2018 Tantalus Old Vines Riesling

2018 Old Vines Riesling

Allison Markin - Apr 11, 2021 / 4:00 am | Story: 330605

Photo: Contributed

Wine: Old Vines Riesling Brut, 2018

Winery: Tantalus, Kelowna

Why drink it? The winery’s reputation for excellent Riesling is well-established, and this sparkling version lives up to it. Making this in the traditional method lends some finesse to this pale flaxen-coloured wine that many may find unique to the world of Okanagan bubbly. The aromas remind one of sitting on a sunny seaside in salt air enjoying skewers of fresh pineapple. Typical dry Riesling flavours of citrus fruits give way to bright acidity dominated by lime, well balanced with delicate bubbles and nice body thanks to secondary fermentation. Step outside your usual Cava or Prosecco choice for this.

Pair with: Whatever you would usually pair with Riesling will do nicely, but remember this is bubbly, so it can handle some experimentation. Go old school with a ham and pineapple dish or even a pineapple upside down cake. Mexican dishes with lime and jalapeno if adventurous.

Price: $44

Music pairing: Recipe for Love, Harry Connick Jr.

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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.