Enjoy Summer with these White Wines from Evolve Cellars

Wines come in many different styles, and associated price points. A winery is typically set up with a goal in mind, whether it is to be the next Chateau Petrus or Yellow Tail, or somewhere in between.  Evolve Cellars in Summerland is a still a young winery in the Okanagan, but they have set their sights “…to craft friendly and approachable wines, providing a pure expression of the grapes grown at our estate vineyard and by our south Okanagan grower partners. Fruit-forward with a bright freshness typical of the area, our wines are a celebration of this great region and how we can evolve together.“(http://www.evolvecellars.com/about-1/vineyard/)  They sent me their latest releases to try, and overall I would say that they live up to their goals.  Bringing out the freshness of fruit of the Okanagan Valley.  Please enjoy my tasting notes below, and if any of the wines peak your interest, please buy a bottle.  My Where To Buy info is at the bottom of the article. I did include a rose in this tasting,  so not all whir wines but it fits with the spirit.

My Evolve Cellars Tasting Notes

Evolve Cellars Gewurztraminer 2015 ($15.99) – Pale, bright lemon coloured.  A youthful, medium minus intensity nose with aromas of pears, citrus, and hints of white flowers, grapefruit and peaches.  With decanting you get a more pronounced grapefruit rind aroma, and some leafiness on the nose.  The wine is dry, trending to off dry. It is quite round, soft and mouth filling, together with a light acidic prickle on the tongue.  Medium alcohol, body and flavour intensity.  Citrus, and lighter amounts of peach, grapefruit and melon.  The wine has some pepperiness that picks up to the finish.  There is also some stony minerality, but this disappears with decanting.  Decanting also brings forward some pear notes.  The wine has a medium length, with pears, and some pepperiness and hotness.  The flavour finishes a bit too soon, but overall an OK wine.

Rating: – An off-dry Gewurztraminer with less common Gew aromas and flavours, but it does have the spice associated with the grape.

Evolve Cellars Riesling 2015 ($16.99) – Bright watery/pale lemon colour in the glass.  It has medium intensity nose, that is very flowery and has honey and candied citrus notes.  With decanting you also get a subtle lime note. This wine is off-dry, with medium acidity and body, but medium plus flavour intensity.  Medium mouth feel, round, with a slight acidic prickle.  You get green citrus, green fruit, followed by apricots and peaches on the mid palate, and overall a light touch of lime skin.  With decanting, the lime, apricot, and peach are more prominent.  Medium length with mouth-watering acidity and sweetness that goes from the start to finish.  Tart green citrus fruit on the finish.  The sweetness sits on top of the fruit flavour when you first open the bottle, if you can decant the bottle and wait, then the sweetness becomes more integrated with the fruit flavour.

Rating:

Evolve Cellars Pinot Gris 2015 ($15.99) – Pale to water white straw coloured, with medium intensity fruit aromas of melon, pears, stone fruit, in particular peaches, along with white flowers.  More peach aroma with decanting.  The wine is dry with medium plus acidity, body and flavour intensity.  It has tart green fruit and or slightly under-ripe stone fruit flavours, in particular pears and peaches.  The wine is quite round, soft, and mouth filling, with an acidic prickle.  There is also a hint of blossom.  With decanting the wine is not as tart.  It has a medium plus length, with higher acidity overall, tart fruit flavours, and pepperiness on the finish.

Rating:  I quite enjoyed this wine.  Tart green fruit and stone fruit flavours. Should go nicely with a green salad topped with goat cheese and walnuts.

Evolve Cellars Rose 2015 (~$14.99) – A pale, coppery salmon coloured wine.  Light, youthful nose, with aromas primarily of strawberry, with lesser amounts of red cherries and apples.  With decanting the cherry and apple component decrease and you pick up some leafiness.  Off-dry, the wine is round and soft, with medium plus mouth feel.  Medium body and flavour intensity.  Strawberry again to the fore, along with a touch of leafiness and red cherries.  Medium plus length with light sweet and tart strawberry flavours.  The wine, first opened, is simple and straight forward, but with decanting it becomes more flavourful and enjoyable to dink.

Rating: – with decanting.  A light, off-dry strawberry rose.  Try with assorted wraps, some olives and a salad on your patio.

Where Can I Buy These Wines?

You can purchase these wines through their website at this link.  As of January 2016, the following establishments also sell Evolve’s wines: