Whatever you are celebrating this December, it’s probably with family and/or friends for a meal at some point. Food loves wine, so here are a few of my recommended wines that should go with many dishes, or to enjoy on their own before or after your meal. Enjoy these BC wines!
My Holiday BC Wine Suggestions
Backyard Vineyards Blanc de Noir Brut NV ($24.95) – This bubble has light pear skin colour. Light apple nose. Higher acidity with small to medium bubble. Tart green crisp apple and citrus on the finish. Nice. 
40 Knots Spindrift Extra Brut 2014 ($36.90) – This sparkling wine has medium plus gold colour, producing small bubbles in a light mousse that dissipates quickly when poured. Medium intensity nose, showing lees, baked and bruised apples and light toasty aromas. It is dry with crisp tart apple flavours to start, added later with baked apples and then lees. Higher acidity. Small bubbles that start off not quite creamy, but if you let the wine stay in your glass for a few minutes the wine becomes very creamy when sipped. The creaminess fills your mouth. Medium plus length with toastiness lasting to the end. You also get some salinity at the very end. This wine reminds me of excellent Champagne.
Rating: 
What else can you ask for? Enjoy this on New Year’s Eve.
1st R.O.W. Estate Winery Unoaked Chardonnay 2014(~$17) – Lots of vanilla and tropical fruit aromas. Round, soft with medium plus body. Lychee, vanilla and pineapple flavours. Medium acidity. Very tasty.
Evolve Cellars Viognier 2016 ($16.99) – Pale bright straw colour in the glass. Medium plus intensity fruity nose; a blend of orange, lychee, grapefruit and peach, plus some sweet blossom. With decanting this wine also starts to show some apple aromas too. It is dry, round, and smooth with lower acidity and mouth-filling feeling. It starts with medium intensity stone fruits, in particular peach, up front, then adds citrus toward the finish. There is a bit of minerality to this wine. With decanting I picked up some flowers on the palate as well. Medium plus length with a mix of some bitter rind, leafiness, tart fruit, and pepperiness. Decanting for a while helps bring out the intensity of flavour in this wine as well as brings out a bit more aromas.
Rating with decanting. Overall medium intensity stone fruit flavours, and equal if not more round and smooth mouthfeel.
McWatters Collection Chardonnay 2016 ($24.99) – This wine comes from grapes on the Black Sage Bench in Oliver. The wine was barrel fermented and aged for 9 months in French oak, 30% new) and had regular battonage to add mouthfeel. This wine is medium, bright lemon colour. It has a medium intensity, youthful nose, with aromas of vanilla, tropical fruit, sweet oak and white flowers. Another wine I really enjoyed to linger over the aromas. It is dry and round with a lighter mouthfeel. With decanting there was more texture to the wine. Flavours of tropical fruit mainly, some pears, along with vanilla and oak. Also a light touch of honey. Good acidity to the wine to balance out the fruit in this wine. With decanting you also get butterscotch flavour from the mid-palate to the finish. Also with decanting you get a slightly longer finish. On the finish, the wine has some tartness and oak. For the full benefit of this wine, I recommend decanting. Should be a nice wine for an upcoming holiday dinner.
Rating: – with decanting. Good quality, understated wine that shows off vanilla and tropical fruit aromas and flavours.
C.C. Jentsch Cellars Viognier 2015 (~$20.49) – A nice light mix of orange and ripe stone fruit aromas. Dry, semi-round, with medium acidity. Light orange and stone fruit flavours with some spiciness on the finish. Longer length.
Tinhorn Creek The Creek 2014 – 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Franc, 9% Malbec, and 2% Petit Verdot in this blend. Deeper garnet, almost opaque in the glass. Medium plus intensity nose, with ripe dark fruit, sweet spices, red cherries and some dustiness. The wine is dry with light mouth feel and medium fine tannins. Higher acidity. Flavours of tart red cherries, sweet spices and light vanilla. Elegance and finesse in the glass. And able to age.
Upper Bench Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 – The grapes for this wine were fermented in 700L oak vats then cellared in French oak barrels for 20 months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. This Cab is almost opaque in the glass, with a blend of ruby and garnet colours. Nice nose, medium intensity, showing vanilla, plums, oak, and other purple fruits. Dry, fuller bodied and round; a quite silky mouthfeel with soft tannins. Medium acidity. A mix of plums, blackcurrant, as well as other black fruit. Vanilla and oak, and a hint of perfume. With decanting the wine has more perfume and you also get some raspberry flavour. The wine has a medium length, finishing dry along with some bitterness. The wine has enough tannins to give this wine structure, but ageing maybe only for 1-2 more years. Carpe diem.
Rating: This Cabernet Sauvignon will seduce you with plum and dark fruit aromas and flavours, and it’s silky texture. Delicious.
Privato Vineyard and Winery Pinot Noir – Private Collection 2015 (~$26.99) – Light smoky cherry nose. Light body with flavours of nutmeg, dill, and red cherries. Medium acidity and light mouthfeel. A tasty wine.
Lake Breeze Vineyards Tempest 2012 (~$43.49) – This is a blend of Merlot (45%), Malbec (30%), Cabernet Franc (10%), Cabernet Sauvignon (10%), and Petit Verdot (5%). Opaque dull garnet in the glass. Deep, dark, sweet fruit and oak on the nose. Full body, off-dry, with medium plus tannins. Ripe black fruit and sweet spices on the palate. Dry semi-tannic finish. Good quality. 
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40 Knots 442 Safe Haven Fortified ($21.90) – A dessert wine made from Marechal Foch grapes. It’s opaque purple in the glass, coating the glass as it is swirled. Medium minus intensity aromas of raspberry, coffee, black fruit and blackberries. Deep, dark aromas. This fortified wine is off-dry, medium silkiness with a heavier mouthfeel. Black fruits, blackberries, black plums and some perfume on the palate. A medium length, the wine finishes with a mix of sweet black fruit and some bitterness, and then some pepperiness. It would be nice if the finish was a wee bit longer and the flavours a tad stronger, but overall an enjoyable drink with dessert or lounging at the end of the day.
Rating: Lots of black fruit flavours and aromas for this medium bodied fortified wine.
