BC Pinot Noir is well known to some wine drinkers, but maybe not enough. Probably most people think of Burgundy, or Oregon, or New Zealand. But we do produce some decent Pinots here in BC. I recently received a bottle of Haywire Canyonview Pinot Noir 2012 to review. It comes with a screw cap but that doesn’t mean it cannot age, or must be drunk soon as you will see in my review notes below.
My Review
Haywire Canyonview Vineyard Pinot Noir 2012 (BC $39.90) – This wine was produced by Okanagan Crush Pad with both oak barrels aging followed by additional aging in concrete eggs. Concrete being a neutral medium will not pass along any other flavours, such as you would get from oak barrels. So you should get a bit of oak, but not as much as if the wine was aged for the total time in oak. The wine was a pale Pekoe tea colour in the glass. It has a medium intensity nose with aromas of tart red fruit, tea leaves, smoky/juicy raspberries and bramble, and hints of roses, vanilla and sweet cherries. On the palate it was dry, with light body and mouthfeel. Not tannic, but not round either. Upon first sip I would say that the wine had edges to it. With a few hours of decanting, those edges softened. Bright acidity. Raspberries and red cherries flavour, with hints of perfume, tea leaves, bramble and cinnamon. Medium plus length, finishing with ripe red fruit flavours and some bitter leafiness and tea leaves. Not a tannic finish but does leave you with some astringency in the mouth. I did taste this wine again 24 hours after first opening it and it again had a softer mouthfeel and the Pekoe tea leaves flavour became more pronounced. I recommend that once you open this wine, leave it to decant for a few hours, then give it a slight chill before serving. But even more I think this wine will evolve in the bottle and be more approachable, blunting the edges, toning down the astringent finish, and bringing the flavours out. Also try the wine in 1-2 years.
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