One of our favourite customers, Conny Stamhuis, was in bottling on Wednesday. She is a member of the Okanagan Masters Swim Club and has just returned from competing in the World Masters Games held in Sydney, Australia from October 8 through 18. Conny won 2 Gold Medals, 2 Silver Medals and 1 Bronze Medal. Way to go, Conny!! Conny enjoys a glass of Merlot, or a sip of Chocolate Raspberry Port.

We had a great time at the Third Annual Limited Editions Wine Tasting held at Kelowna Springs last Thursday evening. Lots of prizes were handed out, we celebrated Graham’s birthday, and Wulf won the grand prize. Mickey and Chef Brad from Kelowna Springs made everything run smoothly, and the food pairings were great with the wines. It’s fun tasting the commercial equivalents of the Limited Editions – especially this year when Winexpert has brought back the best of the best, and I’ve made each one of them. It’s very gratifying to know for a fact our wines are equally as good or better than their commercial equivalents! We hope you enjoy.

This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the Winexpert Limited Edition program, and to celebrate we are bringing back the best of the best wines…

January: South African Shiraz from the Stellenbosch region. The wine has a dense, chewy blackberry, earthiness and robust character. This medium/full bodied wine almost begs for early drinking, with spice and rich fruit, but the bold tannins and rich jamminess will allow it to improve with age for a fruther 2 years. We won a silver award in international competition for this wine.

January: California Lake County Trio Blanca (Dry) A unique blend of three grapes Trio Blanca is an outstanding white wine that showcases bright fruit flabours, excellent structure, and a long finish. Pinot Blanc contributes the delicate floral character and full body while Chenin Blanc gives a wonderful melon-honey aromas with hints of apple. Sauvignon Blanc contributes zesty acidity and aromas of gooseberry and herbs. After six months ageing, the Sauvignon Blanc will dominate with zest and crispiness. After a year, the Chein Balnce’s honey and melon will come out. At 18 months to 2 years the Pinot Blanc will show a perfumed floweriness and lingering structure.

February: Australian Petit Verdot from South East Australia. Best described as a ’super Cabernet’ it makes dark, rich wines, with wonderfully concentrated flavours of spice, blackberry and blackcurrant. With smooth, gripping tannins and an elegant structure leading to a magnificent boldly oaked finish, this is a wine for long term ageing and special occasions.

March: Pacific Quartet (Off-Dry) This wine showcases bright fruit, excellent structure and a long finish. Vidal from British Columbia gives spiciness and stone fruit. Chenin Blanc from California gives a wonderful melon-honey aroma with hints of apple. Gewurztraminer from Washington contributes lychee, rose petals and floral notes, and Muscat from Australia’a Murry Darling Valley gives wonderful grapey notes with dried fruit and hints of orange peel.

April: Italian Brunello This is a large-berried variety of the Sangiovese grape, most famous in Brunello di Montalcino. The flavour profile of Sangiovese is fruity, with strong natural acidity, a firm and elegant assertiveness and a robust finish that can extend surprisingly long. The aroma is generally subtle, with cherry, strawberry, blueberry and violet notes. Medium-bodied but boldly tannis and intense, this gripping wine will begin to open up after six months, but the richer flavours will take at least 18 months to show, with cherry and spice dominating the long, fruity finish. We won a Bronze award in International Competition for this wine.

If you’d like to taste the commercial equivalents to these wines, join us at our annual wine tasting! Thursday, October 22 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are only $15.00 and are available at Wine Central. Seating is limited, so pick up your tickets as soon as possible. Cheers!

We hope you and your friends and family enjoy the holiday weekend. We’re closed Saturday and Monday so we can all enjoy lots of turkey, friends, and some great wine. Rod and his wife will be serving the Selection International Spanish Rose with their turkey. I’m decanting an Estate Washington Riesling, and Maria is serving Selection Original Symphony with her turkey. Cheers! We’ll look forward to seeing you next week.