Pentage Wines

Since opening in 2003, Pentâge Winery has maintained a surprisingly low profile, secluded on a cliff-top vineyard just south of Penticton, without, so far, a public tasting room. Owners Paul Gardner and Julie Rennie have not had much time to market their interesting wines (she has a heavy financial job in Vancouver and he has been tied up with vineyard projects for himself and for a neighbour). As the word gets around, consumers find their way to the Pentâge website and the wines sell out anyway.

The winery’s profile is about to jump. Gardner has just completed a massive cellar for the winery, blasted into the rock at the highest point in the vineyard. He can be expected to want to show off one of the Okanagan’s more remarkable winery structures, along with exposing more consumers to Pentâge’s interesting wines, such as this barrel-fermented Chardonnay.

It is a fresh, crisp wine with the fine acidity that recalls a good Chablis. Lightly tinged with green and golden hues, the wine has delicate citrus aromas with a hint of oak. On the palate, it has flavours of citrus and pineapple with good mineral notes. The wine is elegant and restrained – so much so that too much chilling mutes the fine delicate flavours. It becomes more and more attractive as it warms in the glass, showing a touch of spice and a refined lightness on the finish. This definitely is a Chardonnay that should be cellared for a few more years, allowing maturity to enhance the complexity. 87 points now; higher with age.

Reviewed May 8, 2007 by John Schreiner.