Welcome to Monsters of the Okanagan: A comparison of some of the biggest and baddest wines in the valley.
I guarantee you’ve heard of one of these, if not all, and you may think some are missing, which they are, but hey, we scrounged up what we could from our cellars and liquor stores and ended up with a pretty insane line up of 2015’s.
Before we got too far ahead of ourselves, it’s important to know this is an opinion piece, and NOT another Battle of the Okanagan article, so there’s no holding back.
2015 was one of the hottest and longest summers we’ve had in a very long time – perfect for growing monster black grapes. I read an article that said 2015 was the best growing season the Okanagan has seen in a century (Google it) and that’s a pretty bold statement. That was four years ago and with wines like these, four years of age, almost makes them ideal for drinking RIGHT NOW!! Mind you, a few more years in the cellar probably wouldn’t hurt since they could easily handle 7 – 10 years....or more. These wines are complex, bold, voluptuous, savoury, face ripping, long, outright delicious and any of them could’ve taken the prize as our....scariest monster?
The price range was roughly between $45-$60, other than one, who was our winner of Battle of the Okanagan red blends - 2015 Young & Wyse Black Sheep Blend which sells for $28. As the winner of the red blends category I was really curious to see how well it would hold up against these bad boys. As a benchmark, we’ve included the Prisoner from California. We all know the reputation California has for its big reds and the Prisoner is a favourite of many, plus it’s within the same price point, so it’s a great measuring stick. Okanagan wines also have a bit of a reputation of being overpriced, so why not compare our “expensive” wines to a wine from California in the same range and see where we stand.
There were eight of us sitting around the table sampling the wines blind, what else is new, our scoring was to rate the wine out of 10 and It didn’t matter how we came up with our number, because in the end, we totaled all the scores and divided by eight to get an average. We also had a lot of appetizers to help soak up the wines and part of the judgment was to see how they paired with the food and if the pairing was good, then most of us gave an extra half point, sometimes even a full point.
Before we start, you’ll notice there was a Culima – Hypothesis in the initial group photo and that was a 2011, so it wasn’t part of this comparison. It was a wine to get our palate started and for those who have a bottle of the 2011, I’d suggest drinking it now, just an FYI.
Now, let’s get into the wines and find out who’s who…
THE WINES
Lariana Cellars, Fifteen
$44.90
63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Syrah and 17% Carménère
Osoyoos, B.C.
My favourite winery that I haven’t been to. I had their 13 at the Black Hills winemakers dinner two years ago and was seriously impressed, I told everyone I could, and now everyone I know has been to Lariana, yet I still haven’t been. It’s sad. They are an Okanagan secret and at the top my list of wineries to visit.
Our comments:
Cassini Cellars, Maximus
$48.95
60% Cabernet Franc, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot, 8% Malbec
Oliver, B.C. - South Okanagan
There are a couple wines I can speak to from Cassini, but in this article it’s all about the Maximus. Remember what I said about being face ripping, well, that’s the Maximus, by far the most aggressive wine of the bunch.
Our comments:
The Prisoner, California Blend
$54.99
California blend
St. Helena, California - Napa Valley
Like I said earlier, this is a bottle that most wine drinkers know about. It was my wife’s favourite when we first met and lots of people I know love this wine. It was a great wine to have for us to compare against.
Comments:
Osoyoos Larose, Le Grand Vin
$47.99
71% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon 5% Petit Verdot and 4% Malbec
Osoyoos, B.C. - South Okanagan
Another winery I’ve yet to visit. I’ve had the Le Grand Vin a number of times and never been disappointed. It was the first monster I had from the Okanagan, oh so many years ago, and was my benchmark big red for years.
Comments:
Young & Wyse, Black Sheep Blend
$28.60 (60% Cabernet Sauvignon
20% Zinfandel, 10% Merlot, and 10% Malbec
Osoyoos, B.C. - South Okanagan
Please read Battle of the Okanagan – Red Blends for more on the Black Sheep Blend. I’m not sure how happy Young & Wyse is with me for putting this wine up against wines twice its price, but I really do think our readers are just as curious on how it’ll do as I am.
Comments:
Laughing Stock, Portfolio
$44.99
45% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc, 4% Malbec, 1% Petit Verdot
Penticton, B.C. - South Okanagan
I may as well be honest, this is my favourite wine from the Okanagan, it’s the wine I’ve been buying every year since I tried the 2010 vintage. Laughing Stock is another small winery doing big things. It’s located in Naramata and tastings are only by appointment, so it’s not meant for one of your impromptu wine tours.
Comments:
Black Hills, Nota Bene
$59.90
56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38%, Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc
Oliver, B.C. - South Okanagan
If you haven’t heard of the Note Bene, then you’ve probably been living under a rock over the last several years. This could be, if not, the most popular monster from the Okanagan, it’s the one everyone seems to know of and name drops when asked about the big wines from the Okanagan.
Comments:
Fairview Cellars, The Bear
$49.50
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot) with Cabernet Sauvignon being at least 50% of the blend, sometimes reaching as high as 75%.
Oliver, B.C. - South Okanagan
Another winery that I haven’t been to…yet. I had a different of the vintage of the Bear a while ago and was impressed on the quality and structure, it certainly was a monster. The owner says they won’t submit bottles for competitions, but this article isn’t a competition and an opinion piece, so fingers crossed I’m not crossing any lines here.
Comments:
THE RESULTS
As expected, every wine was amazing, however with eight bottles that are all so close in quality, you’d be surprised to hear there was one that really did stand out.
Out of the eight judges six gave it a perfect score and the other two, they were close to perfect. No other bottle throughout the night received a perfect score, so that says a lot! Maybe the bottle was in that perfect spot to drink whereas the rest weren’t, or maybe it’s just that much better, who knows.
The Laughing Stock Portfolio was the wine that took it and that makes me happy. Not only because it’s the bottle I buy year after year, but it also beat out the Prisoner.
