Wine Recommendation
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Wine Recommendation

Wine:Skimmerhorn Winery & Vineyard 2006 Pinot Gris  (British Columbia)

Skimmerhorn Winery & Vineyard

2006 Pinot Gris
(British Columbia)



British Columbia’s eastern-most winery, Skimmerhorn opened in 2007 just outside Creston in the province’s picturesque Kootenay region. The name is derived from the legendary Frank Skimmerhorn, who is said to have arrived in the 19th century, a fugitive from U.S. justice, and became such a leading citizen that his name is on numerous landmarks.

There is a long history of fruit production in the sunny Creston Valley. Skimmerhorn’s owners, Al and Marleen (sic) Hoag (no relation to Frank Skimmerhorn) ran a family orchard from 1984 until selling it two years ago to concentrate on the winery and the 14 acres of vines they planted in 2003.

The winery is half a day’s drive from the Okanagan, too far – the Hoag’s figured – to attract a consulting winemaker. So they found a winemaker in New Zealand, Mark Rattray, who owns a winery there called Floating Mountain. Rattray helped design Skimmerhorn’s winery and handled the 2006 vintage, returning to his own operation as the Skimmerhorn wines were being bottled.

No doubt he has made Pinot Gris in New Zealand where it is a variety of rising popularity. His Pinot Gris at Skimmerhorn, with an attractive light blush colour, is crisp and is packed with fruit – pears, apples, spice and citrus notes – with lively acidity balancing the slight sweetness. Typical of Pinot Gris, the wine has good weight. 87 points.

Reviewed May 29, 2007 by John Schreiner.




Other reviewed wines from Skimmerhorn Winery & Vineyard

 

The Wine

Winery: Skimmerhorn Winery & Vineyard
Vintage: 2006
Wine: Pinot Gris
Appellation: British Columbia
Grape: Pinot Gris / Grigio
Price: 750ml $16.00

Review Date: 5/29/2007

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.