Earlier this week I conducted a wine tasting of four lovely wines from Blue Grouse. This was a private wine tasting with friends. All totalled there were about twenty wine loving friends gathered in our condo building’s lounge. It was the ideal spot to sit, enjoy the wines and socialize. Our lounge was just big enough to accommodate everyone for a relaxed, casual sit down tasting.
The evening progressed very well and before you knew it over two hours of pleasant conversation, about wine, and wherever our interests took us. We had some favourites among the wines we tasted and you’ll find those reflections below in my notes.
The guests ranged from novice wine fans to the experienced, including one woman who has enviably attended Wine Paris, so quite a mix. That always works well and makes the evening so pleasurable. If you’re still with me you are probably wondering when will I get to the wines, so here goes, what we tasted and enjoyed.
I enjoy beginning a wine tasting with a glass of sparkling wine and this was just the ticket:
Blue Grouse White Charme De L’Île
Schonberger | Muller Thurgau | Bacchus | Pinot Gris
VANCOUVER ISLAND | BRITISH COLUMBIA VQA
Made with a 100% Vancouver Island grapes, the blend is very aromatic, fruity and crisp, and is a real crowd-pleaser.
At Blue Grouse, we believe wine should reflect its origin. Our approach is rooted in the Cowichan Valley, where we farm with care and intention, allowing the land and climate to guide our process. Vancouverm Island offers a wild and layered landscape, shaped by ancient seabeds, volcanic and seismic activity, and glacial movement. The Mediterranean-like climate encourages slow, even ripening and helps preserve the bright natural acidity that defines our wines.
CELLARING
Made with a blend of 100% Vancouver Island grapes from both Blue Grouse Estate and growers this bubbly white blend is comprised of Vancouver Island’s zestiest aromatic white varieties – Ortega, Schönburger, Pinot Gris, and Bacchus are the usual components – however each bottling varies a bit. The grapes are destemmed, juice pressed off the skins and then fermented in stainless steel tanks to preserve aromas. The dry, finished wine was then mixed with a bit of sugar and yeast and allowed to ferment in a sealed tank. With nowhere for the carbon dioxide to escape, as the wine ferments for a second time, the pressure climbs as more bubblers are created. The bubbly wine was moved carefully to bottle and finished with a cork.
VINEYARD
Vancouver Island is a cool growing region producing wines with natural acidity. The maritime influence helps keep the vineyard warm in the winter and cool in the summer, allowing for steady ripening and protection from very cold temperatures. The slow ripening during the growing season produces a fun and zesty sparkling wine with intense aromas and juicy flavors of melon, lychee and peach candy.
This delightfully fresh and fruity sparkler is also lower alcohol at 12%. This is a bonus for those of us that want a wine that is crisp, fresh and not too heavy.
Such a delicious example of fine wine making and grapes grown on Vancouver Island. The wine is so refreshing with just the right amount of salinity, minerality and an underlying delicate hint of spice.
Beautifully floral on the nose with a tinge of brioche to make it enticing. Everyone at the tasting, without exception, loved this wine. It’s a crowd pleaser.
Try this sparkling wine with oysters on the half shell.
$29.99 online and available at the winery
Blue Grouse Quill White Blend
Ortega | Schonburger| Pinot Gris| Muller Thurgau
COWICHAN VALLEY | VANCOUVER ISLAND
A blend of crisp yet juicy aromatic whites. A crowd pleasing and easy sipping wine.
We are rooted in the Cowichan Valley, where we farm with care and intention, allowing the land and climate to guide our process. Vancouver Island offers a wild and layered landscape, shaped by ancient seabeds, volcanic and seismic activity, and glacial movement.
The Mediterranean-like climate encourages slow, even ripening and helps preserve the bright, natural acidity that defines our wines. Our Quill White Blend is a culmination of the vintage’s most expressive and juicy white wines that are selected and blended for balance and pure enjoyment.
CELLARING
After pressing, we keep wines separate until we can assemble this unique blend. Fermentation and ageing in barrels and stainless-steel tanks aiming for both aromas and texture with the different vessels. Each wine is considered during blending in the pursuit of creating the most expressive and balanced blend.
VINEYARD
59% Ortega – Cowichan Valley
15% Schönburger– Comox Valley
15% Pinot Gris – Cowichan Valley
11% Müller Thurgau – Cowichan Valley
VINTAGE NOTES
2024 was a very cool vintage with enough sunshine to ripen the white grapes that made it into this blend. Schönburger is a cross of Pinot Noir and Muscat and produces wines with amazing aromas and flavours from Comox Valley. The Cowichan Valley Ortega and Pinot Gris contribute aromas and bring acidity and mineral finish.
Another very pleasing example of the quality of grapes grown in the Cowichan Valley.The wine is light bodied with subtle notes of minerality and fresh herbs.
The wine is flavourful on the palate, yet delicate, never overpowering. The acidity keeps the wine fresh and vivacious. An excellent pairing wine or just for sipping on a relaxing afternoon on the patio. Very enjoyable.
