Wine Blogging Wednesday #20 - Calona Artist’s Series Pinot Gris

The theme for this month’s WBW (hosted by the fine folks at Podcast: Wine for Newbies) is “Anything But Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, or Riesling”. That keeps the field pretty open. Or so you’d think. Looking back over my notes, I realize that I don’t often venture outside of those three grapes. So this was a great opportunity to try something different, namely Pinot Gris. Or more specifically, a nice affordable Canadian Pinot Gris.

To veer off-topic for a bit, Calona Vineyards (from BC’s Okanagan Valley) makes a wide variety of affordable and tasty VQA wines, including one range called the Artist’s Series. This brand pairs labels painted by local artists with a number of different wines. It’s a great way for BC artists to get some wider exposure outside of their local audience. And the wines are pretty good for the price (especially their Chardonnay).

So to conclude my quest, I chose their Artist’s Series VQA Pinot Gris. While the 2004 is on the market now, I could only find the 2003 Artist Series Pinot Gris at my local MLCC. No big deal. I paid my $13.69 + tax and headed home.

In the glass, it was pale yellow with a greenish tinge. The nose? Apples. Lots and lots of Granny Smith apples. This isn’t a bad thing, but this is a wine best left to apple fans. Luckily, I love apples. My wife, who isn’t so fond of them, did not like this wine.

I began to realize where this was heading. In the mouth, I again found some crisp green apples, a bit of pumpkin pie (?) and a hint of some minerals on the (short) finish. Interestingly enough, that’s exactly what the winemaker’s notes suggested, although I didn’t read the notes until after I had tasted the wine.

On the whole, I was underwhelmed. Yes, it was very nice. And no, there was nothing wrong with it. But nothing made me want to rush out and buy another bottle. It just didn’t excite me that much.

So if one is looking for a good Canadian Pinot Gris, I would recommend the Tinhorn Creek Pinot Gris (around $18-19 at most private stores) over the Calona any day. Or I’d go for the excellent Sandhill Pinot Gris ($16 at the MLCC). Sandhill was originally owned by Calona before both were bought by Andrés Wines Ltd.

Toasting a year of blogging with Painter Bridge Chardonnay

I just noticed that this blog has been going for over a year now. Wow. Hard to believe. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, my work has kept me away from the keyboard lately, but I hope to catch up on some of my backlog of wine notes over the weekend.

I still have the final California Wine Festival notes to type up, and I just did an eight-wine Bordeaux tasting on Tuesday. And I have come across a few neat little finds that I want to share. Here’s one quick note to ‘wet’ your appetites for the next round of posts (hopefully by Monday).

Painter Bridge Chardonnay (2004)

This label is from J. Lohr, and it’s an excellent introduction to their wide range of wines. Sourced largely from Monterey County, this wine been fermented in stainless steel, so both the nose and mouth are very crisp. Interestingly enough, the Chardonnay is cut with a bit of Muscat Canelli (7.1%) and Viognier (2.4%). I usually don’t like dry Muscat (even in such small proportions), so I have to compliment the winemaker on their ability to disguise it. The overall effect of the blend is to make this a little richer than your average unoaked Chard.

This wine is lean, crisp, clean and it tastes like the world’s most perfectly ripe pear. Very tasty, although the finish is a bit short. For $13.99 at your local private wine store, this is worth it. The companion Zinfandel (cut with 23% Shiraz and 2% Petite Sirah) for the same price is also worth tracking down.