eatvancouver.net

Two BC Wines

Fishman the Grape pt. 2
a wine blog

By Daniel Fishman
Eat Vancouver writer
Friday, June 29th, 2007

Well, the wine blog is off to a roaring start, as I had a very interesting interview with Brent Hayman, sommelier at Raincity Grill, who was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to meet with me. I am planning on having that up for next week’s column.

In the meantime, the chairman and I tasted a few wines last night, so I thought I would put up a teaser (more to follow). One administrative note: I have decided to hold off on numerical ratings of any kind until I have had a chance to taste a lot more and see how consistent I am.

Quail’s Gate Rosé 2006 $14

This wine smells quite fruity, although the taste is a bit more subdued. When it was cold, it was pretty quaffable, but as it warmed up it tasted fairly strongly of alcohol. Not a bad wine, but at $14, you could probably find something more interesting. I wouldn’t recommend it, though the chairman thought it was decent.

Gray Monk Pinot Noir 2005 $16

I really enjoyed this wine, although Jason was not as big a fan. I thought that it delivered some interesting flavors as well as a decent amount of body, although it definitely didn’t stand up to our rack of lamb. It probably would have been a good match for a somewhat lighter dish. If you are a fan of lighter pinot noir with only a tiny bit of oak, I think you will like this one, and for $16, it is a pretty good value.