2017 Little Engine Platinum Merlot

Little Engine Merlot

Allison Markin - Nov 8, 2020 / 4:00 am | Story: 315807

Photo: Contributed

Wine: Platinum Merlot, 2017

Winery: Little Engine, Naramata

Why drink it? It’s a club exclusive and sold out … so you need to find a good friend with a bottle, or book a tasting at the winery to experience their entire portfolio including two other Merlot options. This one would have changed the mind of Miles in Sideways in one sip. Intense aromas on the nose of dark chocolate and freshly ground espresso with a bit of spice and dark cherry, not to mention a beautiful deep red colour in the glass. Flavours of cassis, dark fruits, and cedar pair with gentle oak notes and some creaminess from malolactic fermentation, ending with an elegant and balanced finish.

Pair with: A good steak, roast beef, or a burger with caramelized onions and bleu cheese on top, with garlic mashed potatoes or crispy fries on the side. A dark chocolate torte with raspberry or currant sauce. Or just open your bottle with the good friend you want to share it with.

Price: $85

Music pairing: Georgia on a Fast Train, Billy Joe Shaver

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About the Author

As a kid, Shelley Boettcher often found herself in the back seat of a pick-up, exploring the back roads of the Okanagan Valley with her parents. They’d occasionally leave her and her brother in the car while they stopped at mysterious addresses to buy wine. They would emerge, clearly happy, as they stuck a box or a few bottles in the vehicle. Then they would continue on their journey.

But it wasn’t until a trip to Spain in 2000 that Shelley herself fell in love with wine. She came home from the holiday and promptly told her editor she wanted to become a wine writer.

And she did.

An award-winning food and wine writer and editor, Shelley holds her master’s degree in journalism and her advanced WSET certification, as well as her level 2 International Sommelier Guild certification. A wine columnist for the Calgary Herald, she spent a decade as CBC Radio’s national syndicated wine columnist and she has written three books about wine, including two that were Canadian bestsellers. Her byline has appeared in magazines and newspapers around the world, including the New York Times, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail and Postmedia newspapers across Canada.

Shelley has travelled throughout many of the world’s wine regions and countries, including Niagara, Oregon, Washington, California, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Australia, Germany, Argentina and the Republic of Georgia. A few years ago, she even tracked down and visited a winery in Denmark.

Shelley has also served as a professional wine judge regionally and internationally, including the Okanagan Wine Festivals, Vinitaly and the Chianti Classico Consortium. For more than a decade, she has been a restaurant wine list judge for the Vancouver International Wine Festival, too. She still teases her parents for sparking her love for wine, especially BC wine.

And her favourite? Whatever she's drinking at the moment.

You can follow Shelley on Instagram @shelleyboettcher or Twitter at @shelley_wine.

If you have a BC wine you’d like to suggest, email Shelley at [email protected] with the name of the wine and a short note about why you enjoyed it.