With the hot weather these past weeks, barbecuing or just cooking outside has helped to keep the house cooler. Barbecuing always means a meat course. These wines will help make that cooking experience just a little nicer whether the wine is poured with the meal or just a little in advance.
Therapy Vineyards
2012 Pink Freud VQA (442657)
Naramata Bench South Okanagan
$17.50
Therapy Vineyards is quickly making a name for itself among B.C. VQA wines. Therapy is a relatively new winery in the South Okanagan's Naramata Bench region. Although its first vintage was just eight years ago the vines on the property have been around much longer. The property was once owned by the Red Rooster winery and the vines are around twenty years old. The winery name Therapy came about because the owners felt everyone needs a little therapy now and again. The memorable wine labels all relate to that with Freudian Sip, Bi Polar and Alter Ego to name a few. All of them are pretty funny and meant to tickle us rather than to offend.
As the name suggests, Pink Freud is a Ros wine. Nothing about the colour of this wine would suggest it wasn't sure of itself. It's bold and quite dark for Ros. I would suggest the colour is that of a strawberry juice whose fruit was very ripe. While you might get raspberry, plum and other red berries, for me the strawberry is dominant on the nose. Carrying through to the palate those strawberries are again what come to mind. This Ros has a touch of sweetness but the acidity keeps it from being too sweet which makes it an ideal choice for grilled chicken, pork or a spicy summer salad. Chilling a Ros is appropriate and will only enhance your experience.
Canadian Wine Access magazine gave Therapy Vineyards 2012 Pink Freud 88 points out of a possible 100. Not bad when you consider the top Ros got 89 points.
Mount Rozier
2011 Cabernet Sauvignon
South Africa (424713)
$14.99
The Mount Rozier winery has a mere 20-hectare of its estate dedicated to Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Here in the undulating hills of South Africa's Stellenbosch wine region with its close proximity to the sea Cabernet finds its ideal terroir. In this purple and ruby coloured wine I found appealing aromas of blackberry and cassis bouquets with a touch of herb and earthiness that are indicative to cabernet sauvignons. In the mouth this wine has a medium to full-body with black fruit flavours and some fine and velvety tannins. I felt the wine had some good integration of fruit and a decent structure. This is again, a good backyard barbeque wine, whether you are enjoying it with hamburgers or a steak.
Kingston Estate Wines
2010 Petit Verdot (823096)
South Australia
$17.99
In 1985, the Moularadellis family officially began their winery venture when son Bill completed his oenology degree. Since then this family has created a line of wines showing what a family with passion for wine can accomplish.
This was
my first opportunity to taste a wine that was strictly Petit Verdot and I was curious. The Petit Verdot grape is native to the Bordeaux region of France and is a component in many of the famous wines of this region. By nature this small grape needs plenty of heat and sunshine to ripen. In cooler years, Petit Verdot plays a minor role in these wines but in warmer years its importance is magnified. In Australia, the chances of it ripening fully are almost guaranteed and it is able to really shine and present itself on its own.
This wine was fuller than I expected on all counts. The colour was rich and deep, with purple and loads of ruby highlights. The aromas were quite intense with blueberry, blackberry and sweet oak. In the mouth it has a fuller body and rich flavours of those berries and a hint of chocolate. There are some smoky oak and good tannin that give it structure. Everything about this wine was more than I imagined and I'll be anxious to try it and others again. This big wine would be completely at home alongside a big beefsteak and not hamburger steak.
