BC Iconic Reds Revisited
Victoria BC
Tasted September 12, 2020 by Canoehead with 266 views
Introduction
A small bubble group of BC wine enthusiasts in Victoria (six tasters in total) assessed a subset of last year's BC Iconic Reds Competition (held in Vancouver in November) to see how they've developed a year later. We used the same assessment sheets and scoring regime that Simon Wosk provides for the annual competition. Nine wines in total and overall the quality was very good to excellent. The wines were double-decanted and bagged blind with letters A thru I. The wines were assessed blind one at a time by the group and individual notes and scores were recorded. Many of the wines were well-balanced and offered depth and complexity. Each taster was to then rate their top five wines and then those ratings were aggregated to determine the preferred wines of the evening. Note on scoring ratings: a #1 rated wine would receive five points and then a 2nd rated wine would receive four points etc etc to a fifth rated wine scoring one point. Then the group rankings were tabulated. Results in Closing Notes...
Flight 1 - Blind Tasting of BC Iconic Reds (9 notes)
Tasted blind, assessed one at a time by the group in this flight order. We even revisited "A" blind (the Siren's Call) just to make sure we weren't being too critical of the first wine out of the gate but the initial takeaways held for all group members.
Red
2015 Siren's Call Harmonious
Canada, British Columbia, Okanagan Valley
Part of a group blind tasting of nine BC Iconic Reds. Decanted one hour. Purple/Garnet. Persistent alcohol on the nose muting some dark red and black fruit. Dried and stewed fruit on the palate with vanilla and black olive. Alcohol burn on the finish. Medium plus body. Alcohol puts this out of balance and is a bit distracting. Drink now - aerate to dissipate the alcohol. Finished #9 among nine BC Reds. Decent QPR.
Red
2016 Noble Ridge Meritage Reserve
Canada, British Columbia, Okanagan Valley, Okanagan Valley VQA
Part of a group blind tasting of nine BC Iconic Reds. Decanted one hour. Dark Purple with Garnet at the edges. Pronounced Nose of saturated dark red fruits with a touch of tolerable Brett. Savoury evolving fruit on the palate with dried herbs and tobacco. Medium plus body, lingering finish. Good complexity and well-balanced. Good potential for aging. Finished #3 among nine BC Reds. My #3 as well. Exceptional wine for the price. Well done, D'Andreas!
Red
2016 Hester Creek The Judge Limited Edition
Canada, British Columbia, Okanagan Valley, Golden Mile Bench VQA
Part of a group blind tasting of nine BC Iconic Reds. Decanted one hour. Deep Garnet. Pronounced Nose of ripe and dried dark red fruits with rich cocoa and sage. Same evolving fruit on the palate with dark chocolate and intense sage (almost a browned butter sage). Full body, long finish. Nice little tannic bite at the end. Definitely needs the decant time right now. Three hours in, upon revisiting, this was expanding and improving. Very good complexity and well-balanced. Serious wine with great potential for aging. Finished #6 among nine BC Reds.
Red
2017 Road 13 5th Element John Oliver Selection
Canada, British Columbia, Okanagan Valley, Okanagan Valley VQA
Part of a group blind tasting of nine BC Iconic Reds. Decanted one hour. Dark Garnet with shiny crimson rim. Pronounced Nose of very ripe and dried dark red and black fruits with sage and roasted peanut? Same evolving fruit on the palate - very sweet and the acid seems low and fading. Fuller bodied but a shortened finish. The low acid is going to make this flabby in the near term. Drink now. Finished #7 among nine BC Reds. Quite a contrast to previous well-balanced Fifth Elements like the '13 and '16 versions.
Red
2016 One Faith Vineyards Certitude
Canada, British Columbia, Okanagan Valley
Part of a group blind tasting of nine BC Iconic Reds. Decanted one hour. Deep Dark Garnet Black with crimson rim. Pronounced Nose of rich dark red fruits and vanilla and mint. Fruit carries thru on the palate with mint, olive and bourbon-y vanilla. Medium plus body, longish finish. Has a nice old world feel for a BC red. Good complexity and balance. Good potential for aging. Finished #8 among nine BC Reds. Was my #4 in scoring.
Red
2016 Painted Rock Red Icon
Canada, British Columbia, Okanagan Valley, Okanagan Valley VQA
Part of a group blind tasting of nine BC Iconic Reds. Decanted one hour. Dark Garnet. Pronounced Nose of ripe and dried dark red and blue fruits with fennel and sage. Same evolving fruit on the palate with Dutch black licorice, burnt sage, green olive. Medium plus body, long finish. Lithe on its feet. Good complexity and well-balanced. Great potential for aging. Finished #1 among nine BC Reds although La Stella 2016 Espressivo was right on its heels.
Red
2015 Clos du Soleil Signature
Canada, British Columbia, British Columbia VQA
Part of a group blind tasting of nine BC Iconic Reds. Decanted one hour. Deep Garnet. Pronounced Nose of ripe and dried dark red plum and cherry with vanilla and anise. Same evolving fruit on the palate with black licorice, and dried herbs. Medium plus body, lingering finish. Very good complexity and well-balanced. Still a toddler. Great potential for aging. Finished #5 among nine BC Reds.
Red
2016 Laughing Stock Vineyards Portfolio
Canada, British Columbia, Okanagan Valley
Part of a group blind tasting of nine BC Iconic Reds. Decanted one hour. Dark Garnet. Some aromatic fruit on the nose but also a bit of a roasted vegetal note - blackened bell pepper. Very ripe red and black fruit but a little too much sweet oaky vanilla and alcohol burn on the medium finish. A bit out of balance with the oak and alcohol. For the group tasting this finished #4 among the nine BC Reds. Obviously, I had a harsher assessment of this wine than others. It ranked last in my scoring.
Red
2016 LaStella Espressivo
Canada, British Columbia, Okanagan Valley, Okanagan Valley VQA
Part of a group blind tasting of nine BC Iconic Reds. Decanted one hour. Dark Purple Core with a crimson rim. Pronounced nose of sweet cassis liqueur and savoury spice. Great depth of evolving fruit (ripe and stewed) cassis is joined by macerated black cherry and roasted fig, with layers of baking spice, licorice and a touch of balsamic. Full-bodied and long finish. The Cabernet Sauvignon is leading the charge here. Nice complexity and well-balanced. Good potential for aging. Finished #2 among nine BC Reds right behind Painted Rock '16 Red Icon.
Closing
The nine wines finished in this order of group scoring:
1. Painted Rock 2016 Red Icon (23 pts)
2. La Stella 2016 Espressivo (22 pts)
3. Noble Ridge 2016 Reserve Meritage (12 pts)
4. Laughing Stock 2016 Portfolio (11 pts)
5. Clos du Soleil 2015 Signature (9 pts)
6. Hester Creek 2016 The Judge (7 pts)
7. Road 13 2017 Fifth Element (4 pts)
8. One Faith 2016 2016 Certitude (2 pts)
9. Siren's Call 2015 Harmonious (0 pts)
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