LCBO Sale Pick of the Week: White Wine (Vintages)
Okanagan Valley, B.C.
Sale: $19.95
Regular: $21.95
Discount (until Sept. 11, 2016): $2.00
Vintages (Essentials) 545004| 750 mL bottle
Tastes like: Fresh apple, bright citrus and lemon curd, and a touch of green herbs.
Pairs with: Roast chicken, souvlaki, risotto, mushroom omelet, quiche, pork tenderloin.
Good for: A sip on a warm day after a cooling dip in a lake or pool.
Drink: Now through 2020.
Why were drinking this
The folks at Mission Hill sure know Chardonnay. It’s now been more than 20 years since Mission Hill won the Best Chardonnay in the World award at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in the United Kingdom. You get grapes from some of those same vines in this value-packed Chardonnay Reserve. Located in B.C.’s Okanagan Valley, Mission Hill spends considerable time and effort on studying and understating the soils and microclimates of the region. The grapes in this wine come from vineyards in Oliver, Osoyoos and the Naramata Bench, just about spanning the entire length of the valley and providing a diverse array of flavours.
Tasting note
Fresh apple leaps from the glass, followed by notes of melon, citrus, lemon curd and lime. It’s just kissed with a little vanilla and sweet oak. The palate is dry, with medium acidity and body. It’s a bracing wine, focused and quite tight, with wet stone and sappy green herbs. It’s lip-smackingly good. It’s also still quite young, and will soften and mellow nicely over the next few years.
