RKS 2023 Wine: Meyer Family Vineyards 2022 Chardonnay from British Columbia

Meyer Family Vineyards released a knockout 2022 Gewürztraminer recently. I think most wine drinkers recognize MFV for its Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays so let us try their “entry level” 2022 Okanagan Valley Chardonnay 80% of which was aged in stainless steel and 20% in neutral French oak barrels for 6 months. Due to that high stainless-steel percentage and neutral French oak, one might expect a perky Chardonnay instead of a richer oaked Chardonnay.

It was made from grapes grown at the Old Main Road Vineyard on the Naramata Bench, Anarchist Mountain Vineyard in Osoyoos and the McLean Creek Vineyard in Okanagan Falls.

2,000 cases made.

Aroma: Apple, pear, mango, tangerine and a bit of pineapple.

Palate: Perhaps straightlaced and conservative might be preferred over perky. The acidity is present but in no way out of line. Pear, mango, apricot with a hint of ginger. Short finish. No flies on this Chardonnay. Technically correct.

Personality: Efficient, calm and businesslike. Reliable and trustworthy. I will not be dancing on the table with a lampshade on my head.

Food Match: Grilled porgy, sea bream or sea bass with a sauce of EV Olive Oil, lemon and Greek oregano.

Cellarbility: Drink by the end of 2024.

Price: $20.96 (British Columbia).

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 87/100.

(Meyer Family Vineyards 2022 Okanagan Valley Chardonnay, B.C. VQA, Meyer Family Vineyards, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, 750 mL, 13%).

Best to contact the winery for shipping and retail availability.

RKS 2023 Wine: Mayhem 2021 Cabernet Merlot

The Okanagan in British Columbia can produce top notch red wines including Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Given that solid reputation is it then simply a question whether Mayhem winemaker Ajay Chavan has the skills to produce this blend that will invoke the wow factor? I should add the wine was in my passive cellar at a summer temperature of 64 degrees about ten degrees higher than its winter temperature. I had to pop in the freezer for 10 minutes to bring it to a proper cool temperature. I should have checked the cellar temperature before opening the wine. Red wine should be served slightly chilled in my humble opinion. Do you ever go to a restaurant and see the wine so nicely displayed on shelves at room temperature! No. No. Sorry for the digression while the wine was chilling.

87% Merlot and 13% Cabernet Franc. Grapes were from Anarchist Mountain Vineyard and the Osoyoos Ryegrass Vineyard. 425 cases were produced.

Aroma: There is enough raspberry floating in the glass one might briefly surmise analogies to Chilean Carménère. Let’s not forget the black cherry, blackberry, root beer, Black Forest Cake and Quebec raisin pie.

Palate: This tastes like the product of a hot growing season as it is all about ripe fruit and the hot finish is no surprise considering an alcohol level just shy of 14%. June was a sizzler in the Okanagan with vineyard tonnages down by close to 35% but canopy management and irrigation scheduling resulted in quality small berries with concentrated flavours. It could be that heat which made me detect some raisin pie on the nose? It was aged 11 months in seasoned French barriques.

Personality: You might want to say I have a bit of a Latin personality. A bit hot and passionate about not love and lust but quality!  But I do love (platonically and professionally of course) winemaker Ajay for taming me considering the heat in June! You absolutely must chill me down so I am cool and I am not talking hipster cool!

Cellarbility: I would wait until September to open and would consume by the end of 2025.

Food Match: The winery suggests charred steak topped with Dragon Breath Blue Cheese and roasted fingerling potatoes. Who am I to argue with that. I would be daring to suggest Japanese Cod Curry. White fish and red wine the great evil? Oh yeah give it a try with some SB curry mix!

Price: $24.44 CDN. Check with winery about retail availability but most likely shipping to you is the best option.

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 88/100.

(Mayhem 2021 Cabernet Merlot, Okanagan Valley, B.C. VQA, (produced and bottled under WL302084), Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, 750 mL, 13.8%).

