Written By Treve Ring Libations / White Wine Feb 14, 2011 Quails’ Gate Estate Winery Stewart Family Reserve Chardonay 2008 SHARE VIA: Facebook Twitter PinterestOkanagan Valley, BC $30-35 +639641 available at BC Liquor stores, VQA stores and select private wine stores www.quailsgate.comSelect British Columbia and Ontario VQA wines are headed to The Big Apple for a Seriously Cool Chardonnay media tasting on March 8. 54 wines from 31 Canadian wineries are crossing the 49th parallel to show wine scribes a couple of things:1. What Canadian cool climate chardy can be, and 2. We make more than icewine.VQA wineries in British Columbia and Ontario were invited to submit their wines in a blind tasting judged by a panel of Canadian judges led by Tony Aspler. The panel previewed 100 Canadian Chardonnays to select contenders. According to Aspler, “The wines chosen for the New York tasting show how versatile Chardonnay can be when grown in Canadian vineyards – from sparkling wine, to unoaked Chardonnay, Chardonnay Musqué, ripe New World styles in BC and Icewine.”One wine that made the cut is Quails’ Gate Stewart Family Reserve Chardonnay 2008. The Stewart family, pioneering horticulturists in the Okanagan valley since 1908, certainly know a thing or two about Chardonnay. Quails’ Gate has long been an industry and consumer favourite, and though their portfolio is a good size, their focus is towards Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Their 125 acre lakefront property in Westbank is ideally situated on the favourable south facing slope above Lake Okanagan. Vineyards are planted in a mixture of volcanic rock (from extinct Mt. Boucherie) and glacial clay, and though difficult to farm, Quails’ Gate believes that this terroir contributes to character-rich wines.This is Quails’ Gate Winery’s premium Chardonnay, and no expense was spared in its creation: older vines, barrel-fermented in French oak (50% new), full malolactic fermentation. Aromas of white blossoms, white peach and toast lead to rich and full flavours of apple, ripe peach, grapefruit, cool mineral and sweet vanilla. Weighty and textured, this is drinking lovely right now, but could lie down for another couple of years. Pair with crab, lobster, sablefish or butter poached chicken.Rating: (click here to see what our wine ratings mean) EATrecommendsQuails’ Gate Estate Winery Stewart Family Reserve Chardonnay 2008This is Quails’ Gate Winery’s premium Chardonnay, and no expense was spared in its creation: older vines, barrel-fermented in French oak (50% new), full malolactic fermentation. Aromas of white blossoms, white peach and toast lead to rich and full flavours of apple, ripe peach, grapefruit, cool mineral and sweet vanilla. Weighty and textured, this is drinking lovely right now, but could lie down for another couple of years. Pair with crab, lobster, sablefish or butter poached chicken.ChardonnayOkanaganWhite WineWine Reviews SHARE VIA: Facebook Twitter Pinterest Written By: Treve Ring Treve Ring is a wine writer, editor, judge, consultant and certified sommelier, and has been with EAT Magazine for over a decade.\r\n\r\nIn addition to her work with EAT, she is a Wine Critic and National Judge for ... Read More You may also like Beer / Beer & Cider / Drink / Events / Victoria March 24, 2019 A New Beer Society in Town Victoria Beer Week launched its sixth annual festival earlier this month, which ran from March 1-9. In addition to the festival returning for another ... Read More Beer / Wineries & Breweries February 4, 2019 Vancouver Island Brewery’s New Porter and New Re-Rebrand Vancouver Island Brewery unveils new porter along with their new re-rebrand Vancouver Island Brewery held a flight night last week, in part to ... Read More Causes / Events January 25, 2019 Blue Monday Pop-Up Bar – 100 Proof Blues January can be tough around these parts. In fact, it has come to be so globally known as such, that the third Monday of each January has ... Read More Cocktails / Events January 25, 2019 The Complete Bartender Competition 2019 Little Jumbo played host to Nimble Bar Co.’s The Complete Bartender Competition, January 16, 2019 Last Wednesday, I judged my first cocktail ... Read More Beer & Cider / Events / Victoria March 1, 2018 Victoria Beer Week launches its fifth year Victoria is once again readying itself to host the fifth annual Victoria Beer Week. As locals and beer geeks alike wet their palates for special ... Read More Coffee & Tea / Victoria December 18, 2017 Level Ground Trading Moves Up to New State-of-the-Art Headquarters Victoria, BC – Level Ground Trading, Victoria’s Fair Trade pioneer, is moving from their current location in Central Saanich, to a larger ... Read More Comments are closed.
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