Black Hills' Nota Bene & Chateau des Charmes Gamay Noir

Black Hills Estate Winery
Chateau des Charmes

sometimes, I taste a beer or wine that changes the way I think about it's rivals. I ask myself, "why haven't I been drinking THIS all along?" Black Hills' Nota Bene is one such wine. unfortunately, the answer to my previous question, in the case of wine, usually comes down to cost. but, in this case it comes down to availability. the limited release of Black Hills' Nota Bene, mixed with it's exceptional quality and reputation, have ensured that this wine sells out every vintage. I'm lucky that the wine nerdiness of my friends Deanne and Bruce equates the beer nerdiness of Big Love and I. so deep is their love of good wine, they were motivated to drive to Oliver, BC purely on the rumour that the folks at Black Hills were to release a few more cases of their 2006 Nota Bene. the rumour was truth, and they picked up their maximum allotment of 2 bottles (1 /person). through family wine trading, they have acquired Nota Bene vintages from 2005-2007. back to this wine shortly.

along with being lovers of wine, Deanne and Bruce are lovers of good food. Bruce has been a chef in many high end kitchens around western Canada and on his day off from plating up hundreds of meals, he spent the day prepping last night's offerings. the first course consisted of slices of perfectly pan-seared duck beast, with an apple and fennel slaw and raspberry gastrique. needless to say, it was delicious. I brought over a bottle of Chateau des Charmes Gamay Noir, which I thought would go well with the duck. we served this Niagara Gamay slightly chilled for a change. this light-bodied wine poured much more purple and deeper than I was expecting. the aroma was very sweet - I smelled cherries and a little pineapple. the taste backed up those fruits along with something a bit spicier. I thought of incense or sort of a cinnamon taste. Bruce tasted anise. it definitely finished much more heaty than it's 13% ABV would suggest, however, it complimented the duck very well. the second course of our meal was a beefsteak tomato, fresh basil, and bocconcini salad that provided a refreshing break in between the meat courses and the wines.

onto this reviewers source of motivation. last night we opened a bottle of 2006 Black Hills Nota Bene to go with our main course of slow mesquite smoked prime ribs, crispy goat cheese potatoes au gratin, and local crisp asparagus - a suitably rich, indulgent meal for such a big red wine. as you can see from the pictures, the prime ribs were absolutely drool inducing - falling off the bone and candied with a rich, homemade BBQ sauce. the wine was decanted for about two hours and when it was poured it was a deep plum colour. the nose was jammy with notes of blackberries. the beautiful medium-bodied Bordeaux-style blend (Cab Sauv, Merlot, and Cab Franc grapes) blanketed my tongue with deep fruits initially and then hints of asparagus or some earthy vegetable. it was as smooth a wine as I have had. settling into this wine, tastes of smokey tobacco, some leather, and plum came through. the more we drank, the more these tastes married into one. this Nota Bene was obviously a wine highlight for my burgeoning palate and definitely worth taking note.

B Chateau des Carmes 2004 Gamay Noir
A+ Black Hills Estate 2006 Nota Bene

From Malt & Hops to Bouquet & Tannins

the differences between last weekend's camping excursion and this weekend's were apparent right from the get go. clay pigeons and shotgun shells were replaced with lake views and hot showers; chain-sawing firewood replaced with touring wineries. this weekend, beer was put on the back burner to make room for some of the Okanagan's finest Jesus juice. again, for the third time in as many posts, my attempt to review that bottle of Moylan's IPA, ends epically with a big, fat fail. how can I talk about beer when I just spent a few days in one of the best wine regions in North America? also, we had to take advantage of the fact that there was an automatic designated driver/pregnant woman in our group to haul us lushes around.

in two days of wine touring, we hit almost a dozen wineries and sampled around 60 wines. the first day, Deanne, Bruce, Selma and I, went to the slopes lining the east side of the Okanagan Lake to visit the wineries of the Naramata Bench. first up was Kettle Valley. I've been a fan of this winery since enjoying a bottle of their Pinot Noir at the Truffle Pigs Bistro a few years back. the stand out selection for me, was one their blended reds, the Old Main Red, which was very earthy and full bodied. however, when it came to ponying up for a bottle, I decided on a bottle of their yet to be released reserve EXTRA 4079 which was recommended by Luke, the local wine nerd at the Penticton wine info centre. this was the first, and only, blind purchase of the trip.