RKS Literature: Third and Fourth Rate Intellectuals (Aldous Huxley)

“Do you know what third-and fourth-rate intellectuals are? They’re professors of philology and organic chemistry at the minor universities, they’re founders and honorary presidents of the Nuneaton Poetry Society and the Baron’s Court Debating Society; they’re the people that organize and sedulously attend all those Conferences for promoting international goodwill and the spread of culture that are perpetually held at Budapest and Prague and Stockholm. Admirable and indispensable creatures, of course. But impossibly dreary; one simply cannot have any relations with them. And how virtuously they disapprove of those who have something better to do than disseminate culture and goodwill-those of us who are concerned with creating beauty-like me; or like you, my child, in deliciously being beauty.”

Aldous Huxley, “After the Fireworks”, 1930

RKS 2023 Wine: High Tension with Mayhem’s 2022’s Naramata Bench Sauvignon Blanc

Talk about wine tasting tension! I pointed the 2021 Mayhem Sauvignon Blanc from the Okanagan in British Columbia at 94. Being somewhat skittish about Sauvignon Blanc that 94 is impressive. How will the 2022 Mayhem Sauvignon Blanc fare? The 2022 tried here was fermented 100% in stainless steel but the 2021 was fermented in French oak. The final blend of the 2022 Sauvignon Blanc reviewed here consists of 93% stainless steel tank and 7% seasoned barrique. In 2022 Mayhem produced two Sauvignon Blancs. There is the 2022 Anarchy Sauvignon Blanc (fermented in 85% seasoned oak) and a lower price point 2022 Sauvignon Blanc (fermented in stainless steel) being the one reviewed here. The two different Sauvignon Blanc grapes are both from the Naramata Bench.

What I can say is that the last two vintages of Mayhem Sauvignon Blanc wowed me and being cheeky and terribly wine ignorant why dwell in the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc cellar with eyes wide shut about an Okanagan Sauvignon Blanc!

Aroma: What a refreshing take on Sauvignon Blanc. The aroma is super laid back and discrete. Zealie Sauvies rather roar at you with gooseberry, cat pee and all those usual Zealie descriptors. There is no doubt this is a Sauvignon Blanc but it has notes of honey, mango, pear, guava, and pineapple. Obviously, this Sauvignon Blanc has been trained by a mindfulness master to meditate and communicate its aromatic characteristics in a calm and “in the moment” way. NAMASTE!

Palate: The aroma is ultra cool and relaxed but it is now time to assert itself on the palate but as it has reached a degree of nirvana as to aromatics it can’t seem to snap out of it and show its character on the palate. The 2021 had a huge mouthfeel but this 22 is somewhat thin perhaps overtaken by overly zippy acidity. I am not a prisoner of previous Mayhem vintages seeking a repetition. But I will say it is a bit disappointing on its own without any comparative drum roll. Short finish.

Personality: I come in big and sophisticated like a very unique Sauvignon Blanc on the nose but unlike my brother and sister previous vintages I have a rather thin character on the palate. Remember unlike the 2021 I have been fermented wholly in stainless steel so I am the new kid on the block. Those looking for the magic of the 2021 Sauvignon Blanc can try the 2022 Anarchy Sauvignon Blanc if there is any left.

Food Match: The folks at Mayhem say seafood, shellfish or white fish, cilantro and scallop ceviche, grilled halibut with chimichurri or fresh picked spinach salad with Okanagan roast pears and goat cheese.  Right on!

Cellarbility: Drink now.

Price: $20.97 (British Columbia).

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 87/100.

(Mayhem 2022 Sauvignon Blanc, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, BC VQA, Mayhem Wines (produced and bottled under WL # 302084), Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, 750 mL, 12%).

358 cases were produced.

RKS Literature: Italian Versus English Women

“What I like about the Italian women is that they don’t seem to matter to be rather ashamed of being women, like so many English girls are, because English girls seem to go about apologizing for their figures, as though they were punctured, the way they hold themselves-it’s really rather abject. But here they’re all pleased and proud and not a bit apologetic or punctured, but just the opposite, which I really like, don’t you?”

“After the Fireworks”, Aldous Huxley, 1930.

