Back Door Winery is located in Summerland and has been keeping a lower profile. They came to my attention recently and offered some of their wines to taste and review for you. They are in the process of rebranding and creating a Reserve Level of wines, which I also received. As part of their rebranding, they hired veteran winemaker Lee Holland, who has 27 years experience from Sumac Ridge, Dirty Laundry, Hillside and is the winemaker at Celista Estate Winery in the Shuswap. 2020 is Lee’s first vintage with Back Door Winery.
The current labels show a crow’s wing and their logo is a crow holding a key in its mouth. I need to find out more about how the crow came to be an important symbol for the winery. Today, I opened their Back Door Winery Viognier 2020 and their Riesling 2019.
My Wine Tasting Notes
Back Door Winery Viognier 2020 (BC $27.99)
Appearance: A medium-minus intensity clear and bright straw colour.
Nose: Lighter intensity nose with apricot and other stone fruits, lemon, and hints of lime and grape stem aromas. The wine had lots of tropical fruit aromas plus honey with decanting, and you still also get apricot, lime, and grape stem. The grape stem aroma is a bit stronger.
Palate: Dry, with a fuller-bodied, round, rich, and smooth mouthfeel. Medium acidity. Ripe stone fruits and tropical fruit flavours, along with touches of grape stem and lime toward the finish. Juicy fruit flavours. More tropical fruit flavour on the palate with decanting. The wine becomes smoother and the acidity level is lower. I also picked up a minerality to this wine. Grape stem flavour is a bit stronger, plus I also picked up pear and apricot flavours.
Finish: A medium-plus length finishing with some grape stem, apricots, tropical fruits, and lime flavours. Decanting the wine finishes with more tropical fruit and less stone fruit. There is less grape stem on the finish and you get a touch of pepperiness.
I prefer the undecanted version as it had higher acidity to make the wine more lively, plus the grape stem aroma and flavour was not as strong.
Rating: 
A lighter straw colour. Light intensity aromas of apricot and other stone fruits, plus a hint of lime and grape stem. With more air, tropical fruit aromas are more evident. Fuller body, round and smooth with a mix of stone fruit and tropical fruit flavours, plus some grape stem.
Back Door Winery Riesling 2019 (BC $22.99)
Appearance: A medium-plus bright clear lemon colour in the glass.
Nose: Light aromas of ripe peach and apricot, marmalade, lemon and a touch of petrol. About the same aromas with decanting, except that the petrol and marmalade aromas are a bit stronger.
Palate: A little off-dry, full-body, with a round, thick mouthfeel and firm acidic prickle from start to finish. Apricot and peach flavour, together with honey and light petrol. Lighter acidity leading to a softer mouthfeel with decanting. The stone fruit flavours persist and you get some honey and marmalade toward the finish.
Finish: A medium-plus length finishing with apricot and peach, honey, some pepperiness, and grape stem. Same length and fruit flavours with decanting on the finish, but less acidity and a bit of marmalade evident.
Decanting or not is OK. The wine does have a softer mouthfeel with decanting.
Rating: A medium-plus lemon colour. Medium intensity aromas of ripe peach, lemon, marmalade and a touch of petrol. Petrol and marmalade aromas are stronger with decanting. Round, full-body with a thicker mouthfeel. A firm acidic prickle when first opened, but softens with decanting. Apricot and peach flavours on the palate, along with touches of honey, petrol, and marmalade.
Where Can I Buy These Wines?
You can purchase these wines through the winery website, or visit the winery.
The winery also has a Find Our Wines page that lets you search for cities and towns within BC.
