|
|
Wine Recommendation
Peller Estates (BC)
2005 Pinot Noir Private Reserve(Okanagan Valley)
Andrew Peller Ltd., formerly known as Andrés Wines, has been raising the bar on its winemaking in British Columbia since the 2003 vintage. That’s been a welcome change from the early 2000s when its British Columbia wines seemed a bit of an after thought, compared to the often superb wines Peller was making in Ontario.
The improvements reflect that Peller is getting better grapes and is committing more winemaking resources to that fruit. Perhaps because Peller still is working on its image, the wines sometimes are under-priced for the quality.
That certainly is so with this Pinot Noir. Big and bold, this is an instant gratification wine, not a subtle Burgundy – and that is not a criticism. It begins with the aroma of spiced cherries. The wine is bursting with flavours of black cherries and rich chocolate. The tannins are still a little rough around the edge but the wine is young, after all. The winery suggests this Pinot Noir will last through to 2010. There’s not much chance of that, since only 550 cases were made and the wine tastes good now. 87 points.
Reviewed November 22, 2006 by John Schreiner.
Other reviewed wines from Peller Estates (BC)
 2004 Cabernet Franc Private Reserve, Rocky Ridge (Similkameen Valley)John Schreiner 2/6/2007 |
The Wine
Winery: Peller Estates (BC) |
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. |