Mission Hill statues in the snow.

My wife and I both work as educators and have to return to work tomorrow morning. We've had a good break this holiday but it seems to have finished far too quickly. We spent some time in Kelowna with my eldest over New Year's and tasted some wonderful wine.

One of the highlights (other than visiting with my Grand-Puppy) was a tasting at Mission Hill as I don't think I've done an actual tasting there, despite the fact that my son-in-law works there. Yes, I've tasted several of their wines, and even had a barrel tasting, but I haven't actually had a wine shop tasting.


I was pretty impressed by their wines, especially the 2015 Reserve Syrah ($26) and the Terroir Merlot (I think it was the Whispering Hill - although it might have been the Splitrail - only available from the wine shop - I think it was around $50). We were also extremely fortunate to have a special tasting of Mission Hill's flagship, Oculus (2013 vintage  - $135) complete with Gabriel glasses (these glasses are very light weight and pretty expensive as well). I would love to purchase a bottle of this and really sink my teeth into it, so to speak, but I'm not sure I am ready to spend that much on a bottle of wine, despite how lovely it was. It screams out for a fine French meal and a romantic evening....

Back at home, we did manage to try a few different wines - most of them being quite nice.

The first was one that had been aging for a little bit - maybe a year or so. Apparently, I don't do a very good job of monitoring my wine cellar.

This was from Vin Amité in Oliver in the Okanagan and was a 2015 Hidden Corner Red ($32). I found it to be an amazingly good wine with great tannins and wonderful black fruit flavours. It is a Cab Franc, Merlot, and Malbec blend and it really sings to me. I do really enjoy a Cab Franc but adding the Merlot and Malbec just makes this a really nice wine to drink. I'm not sure where you can get this besides the winery but if you can, I would grab some. Definitely worth it and definitely good to drink right now.

Next up is a wine that I can't believe I haven't mentioned before. Synchromesh is a small winery in Okanagan Falls and we first had their Riesling when we had it at a friends' house for dinner a few ears ago. Since then, we often hunt down restaurants in Vancouver just so we can have some more of this tasty vino.

We purchased six bottles from three different vineyards through the Okanagan Wine Club and have sadly gone through five of them now. There are some differences between the different vineyards but, basically, they are all amazing Rieslings and I am kicking myself because I didn't buy a case!

We had a bottle of 2016 Four Shadows Vineyard Riesling ($26). It has a wonderful fruit flavour with honey, peaches, and even some tropical fruit - it has a faint sweetness to it which is remarkable. Riesling is supposed to be able to age a lot so I have managed to pry away one bottle from my own hands to see how it will cellar. Next year, I will make sure I go to the winery and buy a case - at least!

The only disappointment this week was something that I had tasted last spring and, at the time, I thought it was really 'cool' so I bought a bottle. It was a 2015 Fairview Cellars Fumé Franc ($25 - possibly only from the winery in Oliver). This is basically a wine made from grapes that were definitely affected by the smoke from the fires in the Okanagan in 2015. While it was interesting to taste this smoky wine, I tired of it pretty soon. Additionally, my wife was not interested either. Interestingly, it was rated very high on my Vivino app but I could not agree. Interesting how tastes change.


The next one is a very approachable, and not too expensive ($26), 2018 Malbec from Argentina from Amalaya - which, we learned on a trip to Napa - is owned by Hess. I thought it was a very nice wine when I had it a few years ago as Hess sold it at their winery in Napa. I hadn't had it for quite a while and was pleased with the taste of this approachable Malbec.


Finally, as tonight was the last night of our holidays, I cracked open a wine that had been in the cellar for two years. It was a 2011 Summerhill Spadefoot Toad ($44 - in Kelowna). I was a bit excited about this one and was not disappointed. I took care to decant it about an hour before drinking and then poured a nice glass. The nose was not overly complex with bell pepper and black cherry. But on the palate were some wonderful tastes! There was very good structure with some definite tannins but these were not overpowering. There were tastes of tobacco, black fruit and leather. The ageing did take some of the fruitiness out of the wine but the earthy flavours that were left were wonderful.

I did a terrible no-no by having this wine with a bowl of pasta with tomato sauce and Italian sausage but it actually paired pretty well!

And now, back to work.... gotta pay for this wine somehow!