Recently I opened a bottle of BC’s Blasted Church Vineyards Big Bang Theory 2024. It is made primarily from Merlot, Syrah, and Malbec (with contributions from varietals like Pinot Noir and Lemberger) using fruit sourced from the Andrews Family Vineyards in Washington’s Horse Heaven Hills. 2024, remember, was when we had the terrible January cold snap that wiped out many of the vines in the Okanagan, and many wineries took the BC government offer to allow these wineries to purchase grapes from outside the province to make wine that year. Here is my tasting note.
My Wine Tasting Note
Blasted Church Vineyards Big Bang Theory 2024 (BC ~$26)
Winemaker’s notes, “Grapes were hand harvested September 23rd and 30th at the ideal balance between flavour, tannin evolution, sugar level, and acidity. Bins were loaded into a waiting temperature-controlled truck for transport up to our cellar in Okanagan Falls for processing, fermentation, and aging. On arrival in our cellar, the fruit was destemmed and transferred to tanks for 7-day cold soak prior to fermentations. Tanks were pumped over once or twice per day and macerations ranged from 18 to 21 days.The wines were transferred to French oak barrels for MLF and aging. After 3 months in barrel, the blend was assembled and put back to barrel for another 3 months of aging prior to bottling.”
Appearance: A deeper, almost solid garnet colour.
Nose: Medium intensity aromas of juicy berries with hints of spice and oak. The aromas persist after decanting but have a sweeter tone.
Palate: This wine is dry and lighter-bodied to start but grows with swirling in the glass. A lean, soft mouthfeel. Medium acidity. Light tannins to start, which get stronger with swirling as well as toward the finish. But primarily an acid-driven wine. Juicy berries, black fruit, raspberries, and a touch of oak on the palate. The wine is now medium-bodied after decanting, as well as the tannins. And I pick up more berry fruit flavours.
Finish: Medium-plus length, finishing with medium drying tannins at the back of your tongue. Juicy berries, cherries, and some pepperiness on the finish. No change to the finish after decanting.
Decanting opened up the palate to this wine plus the wine added a little more to the body. Decanting is recommended.
Rating: 
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with decanting. The Blasted Church Vineyards Big Bang Theory 2024 shows a deep, almost solid garnet colour with medium aromas of juicy berries, spice, and oak, becoming sweeter in tone after decanting. The palate is dry and initially lighter-bodied with a lean, soft mouthfeel and medium acidity, offering juicy berries, black fruit, raspberry, and a touch of oak. The wine gains body and stronger tannins with swirling, becoming medium-bodied after decanting, with more prominent berry fruit flavours. It finishes medium-plus in length with juicy berries, cherry, pepperiness, and medium drying tannins at the back of the tongue, with no change to the finish after decanting.
Where Can I Buy This Wine?
This wine is available to purchase online from the Blasted Church Vineyards website. It is available at select Everything Wine and Save on Foods stores.
