As the leaves on the vines yellow and the wind from the north carries a distinct chill, I like to think back to a warm day this past summer when I traveled to Oliver and dropped in to Covert Farms.
I’d received an invite by email to attend their club member’s appreciation day or a discount ticket or something like that. I’m not a club member but I was added to the list so I thought I’d exploit my good fortune and head up there.
I say ‘up’ because the massive Covert property (by Okanagan standards) lies on a silt and sand bench, a hundred meters above the valley floor, a geographical feature gifted by the past glacial periods and their ice-melt lakes.
Food, fun, wine, music and games were promised. Plus all the farm features that makes a Covert day so much more than the average winery stop.
I’m glad I had the opportunity when I did. Over the past week, the Covert ownership announced that the wine shop and public-welcome part of the farm would be closing down for the foreseeable future. They join a growing number of BC winery operations that are cutting back, trimming the fat, changing tack or just folding up. If you’d like to read more about what that looks like, Luke Whittall has written a pretty decent primer as linked below:
But, never mind all that. The online ordering is still very much a going concern.
The wine tasting that day was great. So many choices as they presented current releases and number of reserved or library holdings. I went in a little jaded and fully expecting to make a couple purchases and just enjoy the day with my wife and our foreign exchange student. But the deeper we went into the list then more I realized there were a lot of gems here. That’s how I ended up taking home an armload of their wines including this one:
This 2017 Roussanne-Viognier is showing beautifully. Maybe you have one in your cellar? Drink it now. The website shows that it’s no longer available. I’m glad I picked one up.
A lot of people don’t like to drink white wines more than a year or two old and I get that. A lot of wines are built for immediate consumption and instant gratification. But the exception is these well-made and crafted expressions of certain grape cultivars that profit from a little bottle conditioning. It’s a little reward for the habit of collecting and curating.
The subject wine here is at once lush and crisp; certainly enigmatic that way in texture, and that extends to the nose and palate. There’s acidy tropical represented by a hint of pineapple but that doesn’t necessarily extend to the nose which is mostly populated by ripe pear and a little Werther’s classic with a some lemon curd lurking around the corner. Structure is what keeps this oldish (for BC) white wine from collapsing into a flabby mess. There’s acid, a smidge of sweetness and skin tannin: all in the right combination.
It’ll pair well with a slightly assertive cheese like Manchego or locally produced Upper Bench Grey Baby. Consider heavier ‘white wine’ foods like salmon or chicken where, with wines of less gravity, you may have avoided creamy sauces or robust seasoning choices. This wine can take that on.
If your begging and persistent emailing proves fruitless and they don’t release a little from the dungeons for your purchase, consider the 2022 Sauvignon Blanc / Semillon. This is a winner and one of my picks that day as well. Fresh and zippy; really all you need to bring back summer into the household. Pair it with seared scallops drizzled with basil-infused olive oil. At $22 or so, buy six and lay a couple down to see if the ageability matches the RouViog.
If you enjoyed this article, consider a subscription. Right now, subscribing is free during my start up period. Check out my other posts and share them with friends.