Wine Recommendation
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Wine Recommendation

Mission Hill Winery 2005 Reserve Chardonnay  (Okanagan Valley)

Mission Hill Winery

2005 Reserve Chardonnay
(Okanagan Valley)



The style of the Reserve Chardonnay contrasts, logically, to the S.L.C. version largely through the use of American oak, not French. Forty-nine percent of the wine was fermented in American barrels. The Reserve style traces its lineage back to the first Chardonnay that John Simes made at Mission Hill, shortly after becoming winemaker in September, 1992. With vintages just weeks away, American oak was the only new oak he could get fast enough. The wine famously went on to win the Avery’s Trophy at the International Wine & Spirits Competition in London – besting Chardonnays done in French oak.

The Reserve’s bold style, along with the appealing price, makes it one of Mission Hill’s top sellers. The wine's buttery, fruity aromas lead to flavours of pineapple and tangerine, attractively layered like a good marmalade. The oak flavours add a spicy sweetness to the well-balanced finish. The natural Okanagan acidity contributes to a fresh and lingering finish. 88 points

Reviewed September 12, 2007 by John Schreiner.




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The Wine

Winery: Mission Hill Winery
Vintage: 2005
Wine: Reserve Chardonnay
Appellation: Okanagan Valley
Grape: Chardonnay
Price: 750ml $21.99

Review Date: 9/12/2007

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.