2019 vinAmite Petit Verdot

vinAmite Petit Verdot

Allison Markin - Dec 5, 2021 / 4:00 am | Story: 353695

Photo: Contributed

Wine: Petit Verdot, 2019

Winery: vinAmite, Oliver

Why drink it? Petit Verdot plays a role in Bordeaux blends adding tannic structure to these red wines, but can stand on its own when the climate is good for ripening, as it is here. Don’t be dismayed at the ‘petit’ as the wine is bolder than the name. Aromas of candied blueberries, violets, and baking spices emerge after a bit of time in the glass or a decanter. Flavours range from sage and other earthy herbs to stewed plums or fig notes and dark red fruits. Both on the nose and on the palate, you may be reminded of savoury holiday baking. Decant or aerate now, or save for another year or two.

Pair with: Winter dinners of hearty soups or stews, lamb burgers, roast pork, or grazing plates of tapenades and patés with cured meats and aged or smoked cheeses. Dishes featuring mushrooms will work well, as will some Mexican-inspired mains.

Price: $45

Music pairing: Lost Together, Blue Rodeo

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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.