Summerhill and Their Latest Aromatic Whites to Enjoy

While it is not quite as hot and sunny as in Greece at this time of the year, it is warm enough for me, to look forward to enjoying some chilled aromatic white wines on the patio, along with a plate of oysters, chilled shrimp and cheese. I received these three bottles of aromatic white wines from Summerhill Pyramid Winery to sample. Two of the three are organic wines, and are all aged for some time in the pyramid they built at their winery.

I have enjoyed the wines from Summerhill Pyramid Winery in the past, and I looked forward to opening these three bottles. If you are curious about the pyramid and how it may affect wine, please review Summerhill’s link. They have been winning many gold medals from around the world, so maybe there is some effect, in addition to terroir and going organic for their wines. Please try their wines and see for yourself.

My Reviews

Summerhill Organic Riesling 2013 ($19.95) – Medium lemon in colour with a clean, youthful nose of citrus, honeydew melon, stone fruit and apples. With a very low alcohol content at 8.6%. this leaves a bit of residual sugar, and gives you a medium-dry wine. This wine has medium plus acidity which helps to balance out the extra sweetness. I really liked the flavours in this wine of green apple, pear and a hint of lime and honey. The apple and pear flavours in particular didn’t fade and stretched from first touching your lips till you swallowed. I also noted a bit of mineral backbone in this wine. It finishes off dry with green apple. You don’t notice the higher acidity till the finish, due to the medium sweetness of the wine. It was overall quite soft and round in your mouth and made a very pleasant wine to drink. A recommended wine for this summer.

Rating: Off-dry, with long lingering apple and pear flavours to enjoy.

Summerhill Organic Gewurztraminer 2013 ($19.95) – Pear skin in colour, this wine has a youthful aroma, with lychee most, followed by sweet spice/cardamom, baked apple, and a hint of flowers; classic Gewurz nose. Dry and very flavourful with medium plus acidity. Pears, baked apple, and hints of red cherries / apricots / and pepper on the palate. You get an acidic spicy prickle on the tongue from this wine. It is really round and has a nice, heavier mouthfeel. Peaches on the finish, along with higher acidity gives you a clean, fruity finish. This wine is ready to drink now, but I would suggest holding a bottle or two for 3-4 years of cellar aging, as I think it is interesting now, but will become even more complex in the future.

Rating: Classic Gewurz nose with nice fruit and heavier mouthfeel.

Summerhill Ehrenfelser 2013 ($19.95) – This is probably not a well-known grape to many people. It is a cross between Riesling and Silvaner originating in Germany. Besides Germany, BC appears to be the only other region that is really trying to produce wines from this grape. This wine has a medium lemon colour with a green tint. It has a youthful aromas of herbal, pine needles and peaches. It is off dry with medium acidity and body. The sweetness does tend to subdue the fruit flavours in my opinion. The fruit flavours I did pick up were stone fruit, pears, and blossom, with some apple, citrus, and herbal toward the finish. To me this was a fairly straight forward wine that is not meant to age. I think if the sweetness was a bit less, the fruit flavours could be enjoyed more.

Rating: Herbal nose, off-dry with subdued fruit flavours.