Wine Recommendation
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Wine Recommendation

Wine:Burrowing Owl Vineyards 2005 Pinot Noir  (Okanagan Valley)

Burrowing Owl Vineyards

2005 Pinot Noir
(Okanagan Valley)



Conventional wisdom says that the sandy terroir of Black Sage Road in the south Okanagan, where Burrowing Owl has its vineyard, is too hot for Pinot Noir. However, the winery has released successful Pinot Noirs each vintage since 1999, made from a vineyard block planted chiefly to the Dijon 115 clone. That clone was selected because it produces small clusters of small berries with intense, concentrated flavours.

Invariably, Burrowing Owl Pinot Noirs have been rich in flavour and texture. The 2005 vintage was one of the best in the Okanagan and this wine displays those fine vintage qualities. It’s full and satisfying, with aromas of spice, pepper, cedar and black cherries. On the palate, there are flavours of strawberry, plum and cherries, with a spicy note on the finish. 88 points.

Reviewed August 3, 2007 by John Schreiner.

The Wine

Winery: Burrowing Owl Vineyards
Vintage: 2005
Wine: Pinot Noir
Appellation: Okanagan Valley
Grape: Pinot Noir
Price: 750ml $25.00

Review Date: 8/3/2007

The Reviewer

John Schreiner

John 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.