With the holiday season going into full court press, it is a good idea to have a few nice bottles of wine around, some in the refrigerator, some standing dandily on a corner of the kitchen counter. Good to make them food-friendly and versatile. One great option is the Blue Grouse Cowichan Station Bacchus ($20), a juicy, quite nicely structured sipping wine that bodes well for that region’s potential. Another is Moon Curser Arneis ($22), not easy to find but very well worth it, a classy, emphatic white that can handle almost anything you throw at it, including the perpetually grumpy neighbour whom you see at the block Christmas party once a year.
Harry McWatters, one of the Okanagan’s true pioneers, now has TIME winery, and another label called Evolve. The TIME white Meritage ($25), a classic blend of sauvignon blanc and semillon, showcases melon, pear, and a bit of peach, wrapped around a great backbone of acidity, perfect for turkey, for leftover turkey, or for those who really don’t like turkey. The TIME cabernet franc ($20) is already ready for opening tonight, though it can easily take on a few years of bottle age. It is ripe, luscious, a classic—a prime candidate for lingering over the cheese course at the end of an evening.
