Herder Winery & Vineyards
2006 Pinot Noir, Bellamay Vineyard(Similkameen Valley)
Winery owners Lawrence and Sharon Herder had a fright last year when Dr. Johan Boshoff, one of their best growers and a physician in Keremeos, considered relocating his practice and selling Bellamay Vineyards. To their immense relief, he changed his mind. For several vintages now, the Herders have relied on well-farmed Bellamay for premium Merlot, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer and Pinot Noir.
Consistency of grape supply is of particular urgency for the Herders because they moved their winery this spring to a newly planted vineyard. It will be several years before they have adequate harvests either from this or their other newly planted Similkameen vineyard. Even then, they will want to keep the Bellamay fruit for the intense flavours it imparts to the wines.
This is a classic Burgundian Pinot Noir, with a whiff of “barnyard” on the nose along with spice and strawberries. On the palate, the fruit flavours – cherry and strawberry – are bright, giving this wine a vivacious character. The wine’s silky texture adds to its appeal. 87 points.
Reviewed March 26, 2008 by John Schreiner.
Other reviewed wines from Herder Winery & Vineyards
Herder Winery & Vineyards 2005 Pinot Noir, Bellamay Vineyard (Similkameen Valley)John Schreiner 5/17/2007 |
The Wine
Winery: Herder Winery & Vineyards |
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. |