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Dan’s Cellar Notes
June 2003
A number of folks have asked if I would review some wine kits from time to time in order to help others decide which wines to make. Well, I can see the purpose, but first some caveats and ground rules. I select my kit wines from a fairly constrained universe of available kits. I use what Bob and Jeanne sell at The Weekend Brewer, which is primarily Brew King products, but also some of R.J. Spagnol’s kits. I use only the “high end” 15-liter, 16-liter or 23-liter kits. Most of my kit wines come from B.K’s Estate and Limited Edition Series. My experiences with cheaper kits have not been all that satisfactory—though better than I had supposed before actually trying them! If you’re shopping in the $40-60-dollar range, I can’t be of much help. If you’re in the $80-100-dollar range, I’ll try. Be aware, however, that I virtually never follow kit instructions, so my evaluation pertains to the potential of the kit, rather than to its characteristics as designed!
Having said that let me offer some comments on an excellent white wine available in kit form: Brew King’s Estate Series Okanagan Valley Chardonnay. I have made the 2001 and 2002 versions, and have tasted these alongside another winemaker’s version of the 2002. I have also done side-by-side comparative tasting of this wine with the 2002 B.K. Limited Edition Napa Valley Chardonnay.
I spent a year in 1976-1977 living in Vancouver, British Columbia, while attending graduate school at Simon Fraser University. One of my favorite weekend get-out-of-town trips was to drive up to the Okanagan Valley in southeastern B.C. This is a prime fruit-growing area in a land of big rivers and lakes. Today, the Okanagan is easily the most important viticulture area in western Canada, with considerable acreage along the slopes over Okanagan Lake devoted to cool-weather grapes, such as Riesling and Pinot Noir. Chardonnay, being a very forgiving grape, is also grown there, but the results, as you shall see, are clearly not the super high-acid, low sugar, hard-edged, non-varietal juice that comes from, say, the similar climate of the Champagne District of Burgundy.
I began the 2001 Brew King Okanagan Chardonnay on February 4th, 2002. In my cellar book I noted that the Brix (sugar concentration) was slightly low, despite strenuous mixing, and that the total acidity was a bit high. This is to be expected for juice from a high latitude source, so I “corrected” the must to 22 degrees Brix, but did not attempt to ameliorate, or lower, the acidity. I gave the wine a fairly cool, long fermentation and extended aging on the lees. By May 16th I noted that the wine was still a little hazy (I did not use the stabilization and clarification techniques suggested by the kit’s manufacturers), but I noted the following in a taste:
“Aroma is powerful oak and vanilla—a bit out of balance still, but impressive. Flavor is powerful: oak-butter-vanilla with good full varietal fruit and tight acidity—lingering long finish. Lordy, this is turning into a big buttery Montrachet!”
Throughout various tasting I continued to rave about the fine qualities of this wine while noting, in each instance, that there was also a bitter, oily characteristic that detracted from the huge, varietal character and classiness of the wine. I have concluded that, perhaps, the grapes were pressed too hard or, in some other way, over-extracted.
I was, however, so impressed by this wine that I tried the 2002 Okanagan, expecting great things. I was not to be disappointed. I began this wine in late November 2002. Again I added a little sugar—though less than the previous year—to bring the Brix up to 22 degrees.
By the end of February the wine was clear, and I tasted it against two versions of the B.K. 2002 Limited Edition Napa Valley Chardonnay. My notes were as follows:
Wine appears “heavy” with full body. Aroma is more potent than the Napa—beautifully varietal with lots of vanilla. More vinous than fruity. Very heady. Flavor, like aroma, is quite intense—very full of vanilla with peachy-creamy tones. Coats the tongue with velvety texture. A bit more acid than the Napa, but still well balanced. This doesn’t have the “oily,” hard-pressed flavors of the 2001 Okanagan. Still, the flavor profile is more aggressive than the Napa, and without the length and “finesse.” Nonetheless, a very, very good Chardonnay.
In summary, I really, really like this wine. It is, in my mind, easily equivalent to, or better than, many $25-30 bottle of California Chardonnay available today. If you like big Chardonnays with some acid backbone and butter-and-vanilla flavors, try this one. It’s a credit to Brew King and their British Columbia neighbors, the wine-grape growers of the Okanagan Valley.
An informal group of a dozen or so amateur winemakers has been meeting monthly for the past three months. Anyone having an interest in joining our informal get-togethers to discuss all aspects of winemaking please contact me.