Last week, Salt Tasting Room hosted Tantalus Vineyards for another installment of their ‘Cellar Series’. Being suckers for anything involving wine, cheese, cured meat and condiments – we jumped on the bandwagon early to get our tickets for this event.
A few random facts about Tantalus:
- Tantalus is located on the Eastern slopes of the Okanagan Valley in Kelowna
- Plantings on their site go back to 1927 making them one of BC’s oldest producing vineyards
- Their flagship vines (Riesling & Pinot Noir) were planted in 1978 and 1983 respectively
- All of their wines are made from organic grapes grown on-site
The first flight that we started with included:
Riesling ‘08 ($22.90)
A lovely mix of bright citrus flavours with the beginning of some petrol tones. Definitely a wine that you could enjoy on it’s own while sitting on a patio or paired up with some sushi or cheese.
Riesling ‘09 (TBA)
We had the opportunity to try out a barrel sample of the ‘09 Riesling, which at it’s young state gave off more fruit tones than it’s ‘08 predecessor. Given some time this could turn out to be another exceptional vintage for Tantalus.
Old Vines Riesling ‘05 ($29.90)
One of our table-mates described the nose on this wine as being similar to the smell of his wetsuit. The Old Vines Riesling was ripe with hints of petrol and diesel, both on the palate and the nose. This wine had a wonderful balance and structure, I’d be excited to see what another 5 years would bring it.
The flight of whites was served with:
Cheeses: Ash Camembert, L’Edel de Cleron, Piave
Meats: Norcino Salami, Piccantino
Condiments: BC Apricot Chutney, Cornichons, Marcona Almonds
The second flight included two Pinot Noirs and an Ice Wine:
Pinot Noir ‘08 (TBA)
The second this wine met my mouth it was love at first taste with it’s smooth flavours and delicte tannins. This wine was explained to us as the ‘Cinderella Story’ of the vineyard, because as the wine was being stored it was moved from the old building into Tantalus’ new facility – because of the movement they weren’t sure how it was going to turn out… If this is what happens when you move wine, I strongly encourage them to build a new facility every year!
Pinot Noir ‘07 ($29.90)
The ‘07 Pinot seemed to have more acidity and ripe red fruit flavours than it’s ‘08 counterpart. Which for my palate meant that I enjoyed it more paired alongside the different meats where the acidity could play with the fat in the meats and the flavour of the fruit in the wine was able to take the stage.
Riesling Ice Wine ‘05 ($69.90)
Approximately 50 cases of this Ice Wine are produced from 5 rows of grapes, it takes them approximately 1.5 hours to pick all of the grapes in -8 to -10 degree weather. Jane described the process as ‘having to wrap up like Kenny from South Park ‘ to endure the cold and then retreat inside for bacon and pancakes. With that being said, the effort was well worth it, producing palate pleasing flavours full of tropical fruits and honey. Paired alongside the Saint Agur blue cheese we were even able to convince the sugar-wary members of our group that dessert wines are approachable and not syrup!
The flight of reds was served with:
Meats: Make Vitow’s Corned Beef, Fuet Catalan, Organic Sherry Beef
Cheeses: Comte, Saint Agur
Condiments: Guiness Mustard, Basque Olives, Similkameen Honey