FOOD • OKANAGAN WINE TOUR
BY N E A L M c L E N N A N
THE SUMMER TRIP TO EUROPE IS HAPPENING IN THE OKANAGAN THIS YEAR France YOU’RE WANTING: Bordeaux YOU’RE GETTING: Phantom Creek Cuvée Becker 2016, $60 A spare-no-expense effort by the Valley’s newest winery to master the classic Bordeaux blend of merlot, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc—an insanely solid freshman effort. phantomcreekestates.com YOU’RE WANTING: Burgundy YOU’RE GETTING: Foxtrot the Waltz 2017, $44 Foxtrot was already the most Burgundian—lighter, more savoury—of our pinots before world-renowned pinot expert Doug Barzelay purchased the vineyard last year. Now it’s even closer to the Côte de Nuits. foxtrotwine.com YOU’RE WANTING: The Loire YOU’RE GETTING: Little Farm Pied de Cuve Cabernet Franc 2018, $31 Loire has been a hotbed of the natural wine movement, and this offering from Little Farm channels all the great things of non-interventionist winemaking (clean, pure, juicy), adding solid technique to keep the focus tight. littlefarmwinery.ca
64 summer
2020 /
westernliving.ca
Have your plans for the continent by Dreamliner morphed into the Interior by SUV? No worries, we’ve got you covered with a vinous road map, to lead you to the local bottles that take their cues from the best of the Old World.
YOU’RE WANTING: Some honest-to-goodness Champagne YOU’RE GETTING: Township 7 Polaris Year 2017, $36 This 100-percent chardonnay is a doppelganger for French blancs de blancs: lovely baked bread notes juxtaposed with elegant stone fruit and tight acidity. A winner. township7.com
Phantom Creek Vineyard and South Okanagan
italy YOU’RE WANTING: Piedmont YOU’RE GETTING: Moon Curser Arneis 2019, $23 Nebbiolo is off the table, but the great white grape of the land of Barolo sings with firm peach and mineral notes in the hands of Osoyoos’s Moon Curser. And it’s a sight cheaper than Italy, too. mooncurser.com YOU’RE WANTING: Rome YOU’RE GETTING: Hester Creek Trebbiano 2019, $21 The high acid, ample citrus take on the hugely planted Italian white grape is actually more refined than most of the versions you’d get near Roma and neighbouring Abruzzo. hestercreek.com