At last week’s Judgement of B.C. tasting, you could have heard a proverbial pin drop.
While the air was hardly tense, beneath the camaraderie there was a palpable feeling of suspense. After all, by B.C. standards this was a momentous occasion, with one of the largest panels of influential sommeliers and media yet assembled in Vancouver, led by D.J. Kearney and luminary Steven Spurrier, contributing editor to Decanter Magazine.
When the tallying of the 12 reds and 12 whites was done, the results were interesting indeed. B.C. was effectively shut out of the top five positions in Chardonnay. It was a disappointing though not necessarily calamitous showing, as Blue Mountain Chardonnay Reserve 2013 (Okanagan, $30) popped up in sixth place.
The red flight results were more rewarding, with Okanagan wines capturing three of the top five spots, most notably with CC Jentsch Syrah 2013 (Okanagan, $30) coming in first.
Spurrier commented that he was disappointed B.C. did not do better in Chardonnay. He noted that during his five day visit to B.C. he’d loved the wines.
The idea behind the tasting remains the same as the original Judgement of Paris says Spurrier: “to create a template for unknown wines to go up against a benchmark.”
To that end, the wines that eclipsed the B.C. Chardonnays were significant, including a Premier Cru Chablis (Jean Marc Brocard Montmains 2012, fourth place) and a Premier Cru Mersault (Bouchard Pere et Fils Genevrières 2011, fifth place). However, interestingly, it was a clutch of wines from notable (and very affordable) New World regions that stole the Chardonnay show.
First Place: Soumah River Single Vineyard Chardonnay (Yarra Valley, Australia, $27); Second: Kumeu River Chardonnay Hunting Hill 2012 (Auckland, New Zealand, $35); Third: Hamilton Russell Chardonnay 2014 (Hemel-en-Aarde, South Africa, $40).
The reds yielded “a really good flight, not a dud wine in there. Wonderful fruit and wonderful expressions of Syrah,” offered Spurrier, who also said: “Syrah is very expressive and the vineyard comes through. It’s harder to get the vineyard in Chardonnay, and almost impossible not to with Syrah.”
The CC Jentsch Syrah prevailed over second-place Langmeil Shiraz Orphan Bank 2012 (Barossa, Australia, $68) and third-place Domaine Vincent Paris Cornas Granit 60 2013 (Rhone Valley, France $66.)
Significantly, from Canada’s oldest planting of the variety (1990-1991), Nichol Syrah 2012 picked up fourth spot, followed by Le Vieux Pin Syrah Cuvée Classique 2013 ($50) in fifth.
A couple of things in particular struck me about the results. The wines chosen to compete with B.C. truly were benchmark wines that validated the process. That the winning red was made in great part from fruit grown on Golden Mile Bench (B.C.’s first sub-appellation) was significant, and (overall) compared to elsewhere, B.C. continues to deliver very good value for money, especially in mid-priced wines. In reviewing his time here, Spurrier said that the chance to discover the Okanagan first-hand had proved “absolutely extraordinary,” with a “kaleidoscopic range” of wines.
He said B.C. is not an emerging wine region but a deserving wine region, and noted that B.C. has been growing grapes for a very long time.
“There’s nothing ‘new world’ about what’s going on in B.C. because ‘new world’ is varietal first, vineyard second. If I’ve seen anything anywhere in the world (apart from France, Italy, Spain and Portugal), which is more vineyard first, varietal second, it’s B.C.”
However, Spurrier reserved the biggest compliment for his closing comments, after dinner:
“My final message to British Columbia,” said Spurrier, “is that I think you undervalue yourselves: your wines are sensational.”
Tim Pawsey writes about wine for numerous publications and online as the Hired Belly at hiredbelly.com. Contact: [email protected].
