Quinta Ferreira Estate Winery
2006 Vinho du Sól(Okanagan Valley)
Believed to be the Okanagan’s first dessert wine made from Viognier, Vinho du Sól comes from a newly opened winery with strong Portuguese traditions. Proprietors John and Maria Ferreira were both born in Portugal, migrating to the Okanagan nearly 30 years ago with their families. Grape growers since 1990, they opened a winery this summer in a former packing house, which is transformed so effectively that it even looks Portuguese. Down the road, the Ferreiras hope to plant Touriga Nacional, the great red variety of Portugal.
Currently, their vineyard includes Bordeaux reds, Chardonnay, Syrah and Viognier. A splendidly fruity 2006 Viognier table wine will be released later this year; based on a barrel sample, the wine is a solid 88 points. The late harvest version, Vinho du Sól, is equally impressive, with honeyed pineapple, apricot and pear aromas and flavours. On the palate, the wine is sensuous and lush, very well balanced, with a lingering tropical sweetness on the finish. 88 points.
Reviewed October 24, 2007 by John Schreiner.
Other reviewed wines from Quinta Ferreira Estate Winery
The Wine
Winery: Quinta Ferreira Estate Winery |
The ReviewerJohn 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. |