Tag Archives: Moon Curser

Oct30

Rhone-style Whites

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Rhone-style Whites

The most recent media tasting at the HQ of Le Vieux Pin and La Stella sister wineries afforded a terrific chance to taste and compare a slew of Rhone-style whites from new world and old. The wines ran the gamut from the unctuous to the withdrawn, audacious to elegant.

White Rhone-style blends consist of two or more white grapes, principally including Viognier, Rousanne, Marsanne and Grenache Blanc, and other white grapes may also be included. In the Rhone, Viognier typically flies solo in the Northern Rhone and absent in the Southern Rhone. Marsanne and Roussanne are usually found together both in and outside of the Rhone region. Outside the Rhone, blends mostly come from California and Australia, but in today’s lineup, there are also several solid versions from Canada.

Alrighty then, let’s put on our Rhone Ranger masks and get on with this showdown:

First up was Moon Curser’s 2010 Afraid of the Dark – Honeysuckle, crisp white nectarine, formidable acidity. We covered this wine more than a year ago, so it’s interesting to come back to the same vintage after such a break. Interesting to note that in the 2011 version of the Afraid of the Dark, Chardonnay takes over for Viognier.

E. Guigal 2009 La Doriane Condrieu (100% Viognier) – Entrancing spice and musk on the nose. Deceptively light mouth feel. On the palate, the musk follows through. Also a hint of peaches and toasty caramel. A complex wine to ponder with time.

Black Hills 2010 Viognier – A waxy, rounded nose… (okay, I know that description got a little too Madame Tussaud’s, but I’ll try to gather myself and bring this one in). Crisp stone fruit from the early summer, a fair bit of the old acidity. A hint of bitter almonds on the finish.

Laughing Stock 2011 Viognier – A discreet nose of apricots and orange peel. Citrus dominates on the palate. Medium acidity, and balance. A long, light and pleasant finish. This is Laughing Stock’s third Viognier vintage and from their Perfect Hedge Vineyard in Osoyoos, in the Okanagan valley.

Treana 2008 Central Coast (55% Marsanne, 45% Viognier) – Sweet, overripe fruit dominated by stewed apricots. oily, unctuous. This is not my style of wine, but I can see some of you out there really enjoying the Treana.

Le Vieux Pin 2010 Ava (Viognier/Roussanne/Marsanne) – Honeysuckle, tropical fruit, a touch of lemongrass. Balanced, the acidity is spot on to balance out the fruit. A more subtle, shier cousin to the ’11 Ava, it’s got the same genes but not as much coaxed out of it than it’s younger cousin. Only 250+ cases were produced and it’s now sold out, so turn to the ’11 to get your fix.

Le Vieux Pin 2011 Ava – A gorgeous nose of sweet honeysuckle. On the palate, there’s honey-dipped stone fruit. Gentle acidity. The finish is long and brings back hints of the sweetness from the nose. The ’11 Ava takes over where the ’10 left off, and raises Ava’s game to a whole new level while maintaining a backbone of continuity of style. There’s an air of classical refinement to the ’11 Ava that conjures up an Marie Antoinette’s fairy tale France unburdened by reality.

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Sep15

Moon Curser

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Moon Curser


Moon Curser Vineyards is pushing the envelope on the grapes grown in the Okanagan Valley, and doing it under a bold new brand that’s turning heads. I was always a fan of the Twisted Tree brand, and was sad to hear it replaced, but upon seeing what took it’s place – Moon Curser – I was impressed not only by the unique design but the theme that is true to the region that is on the US/Canada border.

I had a chance to get to sip and see for ourselves the changes that are afoot, and the wines involved.

Afraid of the Dark 2010 (14.3% – Viognier 43%, Roussanne 42%, Marsanne 15%) expressed a gloriously tropical nose of mango and coconut. Vibrantly crisp and clean. Grown on the winery’s home vineyard in Osoyoos.

Tempranillo 2009 (14.2%), a bronze medalist at the 2011 BC Wine Awards and a silver medalist at the 2011 San Francisco International Wine Competition, from 100% Tempranillo grapes is still young and tightly wound, but very promising.  Soft spices, dark plums and cherry with a hint of toasty vanilla. It’s a thrill to see Moon Curser take a shot at Tempranillo in this northern desert region that still provides a hot, dry summer. Very impressed by the 2009 vintage.

