The benefits in bottle for all the warm temperatures in the Okanagan in 2013 are really making themselves felt, or, actually, tasted. Hester Creek chardonnay, $25, is a generous, balanced, and delicious bottle, bursting with citrus notes that give way to more classical chardonnay typicity of butter and caramel. Well under a year of oak aging seems pretty much perfect for this wine, an ideal accompaniment to all kinds of seafood, but particularly sable fish and salmon.
Hester Creek also has a delightful red blend they call Character, $20. Merlot, syrah, malbec, and petit verdot harmonize better than your average barbershop quartet, offering a bit of plum and even violets, then surging into darker, riper red fruits, a hint of leather, and even a touch of fresh ground pepper. A nice price for such an interesting wine. And it tastes great!