just down the road from Kettle Valley is Therapy Vineyards, which was the obvious next stop on the booze cruise. being a sucker for labels and packaging, I was excited to taste their blends (which are all named with Freudian puns, like Freudian Sip) and their single varietals (which are all labeled with Warshak tests). in this case, the book was not as good as it's cover; save the beautiful big flavours of their 2007 Super Ego. mainly a Cab-Sauv blend, it had nice, bold jam and cherry tastes. this will be my cellar pick of the trip, as a couple of years will hopefully make this good wine, great.

I'll skip our next stop at Lang Vineyards, as it wasn't my favourite. I believe the only bottle purchased by the group was a desert wine. we were stretching to find positive comments for the pourer's selections, so we decided that we would comment on bad wine with a, "oh wow - that was unexpected!". on to Lake Breeze Vineyards.

Lake Breeze was the biggest and busiest of the Naramata wineries that we visited, probably due to their huge patio that overlooked the vines covering the slope down to the lake. big standouts here were their Meritage and their Pinot Gris. i bought the Gris, as the ratio of red to white in my limited collection is getting one-sided. the Gris had a nice floral bouquet and had the aroma of pear and apple. I salivated over their menu, before reminding myself that there was a cheese stop ahead. at this point I was pretty thankful of Deanne's distinction of designated driving (... I haven't used alliteration like that since grade 9...), as just the uphill walk from the Lake Breeze tasting room to the car (maybe 30 steps), had me walking like I was trying to dodge Donkey Kong barrels.

on my last trip to the most evil store in the lower mainland, Everything Wine, Arianna recommended something from the next winery. although I didn't purchase any on that trip, after sampling Laughing Stock's repertoire this weekend, I was kicking myself for not listening to her. again, the beautiful views from the tasting room complemented their delicious selections. although producing grapes for only 5 years, Laughing Stock has already been producing their Bordeaux style Portfolio for 2 years, taking home a few medals along the way. I did love their Portfolio, but I've seen that bottle in local wine stores. so, instead, I picked up a bottle of their Blind Trust Red. blended mainly with big-tasting grapes, the specific varietals and percentages are to be left unknown to us punters - we are required to have some blind trust in the winemaker's ability to satisfy our collective palette.

heading further towards Penticton, our next stop was Poplar Grove. known equally for their cheese making as their wine making, it seemed like an ideal place to stop for a snack. the tasting room included cheese tasting as well as wine. most of the wines available for tasting were from their more economical, yet equally tasty, Monster series. one of the whites that I really enjoyed was their Monster Gewurztraminer. it was slightly sweeter than most Gertz that I had sampled. the Gertz grape seems to be the most prevalent in the Naramata/Summerland area with most wineries releasing their version of it. the big stand out here was The Legacy by Poplar Groove. again, a Bordeaux-style blend with a very complex taste of berry and something earthy in the mix. of the sampled cheeses, all of which were double or triple cream soft ripened varieties, the big winner was the Harvest Moon. the nutty tasting rind really mixed well with the double cream centre. Poplar Grove also gets bonus points for having the best dogs of all the wineries.


by the time we arrived at the last stop, La Frenz Winery, I was feeling the effects of the 35+ tastings. it's too bad, because I can't really tell you much about the quality of wines there. I remember liking it overall - but not being blown away by any of the reds or whites offered. we all seemed to like La Frenz's fortified wines as Deanne and Bruce walked away with a bottle of Tawny while Selma and I choose the winery's first attempt at a Port style wine. these Port grapes were picked in the winery's first year (10 years ago).

7 wineries, 35 wines, 2 cases of wines to add to our racks, 3 cute dogs petted, and 1 skittish marmot, all before 5pm - not bad for a day of camping.

next up - day 2: Summerland, a cock-blockin' stagette, dirty laundry and wine rage.