RKS 2023 Literature: The Awkwardness of Nakedness

“The Awkwardness with which nakedness is usually accompanied depends on the awareness of our defenseless whiteness, which has since lost all connection with the colours of the surrounding world and for that reason finds itself in artificial disharmony with it. But the sun’s impact restores the deficiency, makes us equal in our naked rights with nature, and the brazen body no longer experiences shame. All this sounds like a nudist brochure-but one’s own truth is not to blame if it coincides with some truth some poor fellow has borrowed.”

Vladimir Nabokov, “The Gift”, 1962.

RKS 2023 Film: “Showing Up”: Will the Poor Pigeon Survive?

As the film commences the monotonous soundtrack is a harbinger of what is to come. Dowdy, frumpy artsy fartsies rule the screen with the personalities of caterpillars. Michelle Williams has the energy and vitality of a snail although if that the role she is supposed to play then her performance is brilliant. Wearing clogs and socks match her depressive character. Everyone has that dowdy look somewhat out of synch with some of the impressive art they are creating. Yes, it is a story of starving artists in Portland trying to survive. If this is supposed to be a comedy don’t beam me up Scotty! If it is a story of interpersonal relationship the film is very slim on that account.

About the only meaning in life they have as portrayed in the film is their shows and low key they are with cheap wine, cheese and potato chips.

The most exciting if not riveting part of the film is whether the wounded pigeon will survive! I found myself cheering and moaning when the pigeon appeared on the screen! I can’t recall if the pigeon received any credits at the conclusion of the movie.

Yes and Michelle Williams must have being playing the Queen of Frump intentionally and she pulls it off stealing the otherwise brilliant performance of the pigeon.

You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPVkIQ62ZmU

Directed by Kelly Reichardt. It opens up in Canada on June 27 on various VOD platforms.

RKS 2023 Film Rating 49/100.

RKS 2023 Wine: Okanagan’s Mayhem 2022 Rosé

The 100% Merlot grapes used in the wine were handpicked from Ryegrass Road Vineyard in Oliver British Columbia. The grapes were crushed and destemmed directly into the press. The final blend consists of 92% stainless steel tank and 8% neutral barrique.

Aroma: This rosé verging on dark in colour is made from 100% Merlot. It speaks to me of strawberry and raspberry sort of like a portent to summer harvest of those two fruits. Simple and delightful it invites you to explore further with a sip.

Palate: Strawberry, raspberry and it is a bit zippy which is nicely balanced with the fruit so the zip does not get out of hand. Some like zippy wines and others dislike. From where I hold my glass my thoughts are best to pair with foods that like some acidity.

Food Match: Greek salad, tomato salad with basil, simple herbed pasta sauce made with fresh herbs of your choice and local field tomatoes. Try with a charcuterie platter. The winery suggests grilled salmon alongside a strawberry goat cheese salad or eggs benny with smoked salmon and fresh dill. YUM!

Personality: I am perky and some might call me vivacious. That I am suited more towards consumption with food than naked in this glass some might even call me European.

Cellarbility: Drink by New Year’s Eve!

Price: $20.97 (CDN). Check with the winery about shipping. There were only 175 cases produced.

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 88/100.

(Mayhem 2022 Rosé, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia VQA, Produced and Bottled under WL 302084, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, 750 mL, 13.5%).

RKS 2023 Wines: Meyer Family Vineyards 2022 McLean Creek Road Gewürztraminer: The French Toast of Gewürztraminer?

Finding wines from British Columbia in Ontario is about as easy as finding wine from Ontario in a Portuguese hypermarché. What a pity that our Liquor Control Board of Ontario releases more Portuguese wine than wines from British Columbia! So I had to hop on my private jet and fly 5 hours to Kelowna to pick up some wines from Meyer Family Vineyards and Mayhem Wines in the Okanagan. All that fuel! And the $199.99 a day parking fee ouch! To save money I had to sleep in my plane and eat at the Kelowna COSTCO at 2125Baron Road. As I bought my Lear jet from an Albanian mobster at least I have a gold-plated toilet seat. I charged a fee for local media to see this wonder I call the Tirana Toilet.

