Vanessa Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, 2015
Silver – Great Northwest Invitational Wine Competition, 2019
Silver – Great Northwest Invitational Wine Competition, 2019
Silver – Los Angeles International Wine Competition, 2019
Silver -National Wine Awards of Canada, 2019
Silver – Pacific Rim Wine Competition, 2019
92 points – From the record heat of the 2015 vintage, this contains largely free run juice aged 20 months in French and American oak. It is a rich, smooth yet quite bright cabernet with lifted, very pretty floral, black currant, oak resin/chocolate and green cedar on the nose. Nicely defined cabernet aromatics. It is full bodied, quite dense yet smooth and almost juicy. The tannins are gentle, the alcohol is elevated, the acidity drops out a bit in the middle, but the fruit is generous. Excellent length.
92 points – Ambitiously priced but ambitiously crafted. Veteran winemaker Howard Soon harnessed lots of flavour from the hot 2015 growing season in the Similkameen Valley to produce a bold red from the best cabernet blocks in the vineyard. Velvety in texture, this offers generous fruit suggesting blackberries, cassis and dates along with dark chocolate, tobacco, cedar and spice. This trophy red spent 20 months in new and used French and American barrels plus a further year in bottle. Just 195 cases produced. Approachable now, it should improve with at least eight years in the cellar.
Silver – Great Northwest Invitational Wine Competition, 2018
92 points – “Cedar smoke, dried herbs and wild blackberry on the nose and palate on this luscious BC red wine made from the classic Cabernet Sauvignon grape. Full-bodied and relatively smooth. Pair with a rare steak and decant for 1-2 hours.”
92-94 points – “This wine is scheduled to be released in September. Decanting is recommended to allow the rich texture to emerge. The wine begins with classic mint and black currant aromas. On the palate, there are flavours of black currant and blackberry with coffee and dark chocolate on the finish.”