Saturday, Sept 5, 2009

This year’s Munchy Box Wine Weekend was an eclectic mix of new territory and old standards, filled with pleasant surprises and unexpected let downs. The first let down was the weather, which was overcast, cold, and rainy almost the entire weekend. The second was my upset stomach from the Munchie Box the night before. As for the surprises, I’ll provide a quick run down of the wineries we visited and what I thought of them:

Chandra Winery- First time here. Organic winery just south of Oliver- very new. Service: 8/10. Wines 3/10, except for a “happy mistake” of the Pinot Blanc that were left on the vines after freezing resulting in a Late Harvest wine. I bought the happy mistake. Doubtful that I’d go back again.

Hester Creek- Came here on Ryan & Silver’s Excellent Adventure 2007. Located south of Oliver. Service: 4/10 (too many customers and not enough staff, the counter to pay was overcrowded with tastings, it took 15 minutes just to pay and get out). Wines: 7/10. I bought a Trebbiano- a light white unique to this winery…very hard to buy just one! I’d go back again if there was time.

Twisted Tree- First time here. Winery just east of Osoyoos. Service: 8/10. Wines 8/10. I had a hard time choosing, but in the end went with their Syrah. A very nice find- I’d definitely go back here again.

It was at Twisted Tree that we started to have conversations about how awful we all felt.  We recorded this video to warn us about making bad decisions later:

Silver Sage- Came here on Ryan & Silver’s Excellent Adventure 2007 and the Magical Mystery Tour 2008. Located on the Golden Mile bench south of Oliver. Service: 9/10 – very good considering the large crowd (at least we could pay quickly with a counter by the door)…they always put on a good ‘show’ here. Wines: 9/10…marked high because they are definitely unique and offer something out of the ordinary. I bought “the Flame”…a gewürztraminer infused with hot pepper. As usual it was hard to buy just one wine. I’d definitely go back here again.

Stone Boat- First time here. Located on the Golden Mile Bench. Service: 6/10. Wines: 4/10…although by this point I was getting palette exhaustion. I bought no wine here, but I did fork over a few bucks to try their icewine. Doubtful I’d go back again.

Desert Hills- Came here on Ryan & Silver’s Excellent Adventure 2007 and the Magical Mystery Tour 2008. Located on the Golden Mile bench. My favourite gewürztraminer is here…and I grabbed a bottle as soon as I walked in. Service: 8/10, the hosts were very entertaining. Wines: 9/10. I’d definitely go back.

Dunham and Froese- First time here. Sits high up a hill north of Oliver. Service: 6/10… good except for the multitude of flies. Wines 4/10. I didn’t buy anything, but did get a pepperoni stick at the market next door. Was definitely fatigued from wine for the day by this point. Would not go back.

After the day of wine we had a nice dinner at Savvios Greek Restaurant in town. It was an okay place with horrible service. Our hostess greated us with near hostility and our server forgot my meal. Afterward we came back to the motel, visited for a while, and went to bed quite early. Tomorrow would be a long day up to Naramata and back.