Deborah Podurgiel scored this wine: 91/100

Hester Creek Estate Winery’s Pinot Gris Viognier (PGV) is unique to select Save-On-Foods VQA Stores in B.C. and sells out every year. And you don’t want to miss out on the 2020 PGV because this vintage is exceptional. Produced from 65% Pinot Gris and 35% Viognier, the wine is concentrated on the palate with ripe, juicy peach, citrus, ginger spice flavours and refreshing acidity. Wine grapes were sourced from the Oliver area with the Pinot Gris sourced from Hester Creek’s Vineyard Manager’s own properties as well as select grape growers in the area. The Viognier was sourced from Fournier and Chahal’s vineyards. The fruit was hand-picked, sorted, destemmed and then whole berry pressed with a long cool fermentation for 35 days in stainless-steel tanks with four months ageing in tank. Suffers from evaporation when chilled and enjoyed on the patio with friends and lively conversations, so buy it by the case. Tasted March 2021.

Deborah Podurgiel scored this wine: 91/100

One word – Delicious! Fort Berens Estate Winery 2020 rosé is a mouthful of bright and ripe wild strawberry flavours that go on forever intertwined with ripe raspberry, watermelon, soft orange zest, subtle fine herb and white pepper spice balanced with spot-on acidity finishing fresh and long. Produced from mostly Pinot Noir grapes sourced from the winery’s estate vineyards with some Cabernet Franc and Merlot from their fledgling Red Rock Vineyard. The grapes were destemmed and crushed with 48 hours of skin contact giving the wine a pretty, bright coral pink colour in the glass and the wine juice was cold fermented giving the wine its fresh and juicy fruit flavours. Chill and enjoy this anytime rosé on its own or with everything from brunch fare, salads and charcuterie to veggie kebabs and salmon burgers from the grill. Tasted April 2021.

Deborah Podurgiel scored this wine: 90/100

From Blue Grouse Estate Winery, Off-Dry White 2019 is exactly that at 24 g/l residual sugar, beautifully balanced with a juicy acidity that just creeps around the sides of the palate. The wine is an off-dry, medium-bodied 49% Gewürztraminer 22% Riesling, 11% Chasselas, 9% Schönburger and 9% Pinot Blanc white wine blend subtle on the nose with ripe Macintosh-style apple (Cortland perhaps), honeyed stone fruit, orange blossom aromas and flavours with a lengthy, mouth filling, juicy finish. The winery suggests pouring it with spicy Asian or Indian cuisine. We chilled and poured it with pan-fried, ginger-spiced Arctic Char filets. Tasted April 2021.

Deborah Podurgiel scored this wine: 92/100

Mission Hill Reserve 2019 is an elegant and powerful red Meritage blend of 45% Cabernet Franc, 44% Merlot, 9% Petit Verdot and 1% Malbec with grapes sourced from Mission Hill’s estate vineyards as well as select sites in the Oliver and Osoyoos wine region. The wine was aged 15 months in French and American oak barrels and is dry, full-bodied and chock-a-block with dark fruit, brambleberry, dark plum and cedar spice flavours finishing with mouth-watering acidity and fine, chewy tannins that go on forever. It’s a beauty now and excellent value at $27, but if allowed enough time to develop, evolve will be more nuanced and refined in 2023. However, if curiosity gets the better of your wine palate decant the wine two hours prior to pouring it with a roast beef dinner or gourmet burgers from the grill. Drink or hold. Tasted April 2021.

Deborah Podurgiel scored this wine: 94/100

Wow! That’s all I got. Little Engine Winery’s Gold 2016 Pinot Noir is so luxurious, well-balanced and well-crafted, it’s a love story! Ruby with garnet hints, the wine is as savoury on the nose as it is on the palate. To begin, the invite is ripe dark cherry, dried wild herbs, leather with soft anise aromas. You just know it’s going to be smooth and elegant on the palate. And it is, but not with overt fruity flavours, more like dried florals, gentle baking spices surrounding ripe dark cherry and a mix of red berry flavours on its medium-plus-bodied frame with ultra-balanced acidity and soft velvety tannins that sashay on the finish. The winery does note that this PN can cellar to 2023. So sad… because in my cellar it is no more. We have parted our ways, but it did not give its love in vain. We poured it with a sauteed swordfish steak marinated in a lemon, ginger and spring garlic marinade. It was a marriage made in gastronomic heaven. Tasted April 2021.