Breast cancer I hazard to guess has touched every Canadian family in some way or another. In my family my mother had breast cancer, which was thankfully cured. I have lost a sister-in-law to breast cancer, and I have a friend who has been treated and is currently in remission, and I hope on the road to being declared cancer-free and cured. When I heard that TIME Estate Winery in Oliver, BC, had produced two wines, The Girls Vivacious Rosé, and The Girls Voluptuous Red, with 100% of the profits going to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation – BC/Yukon Region, I said, let me help spread the word. The wines are both food-friendly, and are not meant for women only to drink. The rose is delightful and I would not hesitate to share it with anyone, male or female.
The Girls Vivacious Rosé ($19.99)
This Rosé wine is made from the Merlot grape, where the skins are left in contact with the grape must for a short period of time before being bled off (saignee method to be precise). It is a light orangy salmon in colour, and has light youthful aromas of raspberries and strawberries. The flavour is quite summery with strawberries, sour red cherries, and black currant leaf, and behind these is another undercurrent of sweet ripe red fruits. So just a bit of residual sugar to make this wine easy to sip. I liked that it also had a nice mineral streak in it. On the finish the fruit and minerality was joined with some pepperiness and mouth-watering acidity. If you leave this wine overnight, it is still a nice sip, with all the fruit flavours, but a bit less of the minerality and pepperiness. Enjoy this wine with sushi, a salad with goat cheese, or maybe a light Indian curry.
The Girls Voluptuous Red ($24.99)
The Voluptuous Red is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. It had a medium translucent garnet colour in the glass. On the nose I picked up vanilla, cassis, ripe plums, other ripe dark fruits, and some dark chocolate. It is dry, medium bodied, with flavours of cassis, ripe plums, vanilla, black berries, and hints of flowers (from the P.V.) and blueberries. It is round in the mouth and you get fine tannins, not too strong, but enough to give the wine some structure. It has a peppery finish together with a hint of nutmeg and oak barrel. If you let this wine breathe (I gave it 3 hrs), it became smoother, while keeping all the fruit flavours, and maybe making the cassis a bit more prominent. Enjoy this wine with some grilled or roasted meats (in a red wine sauce optional), and caramelised roast vegetables.
Where Can You Buy These Wines?
You can buy the wines from more than 40 BCLDB stores across the province. For a full list of retail locations, see charitablewines.org. You can also order these wines by phoning 604-630-3076 or 1-888-630-3076. Email your order to order@twlcanada.com.
Of course if you would also want to donate to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation click on this link and select the Donate button. Thank you!
