When I get a shipment of wines to try from a winery, sometimes a bottle does not make it into the tasting notes. It may be because of the varietal not matching up with the other wines, or the topic of that particular article. These two white wines had to wait for the appropriate moment to be tasted and presented here for you. Pinot Blanc has been said by some people as having the most potential for BC’s signature white grape. Others have said the Pinot Blanc is generally not as complex a grape and is basically apple on the nose and on the palate. The Evolve Cellars Pinot Blanc has a bit more than that for you to taste.
The Haywire Waters & Banks Sauvignon Blanc is a wonderful surprise to me. Typically for a New World style Sauvignon Blanc, I expect something with lots of green, herbal or citrus components and high acidity, but this wine has much more finesse. It was fermented and aged in concrete using wild yeast. The concrete and wild yeast letting the BC terroir to come through and brought creaminess to the wine.
Haywire Waters & Banks Sauvignon Blanc 2014 ($27.74 + tax) – Medium lemon in the glass. It has a lighter intensity, developing nose, with aromas of green apples and stone fruit. A pleasant nose. With decanting you do get green fruit becoming more prominent, along with honey and some leafiness. It is dry with medium plus acidity, and overall balanced alcohol, body and flavour intensity. A lush mouth-feel; round and creamy. Filled with apples and flowers, together with green fruit, light vanilla and leafiness on the palate. With decanting you get gooseberry, stone fruit, more green fruit, and less floral components. The wine has a medium plus length and finishes peppery and creamy. Decanting reduces the creaminess. I recommend drinking this wine as soon as it is opened to get the best aroma and flavour profile, plus more creaminess. This wine is very food friendly. It worked well with roast turkey and stuffing, as well as pate with crackers.
Rating: A quality, complex Sauvignon Blanc that is highly unexpected for BC.
Evolve Cellars Pinot Blanc 2015 ($14.99 from the winery + shipping) – Also medium lemon in colour. It has a medium intensity nose with prominent citrus and citrus rind, together with green leafiness, and lesser amounts of apple, blossom and pears. I also could say that it has a stony component on the nose. With decanting you get more blossom, baby power and sweet citrus (orange), and I think a prettier nose. The wine is off dry, but also has medium plus acidity which almost balances it out. Bigger, rounder, smooth mouth feel. Apple and floral flavours, together with tropical fruit. You get a sweet fruit flavour from this wine. There is also some pepper and black currant leaf flavours too. With decanting the tropical fruit component is replaced by ripe pears. The pepperiness in the wine starts from the mid-palate and builds to the finish, where it is quite peppery and hot, but still fruity.
Rating: A straight forward, off-dry Pinot Blanc that offers a lush mouth-feel, with apple and a mix of tropical and pear fruit, and pepperiness.