The Quill white blend pairs nicely with cheeses and salty crackers or flatbread for a snack, but also would go nicely with poultry and seafood.
$25.99 online and available at the winery
Blue Grouse 2024 Rosé
A Rosé of subtle colour that tempts you with it clarity in the glass. A rather delicate version that is pleasantly crisp, fresh with light fruit scents.
The wine is lighter in body with good acidity that enhances and compliments. Opening with fresh stonefruit aromas that lingers on the palate with hints of citrus and some tropical notes.
Another easy drinking wine that goes it alone or would be ideal for pairing with a charcuterie plate.
Blue Grouse 2023 Pinot Noir
100% Pinot Noir
WINEMAKING
Fermented in amphorae and stainless steel before being aged for 18 months in a selection of new and neutral French oak barrels and puncheons.
VINEYARD
100% Pinot Noir –Cowichan Valley vineyards from our own Estate and valued Growers
VINTAGE NOTES
Despite a winter cold snap, our coastal climate protected the vines, leading to a normal to slightly late budbreak. Warm spring temperatures encouraged early flowering, and a hot, dry summer created ideal ripening conditions to develop flavour concentration without compromising acidity. Grapes were harvested throughout October from our estate vineyards and grower vineyards. The 2023 vintage was exceptional for Pinot Noir, producing wines with structure, vibrancy, and intriguing aromatics.
Blue Grouse is known for its expertise in producing excellent Pinot Noir wine. This one is still young but showing signs of promise. Drinkable now but could also be kept awhile.
Enticing fruit scents that open with some rose dust notes. The wine is starting to develop it’s body and is pleasant on the palate. The alcohol content of 11.5% makes it exceptionally drinkable.
For me this is a Pinot Noir to enjoy alone or pair with a wide variety of foods. It would be a nice pairing with roast chicken or turkey, any number of seafood dishes that include pasta. The wine is very versatile for pairing and it would lend itself very well to rich desserts or dark chocolate.
One thing I like to emphasize at my tasting evenings is the importance of the right temperature and decanting. I make it a practise to always decant BC red wines. I find this improves the wine by allowing it to open and develop. Temperature is also important because just due to our own climate comfort level we tend to drink our reds to warm and our whites to cold. Remember wine has been around for a long time, well before central heating and refrigeration. I encourage you to try lowering the temperature on your reds by placing them in the refrigerator, or outside at this time of year is ideal. I put my red wine in the refrigerator approximately one hour before serving and leave it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, taking it out of the refrigerator for the next 30 minutes right before serving. For heavier reds around 4 hours of decanting, for lighter reds two hours, or more if you prefer. Whites directly out of the refrigerator mask their flavours, the wine should be cool not frosty.
When I have a group of new wine lovers I conduct a little experiment with them, although they don’t know until the experiment is over that it was purposeful. Following my recommendations above I decant and chill one bottle of red wine before serving, then pour both the decanted, slightly chilled red wine alongside the same red wine from a different bottle. You would be amazed at how many people think they are tasting two different wines, probably because they technically are. A decanted wine at a proper temperature is unlike the same wine that was not decanted and served too warm. Try it for yourself and I think you will be a convert.
So, which were the favoured wines? It was a close match because everyone enjoyed all four wines. Interestingly every single person preferred the decanted, chilled Pinot Noir over the one poured without decanting or chill. That doesn’t always happen, it’s usually a majority so this was a first for preference.
Drumroll please…the wine of the night was he Blue Grouse White Charme De L’Île, followed closely by the decanted and chilled Blue Grouse 2023 Pinot Noir with the Quill and Rosé also receiving good marks overall.
A number of people at the tasting were keen to know where to buy the wines locally. Of course the wines are all available online or at the winery but we do have other good options.
The White Charme De L’Île and the Rosé are both available at select BC Liquor Stores with the Rosé widely available in Victoria and the White Charme De L’Île, no doubt due ot its popularity, was available only at BC Liquor Stores in Nanaimo, the closest to Victoria.
So a quick search revealed all but the Quill White Blend were available at Vessel Wine store in Victoria with the Rosé and Pinot Noir both currently on sale so be sure to stop by to grab a few bottles of Blue Grouse favourites.
With thanks to Blue Grouse for the wines that were tasted and enjoyed. Wine notes courtesy of the winery. My notes (it italics). Images: MyVanCity
Read my review of the recent wine tasting held at Pinhalla and featuring wines from Blue Grouse Estate Winery and Unsworth Vineyards, Pizza, Pinot, Pinball to learn more about the wines from the Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island.
The Blue Grouse Estate Winery’s philosophy is “stewardship”. Our aim is to make everything we touch better than it was when we found it. We apply this to training our team on the environment that hosts our vineyard and home, the vines we grow, the wines we make, the infrastructure that supports the winery and vineyard, and the economics of our business model – everything.
Open Daily 11-5
Reservations recommended
2182 Lakeside Road, Duncan, British Columbia