So what say this Gewürtz?

Aroma: The best peaches in the world are Turkish and the aroma in this Gewürtz is Turkish peach. There is a rich streak of mango running about like a naked teenager at a college football game. To be clear here the wine is loaded with discrete fruit. West Coast laid back they might say in Toronto.

Palate: Whilst in the Dâo region of Portugal I noted soils are granitic sand with some alluvial deposits. There are massive boulders left behind from glacier retreats and the white Encruzado wine has a certain raspiness to it in the back throat almost as if micro particles of rock are tickling the throat. The soil from the McLean Road Vineyard is comprised of alluvial and glacial deposits making up a mix of gravel and sandy loam and yes the wine has a seductive raspiness to it like Diane Keaton singing jazz in “Annie Hall”. I have yet to experience this raspiness in Alsatian Gewürtz. So let us call this a unique Gewürtz.

Personality: Big mango and peach but laid back with a tai chi calmness with the seriousness of a Buddhist monk. I was made from a mixture of whole cluster presses and destemmed grapes pressed with a 4-week fermentation in stainless steel and seasoned French oak barrels.

Cellarbility: Will sail into 2025 nicely.

Food pairing: As I have a microwave in my jet and a COSTCO nearby this went well with some Dave Barrett Family Thai Curry I purchased at COSTCO! Had I been in a fully equipped kitchen it would have been Moroccan clementine chicken.

Price: $17.48 (CDN). Contact the winery for shipping possibilities and cost.

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 94/100. I rarely say this but if you love Gewürtz this is case worthy.

Only 450 cases made. I see many a wine writer praising MFV Chardonnay and Pinot Noir as the best thing since sliced bread and I agree with them but this Gewürtz is in that league. Perhaps it is the French Toast of Gewurztraminer.

(Meyer 2022 Gewürztraminer, Okanagan Valley, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia VQA, Meyer Family Vineyards, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, 750 mL, 13.5%)

RKS 2023 Wine and Travel: Vinho Verde’s Missed Opportunity?

On June 20th I attended a Vinho Verde trade event in Toronto which was organized by Vinho Verde. Vinho Verde is a wine region in beautiful Northern Portugal perhaps best known for its crisp white wine.

As far as trade shows for wine the venue was great but were there some opportunities missed? Given my recent attendance at Wine and Travel Week in Porto in February I thought many Portuguese wine regions through their promotional and regulatory arms were promoting a new paradigm of “wine tourism”. That paradigm so evident and Wine and Travel Week holds that wine, travel, gastronomy and culture should be in a symbiotic relationship. Exhibitors at that event were promoting not only wine but wine travel routes, gastronomy, touristic sites and attempting to clarify there is more to wine than wine if you know what I mean. I found it telling I was wandering around at the trade show in Toronto with a guide on the Vinho Verde Wine Route I picked up at Wine and Travel Week in Portugal. I had several people ask where did I get the guide….not at the event!

At the Toronto trade event there was lots of wine illustrating the variation in white wines but there was no Vinho Verde reds perhaps reinforcing the stereotype Vinho Verde is an exclusive white wine domain. I was not the only one at the event disappointed with its white wine hegemony.

The food served lacked a Vinho Verde gastronomic offering. Most of us in the trade are not there to eat but some authentic Vinho Verde food appropriately labelled would have given the event more zip. Italian wine trade shows are masters in providing Italian cuisine! Attendees at these wine events are not afraid to express their opinions as to the “cheapness” of food offered! Ungrateful you say? Perhaps but I am telling you like it is. Again there is more to wine than wine.

No attempt was made to champion the Vinho Verde region for its tourist sites, accommodations or gastronomy. The wine trade discusses and makes its views known on more than wine in a bottle. What may interest its clients in visiting Vinho Verde? It must be more than simply wine. Having spent some time years ago in that region the gastronomy, accommodations and geographical beauty were worth touting! Would it have been difficult for Turismo Portugal to set up a desk at the show to promote the Vinho Verde region?