wine to pair with spicy Asian dishes or Indian curries. A small production of 240 cases, this will surely be one of the finer wines from the spectacular 2008 vintage.

Also from Orofino, the 2007 Red Bridge Red ($29.90) is a 100% Merlot sourced exclusively from Chris Scott’s Oak Knoll vineyard in Kaleden. Displaying a rich blood red colour, this wine is explosive on the palate displaying powerful aromas of blackberry, cassis, creamy vanilla, cocoa and toast. Intense grilled sausage, spiced cardamom, clove and blackberry with a soft, juicy palate, exceptional weight and lush, spicy finish, this wine will need another six months to show its true potential. Only 350 cases of this were made so allocations for the retail market are minuscule. Grab yours why you can and stow them away.

The 2007 Sandhill Gamay ($20-$24 PWS & GLS) is sourced from a small block of vines from the Sandhill Estate Vineyard, which were planted in 1999. Aged for 9 months in French and American oak and displaying a rich, dark colour, the aromas of blackberry, licorice, menthol, chocolate and cedar leap out of the glass. Intensely flavoured with lush juicy black fruit, sweet licorice, balanced acidity and tannins, this wine tastes more like a big juicy Merlot than a soft Gamay but who cares…this is one superb wine. Beautifully balanced between the lush black fruit character, the velvety soft acidity and the firm tannins, this wine can be aged for another 2 years but it is delicious to enjoy now for its youth and vitality. Grilled meats are de rigueur for this wine.

Always known as being fruit salad in-a-glass, the 2008 CedarCreek Ehrenfelser ($18-$21 PWS & GLS) does not disappoint. Loaded with fresh pink grapefruit, white peach, nectarine, lemon-lime with a hint of sweetness, the finish is full of crisp, racy acidity. A perfect companion to Indian curries, spicy Asian dishes or just on its own.

While the arrival of the 2007 reds and 2008 whites is on the horizon, there is still good quantities of the ‘06 reds and ‘07 whites on store shelves. These wines have had a whole year in the bottle to fully develop the complex aromas and flavours that newly released wines have difficulty showing because of their young age. Now is the time to reap the rewards of that extra year in the bottle.

The 2007 Joie A Noble Blend ($28.90 PWS) is delicious, just what you need for the roast turkey or spicy Asian foods with its multi varietal blend of Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Kerner, Muscat, Pinot Auxerrois, and Ehrenfelser. Fresh acidity, great aromas and flavours of white peach, citrus and honey with rich concentration on the finish and a hint of sweetness, there is very little of this wine available.

A blend of Riesling and Auxerrois, the 2007 Gehringer Desert Sun ($16 PWS) is full of delicate fruit aromas of clover honey, rose petal, red apple, grapefruit and pineapple with a hint of orange rind. Flavours of citrus, apples, pears and grapefruit with just a hint of lychee nut in the slightly off-dry finish. Finishes with crisp acidity to balance the hint of residual sugars. Perfect with fresh crab or grilled halibut, or spicy Chinese cuisine. Great value.

Awarded “Best of Category” at the 2007 All Canadian Wine Championships, the 2006 Gehringer Brothers Sauvignon Blanc ($19 PWS) shows intense varietal characteristics of rich passion fruit, grapefruit, kiwi, melon, white peach along with a hint of fresh cut green grass. The rich palate from the extended skin contact prior to fermentation gives the wine a mouth coating texture with fresh acidity on the long finish. There is very little of this left and the winery has been sold out for months.

Sourced from the tiny Phantom Creek Vineyard on Black Sage Road between Oliver and Osoyoos, the 2006 Sandhill ‘Small Lots’ Syrah ($42.90) is quite possibly the best Syrah you will find from BC. Reminiscent of the great Syrahs from the northern Rhone, this is a blockbuster wine displaying copious amounts of rich black fruit, spicy licorice, roasted red peppers, smoked pastrami, vanilla, dark chocolate and Asian spice. Totally hedonistic to enjoy right now with a BBQ’d leg of lamb, this wine will continue to evolve over the next decade.

In Vino Veritas