Photo Credit: Vina Errazuriz

In August this year, we had the pleasure of hosting international wine consultant and wine writer Steven Spurrier & Wine Align critic DJ Kearney for a tasting at the vineyard. Arguably one of the most influential men in the world of wine, consulting editor for UK’s Decanter Magazine and chairman of the Decanter World Wine Awards, we are quite honoured to have received some very excellent reviews back from Steven Spurrier. He rated most of our wines that he tasted over 17 points (on the 20-point scoring system) which translates to a 90 point wine!

Here’s what Steven Spurrier is saying about our wines:

2013 McLean Creek Road Vineyard Chardonnay

17.25 Points (90+ Points) – “Fine lemon yellow, slightly richer nose and palate, broader in style, richer but good lemony acidity.”

2012 Micro Cuvee Chardonnay

18 Points (93 Points) – “Rich lemon yellow, honeyed nose with with lifted lemony acidity, good depth and potential complexity, very well made and well-expressed.” Tasted at the 2015 Judgement of BC Wine Tasting.

2013 Pat Quinn Tribute Series Chardonnay

18 Points (93 Points) – “Fine lemon yellow, lovely slightly honeyed nose with citrus notes, really good palate with same honeyed fruit and citrus edge, very good use of oak, a really fine wine in the Chassagne 1er Cru style.”

2013 McLean Creek Road Vineyard Pinot Noir

17.5 Points (91 Points) – “Good colour and fine supple fruit, very well made, really good wine.”

2008 McLean Creek Road Vineyard Pinot Noir

16.5 Points (88 Points) – “Good warm colour and good autumnal fruit nose, good depth but not the sophistication of the current vintages.”

2012 Micro Cuvee Pinot Noir

17.5 Points (91 Points) – “Fine deep colour, younger looking than the 2013s, black cherries and damsons on the nose, quite robust on the palate but good young acidity, fine texture and natural tannins, Gevrey-Chambertin style.”

2014 Pinot Noir – Exclusive Marks & Spencers Blend

16.75 Points (89 Points) – “Nice bright colour and good smooth Pinot fruit, nice length, seductive fruit on the palate and refreshing acidity to liven the finish.”

2013 Reimer Vineyard Pinot Noir

17 Points (90 Points) – “Fine mid red, lovely Pinot nose, very Volnay/Beaune, really good balance and totally vineyard Pinot, very well made.  Drink 2015-2018.”

This Fall we were thrilled to see the article “The Best of British Columbia” in the October issue of California’s SOMMjournal. Spurrier wrote about his BC wine experience including his visit to our winery and the BC Pinot Noir Celebration. Watch for the December-January issue to hear about the rest of Spurrier’s visit to the Okanagan!