Oliver’s Backyard Farm prepared Olive Oil Poached “Road 17″ Arctic Char was one of the highlights of Origins of Wine at @scienceworldca. The fish was cooked to perfection with a soft and delicate texture, complemented by organic beluga lentil salad and roasted sunchoke, and finished with a nectarine-blood orange butter. And I think any of drywhite wine would go with it beautifully. #winepairing #arcticchar #originsofwine #winetasting #canoneos ----------------------------------------------------#PICKYDINER for feature (at Science World)
5 Best Wines from Origins of Wine: The Golden Mile Bench
Disclosure: I was a media attendee for this event.
Hey guys! For all the wine lovers, we’re in general agreement that more wine is better. Last Thursday, I was a lucky participant of Science World’s Origins of Wine: The Golden Mile Bench. This 3-hour event had guests sampling unlimited wine from 13 wineries sourcing from British Columbia’s newly designated Golden Mile Bench. With each winery bringing an arsenal of wine for guests, which ones stood out to me and what can you expect from future Origins of Wine events? Read on to find out.
Wines:
I’m vocally biased towards white wines, having never been a big fan of tannins. Thus all my favourites were whites, and my top 5 are as follows:
Checkmate Queen Taken Chardonnay 2013 ($125/bottle)
Gehringer’s Dry Riesling comes from their private reserve, a term which means the wines are held in higher regard compared to the winery’s other stocks. There was a quick acidity which flowed into peach and honey, mingled with apple, kiwi and floral notes. I think this would go well with any fruit salad.
Gehringer Brothers Dry Riesling
Tinhorn Creek’s Gewürzstraminer featured gingersnap spicing which brought some heat to the tastes of gooseberry, lychee and peach. 2015 was a warm year which may have contributed to the enhanced acidity. I think this would go great with any crusted salmon plate.
Tinhorn Creek's Gewürzstraminer
The Culmina R&D Rose Blend was extra special because it’s not even on their website yet! In any case, I’m a rose all day kind of guy so I enjoyed the sweet mild bubbles. The blended rose and red wine may make this more satisfying for those who don’t normally take to rose.
Culmina R&D Rose Blend
On the topic of bubbles, Road 13′s Sparkling Chenin Blanc was all sparkle which was all smiles for me. These guys had a sweet motto too: “It’s all about the dirt.”, eschewing terms like terroir commonly used by wine aficionados. This has a toasted scent, traditional fruit flavours, and a crisp finish of bubbles, and would go great for any party pleasing opener.
Road 13's Sparkling Chenin Blanc
Finally, the big one. Checkmate’s Queen Taken Chardonnay 2013 is probably the best chardonnay I’ve had in a long time, and it’s got the pricing prowess to boot. The big draw for me in this chardonnay was its finish, which I really couldn’t place in any fruit or flavour other than the term “textured wine”. It’s definitely worth a celebration if you’re in the market to congratulate somebody and wish them a pleasurable ride on their taste buds.
Checkmate Queen Taken Chardonnay 2013
Panel Discussion:
Being a celebration of the Golden Mile Bench, the evening also featured a short panel discussion amongst some of the winemakers and principals. This discussion took place in the geodesic dome where a sold out crowd filled the seats. Some key takeaways I got from this discussion were:
Cold nights and long sunny days in the Golden Mile Bench help grow a diverse crop of wines of different acidities
The mass planting of noble grapes in this area was boosted by financial incentives from the government in the 80′s to combat the coming market of wine
The Golden Mile terroir (earth) is full of calcium and grapes love calcium
I think the lecture highlighted that Origins of Wine is a learning experience that encourages audience inquiries. If you’re not big on oenology or wine history, then an event like Science of Cocktails might be better suited for you.
Golden Mile Bench Panel
Food:
Not to be lost behind the sea of wine, Backyard Farm was on premise serving up rows and rows of Olive Oil Poached “Road 17″ Arctic Char. This was my favourite food of the night. The arctic char was a very juicy cut and the fact there was a near constant stream of these meant guests were getting great bang for their buck. Pairing-wise, I pair fish with any bubbly so Road 13′s Sparkling Chenin Blanc was my choice pairing for this arctic char.
Backyard Farm Arctic Char
Final Thoughts:
One-liner: An educational night dedicated to BC wine history and unlimited sampling
Highlight: Pairing the arctic char with the sparkling wine
Price per person: $65
Would I go again? Yes.
Silent Auction Table
For future installments of Origins of Wine, I'd love to see more Canadian varieties featured. The recent gain in Nova Scotian wines comes to mind, and I'd love to see more science demonstrations involving different tannins and the spectrum of wine sweetness. Stay tuned to Science World's programming for more information.
Learning about #originsofwine at Science World @scienceworldca and the Gold Mile Bench of Okanagan. Thanks for the invitation @noshandnibble !!! #winetasting #goldenmilebench #tgif #canoneos #picoftheday for feature (at Science World)
