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Wine Recommendation
Le Vieux Pin
2005 Aurore, Lumena Vineyard(Okanagan Valley)
The design of the newly-built Le Vieux Pin winery, on a ridge above Oliver, is said to be been inspired either by barns or by railroad stations in France. Judging from this wine, there is a fair bit of French sensibility informing the winery’s approach to viticulture and its wines.
The grapes for this wine were grown on a small but very steep vineyard near Osoyoos Lake. Where LVP has older vines with deep roots, irrigation is minimized, which is unusual for the hot, dry south Okanagan, to the point where vineyard manager Harold Gaudy is almost dry-farming. The objective is reduced tonnage and, therefore, more flavour in the grapes and the wines. This Sauvignon Blanc was cropped at a lean 2 ½ tons an acre.
Aurore displays a marked Graves style. Seventy percent of the wine was fermented in French oak (new and used), leaving hints of oak in the aroma, supporting the fruit and lending richness to the palate. The wine shows subtle hints of citrus and minerals, finishing crisply and dryly with a touch of anise. Only 30 cases were produced. 87 points.
Reviewed February 12, 2007 by John Schreiner.
Other reviewed wines from Le Vieux Pin
The Wine
Winery: Le Vieux Pin |
The Reviewer
John Schreiner
John 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. |