It’s been awhile since everything aligned just right to have such a winning combination. Saturday night, the last weekend before the kiddos go back to school after spring break, and all but one of our family were able to be together. Nine of us, five adults and four kids, sitting down to a typical family dinner. A little bit of chaos, a little bit of kitchen cooperation, some effort on everyone’s behalf and we sat down to a delicious meal with what turned out to be a terrific wine pairing.
I can’t rave enough about the Clos du Soleil, Winemaker’s Series, Whispered Secret Vineyard 2019 Pinot Gris. A BC VQA Similkameen Valley wine.
Clos du Soleil Winemaker’s Series 2019 Pinot Gris
Winemaker’s Series
Whispered Secret Vineyard
BC VQA Similkameen Valley
Tasting Notes
A rich, ripe expression of Pinot Gris, on the nose this wine presents the taster with aromas of ripe nectarine skin, fresh pear juice and lemon zest. On the palate the wine is dense with flavours of ripe nectarine, pear and crisp apple.
It has a fine-grained texture in the mouth, leading into a long, juicy finish of soft stone-fruit flavours complemented with zingy citrus acidity. The firm structure but concentration of ripe fruit flavours means this wine is easy to enjoy by itself, but is equally an excellent food wine: summer salads, chicken with poached pears, or glazed pork would all be excellent pairings.
Winemaking Notes
The grapes for this wine were grown on our Whispered Secret Vineyard, a cooler site on the south side of the valley, ideal for flavour development while maintaining beautiful acidity. The fruit quality was excellent so the winemaking focused on preserving that which nature gave us. We pressed the fruit whole-cluster immediately after hand-harvesting, and fermented it in a combination of stainless steel barrels, tanks, and French oak puncheons. The slow fermentation lasted for over a month, and then the wine was aged on the lees for a further 3 months. Other than a light filtration prior to bottling, nothing else was done to this wine – just as nature intended it!
Winemaker: Michael Clark
From the first sip I knew that this was an outstanding pairing with the Coquilles Saint-Jacques à la Parisienne. The stonefruit aromas mingling with green apple and yellow plum just sung freshness on the nose.
Those same fresh notes of white peach, anjou pear and Granny Smith apple came together like an explosion of flavours and freshness on the palate. An underlining of light citrus and superb acidity made this wine a winner.
From the salad with a tangy dressing, roasted asparagus and the fennel risotto to the rich scallops à la Parisienne this pairing was nothing short of divine. It was light but at the same time had excellent texture and maximum flavour. It was just so refreshing and sublime.
This wine would have also been ideal as an aperitif, afternoon refresher. I only regret that I had just one bottle.
No longer available at the winery. In limited quantities (and vintages) at Everything Wine $29.98.
Although this wine is unavailable from the winery there are two other excellent wines that I would highly recommend. 2022 Fumé Blanc @25.90 or their 2022 Capella @31.90 both available online or at the winery. Or alternatively, the 2023 Capella @34.99 at 28 BC Liquor Stores.
Coquilles Saint-Jacques à la Parisienne
This is where I would normally include a recipe but I obviously didn’t just come up with this on my own. Thanks to the Julia Child The French Chef Cookbook for the inspiration. I varied considerably from the recipe even adding extra steps and sort of combining two recipes to create my own version.
2 cups sliced scallops
1/2-3/4 cup white wine
2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 large shallots, minced
salt and pepper
one small bay leaf
one crushed garlic clove
Gruyere cheese
unsalted butter
lemon juice
I started with a hot frying pan, some unsalted butter. When the butter was sizzling I added the scallops, salt and pepper. I overcrowded the pan which meant the scallops released a lot of their liquid.
Using a slotted soup I removed the scallops and placed them in a bowl, drained the scallop liquid into another bowl to use later.
Next I made a roux with butter and flour, adding the reserved scallop liquid to the pot. Meantime I melted more butter in the frying pan and sauteed the mushrooms and shallots. By this time the scallops had released more liquid which I added to the roux, cooking the roux just enough to cook the starch then added the scallops, mushrooms, shallots and a squeeze of fresh lemon. Finally removing the pot from the heat and adding the cheese. Pouring everything into a serving dish and sprinkled chopped Italian parsley on top.
Served with a salad of greens from Wicklow Farm in Cowichan along with a salad dressing of olive oil, a couple tablespoons of mayonaisse, Dijon mustard, finely grated Parmesan, Worcestershire sauce, fresh lemon juice and a touch of white wine vinegar. Roasted asparagus and Fennel Risotto. The fennel risotto was made by one of my family members and was both delicious and the perfect accompaniment. Dessert: homemade brownies courtesy of the two eldest kiddos.
Truly a family affair.
MAKING CONSISTENTLY BEAUTIFUL WINE
It’s all about the vineyard and the wine in the bottle.
Clos du Soleil is a small artisan winery and estate vineyard on the Upper Bench of the South Similkameen Valley, in British Columbia, Canada.
We produce ultra-premium quality wines, borrowing an aesthetic derived from the great wines of Bordeaux, but stamped with the flavours and aromas of our particular piece of rocky Similkameen land. Through traditional winemaking techniques, informed by research, but adhering to the philosophies of minimal-interventionist winemaking and biodynamic viticulture, we produce wines that are complex and classic, ageable and elegant.
Tasting Notes and Winemaking Notes courtesy of the winery. My notes (in bold italics) Images: MyVanCity. Glassware: Josephinen Huette
