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Wine-Reviews

2018 Lake Breeze Pinot Blanc

Lake Breeze Pinot Blanc

Wine: Pinot Blanc, 2018

Winery: Lake Breeze, Naramata Bench

Why drink it? Pinot Blanc is often a forgotten white wine, a genetic mutation of Pinot Noir that sometime wants to be like Chardonnay, but thankfully is a distinctive clean and crisp option. Both the 2017 and 2018 were tasted, and both have lively fresh pear and green apple notes on the nose; the older vintage has some peach, and both are quite aromatic. On the palate the 2018 carries on with the apple essence and brings in a bit of tropical fruit and green melon. More complex on the finish than you might expect, with a tease of minerality to wrap things up before the next sip.

Pair with: Almost any type of seafood, especially a ceviche or shellfish dish, spot prawns during the brief season when they’re available. Fruit salads, or hybrids such as the trendy compressed watermelon and feta creation with candied nuts.

Price: $19

Music pairing: Smile, Wide Mouth Mason



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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. 

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