Peller Estates (BC)
2005 Chardonnay Heritage Series(British Columbia)
The Peller Heritage Series of VQA wines are uncomplicated wines at very attractive prices. Since grape prices in the Okanagan have shown significant appreciation in the last two vintages, it is difficult to see how the winery gets much of a margin on the wines. We should just enjoy the bargains as long as they keep coming.
According to the winery, the Chardonnay grapes for this wine were hand-picked, a notable fact since Peller also has access to mechanically harvested fruit. The winery fermented the juice at cool temperatures in stainless steel and avoided both malolactic fermentation and extensive lees aging. The point was to make a crisp and fresh wine.
Peller certainly succeeded. The wine shows aromas of citrus and peach. On the palate, it is refreshingly fruit, with flavours of apples and peaches, lifted by the slightest hint of sweetness but very well balanced with lively acidity. The wine is easy to drink as an aperitif as well as with food. 84 points.
Reviewed February 2, 2007 by John Schreiner.
Other reviewed wines from Peller Estates (BC)
Peller Estates (BC) 2004 Cabernet Franc Private Reserve, Rocky Ridge (Similkameen Valley)John Schreiner 2/6/2007 |
The Wine
Winery: Peller Estates (BC) |
The ReviewerJohn Schreiner has been covering the wines of British Columbia for the past 30 years and has written 10 books on the wines of Canada and BC. He has judged at major competitions and is currently a panel member for the Lieutenant Governor’s Awards of Excellence in Wine. Both as a judge and as a wine critic, he approaches each wine not to find fault, but to find excellence. That he now finds the latter more often than the former testifies to the dramatic improvement shown by BC winemaking in the past decade. |