January 18th, 2019 – The 5th Pinot Noir Celebration in Kelowna

The 5th Pinot Noir Celebration in Kelowna

 

 THE SHOW

The 2019 BC Pinot Noir Celebration brings together BC’s top 35 Pinot Noir producers for an unforgettable festival-style tasting experience. The event kicked off with a reception and keynote address by Madeline Puckette, certified sommelier and author of New York Times Bestseller, Wine Folly: The Essential Guide to Wine.

Kurtis Kolt

To put this gathering in proper perspective, here’s an overview from writer/judge Kurtis Kolt:

My big take-away is how local Pinot Noir reflects its terroir of origin, rather than its producers trying to emulate other iconic Pinot regions around the world, from Burgundy in France to the Russian River Valley in California.

No matter which B.C. region it hailed from, each one had a freshness and purity of fruit, along with juicy acidity—a common trait in B.C. wine. I was quite impressed that compared to other reds—from Bordeaux-inspired blends to Syrah—the B.C. Pinot Noirs were all tasty and approachable, whether we were looking at current, more fruit-forward releases, or bottlings as far back as a 2006 from Averill Creek on Vancouver Island. It had started to exhibit those more savoury, tertiary notes like sarsaparilla and sun-dried tomato, but still had great structure and was buoyant on the palate.

 Kurtis, who guests on this special,  makes the comment that Pinot Noir is the one wine that can be grown from coast-to-coast in Canada.

All 35 wineries pouring at the event were accepted through a high profile sommelier tasting panel.  They were determined to be the best of the best.

Our owner/winemaker guests are:

 Jak Meyer – Meyer Family Vineyards/Organizer

Grant Biggs – Kitsch/ Organizer

David Paterson – Tantalus/ Organizer

Jason Parkes – The Hatch

Madeline Puckette – Keynote speech and Wine Folly Author

Grant Stanley – Spearhead

Ben Bryant – Mission Hill

Jenn and Kent Molgat – The View

Chris Carson – Meyer Family and Carson

Dan Wright – Unsworth

Paul Pender – Tawse and Hidden Bench

Rhys Pender – Master of Wine and Panelist

Kurtis Kolt – Wine Educator and Panelist

Paul M Bruner – owner of Blue Grouse

Andy Johnson – Owner of Averill Creek

Tyler Knight – Co-owner of Lightning Rock

http://www.bcpinotnoir.ca

https://winebc.com/

 

STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON:

The 2019 Garagiste  at Sperling Vineyards

The 2020 Victoria Whisky Festival

Food, Wine &  A Mescal Master in Oaxaca

Field Blends – Are we in or out