Syrah 2009 (14.5%), a gold medalist at the 2011 All Canadian Wine Championships, and a silver medalist at the 2012 International Wine and Spirits Competition and the 2011 Intervin International Wine Awards, is another Moon Curser wine that tangents off from the norm, the Syrah was aged in Hungarian oak. Spicy, peppery, toasty.

Border Vines 2009, a silver medalist 2011 Intervin International Wine Awards, used to be called Six Vines under the Twisted Tree brand (because it includes all six Bordeaux varietals), and is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (29%), Malbec (23%), Carmenère (23%), Cabernet Franc (4%) and Petit Verdot (1%). Violets and vanilla under a blanket of red and black berries. Licorice and cloves on the palate. Powerful tannins.

Dead of Night 2009 (50% Tannat, 50% Syrah), a gold medalist at both the 2011 Los Angeles International Wine and Spirits Competition and 2011 San Francisco International Wine Competition, is full of old-world licorice and bold fruit on the nose. The tannins are nicely balanced and there’s a sublime toastiness that reflects the winemaker’s finesse with oak. At $38 a bottle this isn’t an every day wine, but definitely worth the price tag for a special occasion or if you’re feeling serious.

These wines have been winning medals pretty much everywhere they go, and I’m looking forward to writing about the next vintages, which are currently available.

Jun20

Osoyoos Celebrity Wine Festival

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Osoyoos Celebrity Wine Festival
Osoyoos Celebrity Wine Festival

We had the chance to spend some time in June at the Vinos during the Osoyoos Celebrity Wine Festival thanks to a little commercial we did up with filmmaker Chad Costen and Citizen 11 Entertainment.

It was some of the most fun we’ve had down in Osoyoos, chock full of food, wine, good times, and a flight of 18 finalist commercial videos about Okanagan wine. All of it set against some of the most beautiful scenery Canada has to offer, on the lake with the rust-colored hills of the Okanagan across the water.

As film festivals go, this is also up there as one of the best little venues we’ve ever been to, and on top of that, there were the little details that made it all the more fun: a table full of pop corn and candies just like at the cineplex, the white lawn chairs in the canopied theater on the beach, and a whole lot of people who packed the “theater” to capacity and beyond.

There were amazing commercials, from the intense to the insane, with various flavors of comedy that kept the audience laughing. Although our Space “Alien Wine Thief” didn’t place in the top 3, it was an absolute pleasure to be invited and to take part and have some wine peeps laugh with us. The winner was Grape Down by THomas Pound and Simon Cavan Taylor, which we’ve linked up for you below.

With the contest over and the prizes handed out, the deejay kicked things into a new gear, and there was more wine to be sampled. We took a run at a few more whites, with Black Hills’ Alibi – inspired by the great Sauvignon/Semillion blends of the Loire Valley in France – a strong standout, and as the half-step to red grapes brought us lip-to-glass with a summer sipper of a Malbec rose from River Stone, the force-like presence of Nota Bene under the same tent canopy was calling.

With some late evening beach-side burgers at the end of chaotic, meandering lineup, and some Okanagan reds flirting with our palates, the sensational Oscar Lopez and George Canyon entertained the crowd into the night. After an aborted effort to get our glasses around some Nota Bene, which ran out just as we hit the table, we skirted our way past the deejay to see what else there for the sipping. We had our first taste of Seven Deuce Red from Aces, some fond reminiscing of our previous trip to Osoyoos as we sipped the always fabulous Border Vines from Moon Curser Vineyards, a pair of wows as we were pleasantly surprised by the rich smoothness of Amicitia from Dunham & Froese, and a spicy, brown sugar fix courtesy of Desert Hills Winery’s Syrah. And thanks to a fellow commercial-maker, I finally got a sip of the Nota Bene I had been waiting for – it was well worth the wait, and we were comfortable calling it a night.

We can’t wait for next year, because we sure are coming back. And heck, maybe even with a new commercial in the running. ’til then, check out Citizen 11′s new Elvis-infused black comedy Death Wish on iTunes.

 

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