Confessions of a Huge Wine-R

I guess too many people were calling this winery “Spy-er-head” so they decided to change the spelling to match the correct pronunciation of “Spearhead”.

In early 2018, it was announced that Spearhead had hired Grant Stanley, late of 50th Parallel Estate and Quails’ Gate, to be their GM/winemaker. Time will tell how much impact this will have on the quality of their wine. Spearhead specializes in Pinot Noir, and those who have followed Stanley’s career know that is a special grape to him.

To the wine!

So there you have it; we will check back with these guys in a year or two and see if Grant can make these wines even better once he really has time to put his stamp on the project. For the most part, they don’t need a ton of improvement.

Next up: The penultimate entry in this trip report, at a brand new player in our little game: Kitsch Wines!

 

Tantalus is a winery that “stays in it’s lane”…and by that I mean that they know what they do well, and they stick to it. And they do those things very, very well.

Riesling. Pinot Noir. Chardonnay. That’s just about it. And the results are almost consistently excellent. Let’s get right to it!

 

So that’s it for today; we left here with a whole bunch of Riesling and some of the other stuff too. All of the Rieslings are in the cellar, to come out in the middle of the next decade. Lots to look forward to!

Up next: Three more entries to finish off the Okanagan trip report, starting at Spearhead!

So back to real life, after two simply spectacular weeks in the Aloha state. First, we had a 7 day cruise around the islands, and then 7 days at a top-notch resort in Waioloa, on the ‘Big Island’, about a 30 minute drive from Kona.

Just wow.

It’s not like I didn’t know how beautiful Hawaii was; I had been there once before, when I was a kid, but I remember very little. But I was shocked at the magnitude of the beauty, the friendliness of the people, the scenery….just everything. It was truly two weeks of stress-free heaven. Can’t wait to go back.

In order to ensure that we had some great wine to drink on the cruise and at the resort, we took 6 bottles in our luggage on the cruise, and I had a case of wine sent to the resort from wine.com. Here is a report on the stuff we enjoyed that I have not previously reviewed. Some top-notch stuff here!

First, some of the stuff we enjoyed on the cruise:

And our resort wine!

 

Yeah, we drank pretty darn well on our vacation! What a trip it was. It was so good it’s actually rather shocking that we came back!

Next up: I’ll continue on the Okanagan trip report at Tantalus, and I’m going to try to get a post up this weekend with recommendations for some great Xmas gift wine at reasonable prices. Stay tuned!

One of the first wine clubs we ever joined (second, I think), CedarCreek always delivers good value for the price point. We are always treated like family here.

We almost always make it a point to eat in their terrific restaurant; but they are undergoing a huge renovation to the restaurant and tasting room, so today’s meal was actually served to us outside in a large tent set up for such occasions. The quality of the food did not suffer one bit with the move. It was a wonderful meal.

To the wine!

We tasted more than that, but a few of them were the same vintages as we tasted on our last visit here so no need to report on those again.

Very much looking forward to our next visit here, when the chaos of the construction is over and their brand spanking new tasting room, and restaurant, are fully functional.

Next up: Up the hill to the home of some damn fine Rieslings, among other things: Tantalus!

Quick note: We are off on vacation in a couple days, so it’s likely my next blog post won’t be until early-mid December.

Oh boy, some good stuff today, and some WORLD CLASS stuff as well. Let’s get right to it, and we’ll start close to home in the Okanagan!

How about a quick trip to Portugal, and a trip way, way, way back in time?

Did someone say Bordeaux??

We’ll stay in France but head up to the North East, Alsace!

A quick little jaunt to South America, where you can really find some bargains if you look hard enough.

One well-known producer from New Zealand, where the Dingo probably ate your baby (what, that’s Australia? Never mind).

A couple nice bottles from a very well-regarded producer of premium wine in Oregon:

And just a touch farther South, to California. I promised two bottles that make my “best of the best” list, and here they are!

Man, those last two bottles have my mouth absolutely watering. Two very, very special bottles of wine. Maybe they aren’t “everyday” wine at those prices (although we have been known to open up those kinds of bottles on “Two Bottle Tuesday”), but wine like that is such a treat, no matter the occasion.

Next up: Back to the Okanagan trip, and a lovely tasting at Cedarcreek!

Our third visit to 50th Parallel and we have thoroughly enjoyed the first two visits. The staff is always top-notch, and this time was no exception.

Since our last visit, they have opened up a beautiful new tasting room and restaurant!

Called Block One (menu and reservations available at the link), we were yet again treated to some absolutely fabulous service. Without being asked, they brought my wife a blanket as we were waiting for our table.

 

Yes, it was THAT FREAKING COLD in the Okanagan, in August! Good grief.

Our server was fantastic, the wine was fantastic, the food was fantastic – highly recommend you check it out when you are in the area. Lake Country has a large number of great winery restaurants, considering there are not that many wineries there!

To the wine!

Another terrific experience at 50th Parallel, I can’t imagine any reason we would go to Lake Country and not make it a point to stop in here…..and eat here!

Next up: I’m going to catch you up on a ton of random stuff we’ve been drinking. Some of it Okanagan, some of it not, but all of it worth talking about. And, we are going to be adding a couple more to the “best of the best” list, so don’t miss it!

After that, this Okanagan trip will continue on Day 3, in and around Kelowna and West Kelowna.