Ooh lala… I just love a great French wine!
If you aren’t all into the nerdy part of wine loving then you may not know about new world and old world wines. Basically, it’s this; if a country was once ruled by a tyrannical King or Queen and used to behead people and have knights and folklore and such, they make old world wine. If a country was discovered and settled, then fought over by said Kings and Queens, then it makes new world wines. Roughly… that’s a pretty good rule of thumb for wine buying though.
So, we make new world wines here in Canada. And I really like new world wines. But there is something about the wine made from the grapes of those old, old vines that we won’t capture here for decades. Unless….
At the tail end of August we stopped at Larch Hill Winery in Salmon Arm. They are far up the hill and way out of your way. Who cares. You have to go. If only to try this one, unique, amazing wine.
You can steal this bottle at $13.79. Yes, that was correct. Thirteen seventy nine. It is worth buying a case of this stuff. Ready to know what it is? It’s Mad Angie.
Named for it’s varietal, Madeleine Angevine, or Mad Angie for short, this is a powerful white wine that will seriously please even the more discerning wine drinkers in your crowd. It’s got SO MUCH FLAVOUR! It is dry and crisp like a reisling, but bursting right out of the glass with curvy, sexy body.
Is it possible to have the body of an oaked chardonnay without any of the oak or chardonnay that makes that wine so, well, gaggy? Larch Hills has done it. Solid, packed to the rim with personality and still dry enough for dinner, this is going to become your new go-to white wine. And did I mention the price? Perfection.
This wine is rated a 0 (zero) which means it’s full on dry. But, truly, it’s got to have just made the cutoff. It is a little on the sweeter side of dry. It’s like a shoulder wine! It smells peachy and tropical but is crisp in your mouth. Just buy it.
The only problem? I couldn’t find a place in Kamloops that sells it. The solution? Their winery is open daily until December!
Watch for the column in Kamloops This Week on Thursday for tips on visiting wineries. Then make plans to haul ass to Salmon Arm!
Sippy Cups in the City 