Pelican Bay Wine Tasting

Last week I went to a wine tasting at the Dockside Restaurant on Granville Island. This is a twice a year event put on by the Coal Harbour Liquor Store. There was around 18 tables featuring passionate and knowledgeable wine merchants, winery reps, and a winemaker or two as well. Each table was pouring anywhere from 2-8 wines including reds, whites, bubbly and some delicious sweet wines as well. You can easily go through 60+ wines depending on your pace, amount of spitting and seasoning of your liver.

These are always great events if you don't mind getting tipsy on a weekday. I try to get there right at 5pm as they open to get through some tables before it gets crowded. This allows me to geek out and talk a little deeper about the wines. I am not good company at these events as I usually geek out more than my group of friends and tend to get separated as I zone out in the world of wine. There are always great appy's going around from the Dockside restaurant, and some lovely meat and cheese trays. These are both essential to the evening if you plan on making it around the entire room before 8pm. :) 

Here are some of the notable wines from the tasting:

Elephant Island Orchard Wines - BC
                       Crab Apple sweet wine 2014 - $16.99
                        - Delicious but not too tart; flavours of candied apples dance in your mouth or on top of                              ice cream.


       

       Stellaport - Solera aged Port-style wine - $24.99
                          - Made from cherries with tasty notes  butterscotch, chocolate, and a load of                                           juicy cherries. By using a Solera system this port style wine would be a                                                   combination of all the vintages from 2001-2011. A real delicious surprise that                                           would be great over the holidays.






Riverlore Wines - Marlborough New Zealand
                      Pinot Noir - 2014 - $18.99
                                     - Great price point Pinot with cranberry, raspberry, and some smokey oak. This is a                                               second tier wine of the below Wairau River. Really good value in their Pinot Noir,                                                 Pinot Gris, and Sauv Blanc











Wairau RiverWines - Marlborough New Zealand
                     Pinot Gris - 2014 - $20
                                     - Putting Pinot Gris on the map for NZ; done in an Alsace style with backed pears and                                            apples with some vanilla creaminess from some lees aging. Great attention to detail.





 Hainle Vineyards Estates Winery - BC
                     Grand Reserve - 2013 - $21.90
                                     - One of my favourite wineries in the Okanagan with the winemaker usually in                                                          attendance. This is a blend of Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, Merlot, and Zweigelt. Has notes                                          of raspberry, a bit of bramble berry, and a nice earthiness to it.







Thornhaven Estates - BC
                      Brooklyns Blend - 2014 - $17
                                       - A surprising good blend of Sauv Blanc and Chardonnay with some nice notes of                                                  grapefruit, green apple and lime.












Volver - Single Vineyard - La Mancha Spain
                        Tempranillo - 2011
                                       - 100%Tempranillo with nice cherry, red berry notes, as well as hints of mint and dried                                             herbs. Well balanced with a nice juicy finish.






Les Septentrionales - Northern Rhone France
                       Cornas AOC- 2007 - $90
                                      - 100% Syrah with delicious smokey black fruit with a lovely bold earthiness to it, and a                                          finish that lingers for a long time. I definitely went back to this table a couple                                          of  times.






Emmolo - Napa Valley California
                      Sauvignon Blanc - 2013 - $30
                                     - Reminiscent of a Sancerre from France light with nice citrus and pear notes with a nice                                               minerality and crisp acidity. A big contrast from your usual Napa whites like their signature                                           Chardonnays