PLAN IT BC ~ SPOTLIGHT WINE

July 5, 2011 - John Schreiner

In a charming bit of branding, Michelle Young and Steve Wyse have named their winery’s first white blend after their daughter, Amber. To the best of my recollection, this has only been done twice before in the recent history of B.C. wine. Last year, the owners of SouthEnd Farm on Quadra Island named a botrytized dessert wine after their daughter, Miwa. Several years ago, Le Vieux Pin’s rosé was named Vaïlla after a vineyard manager’s daughter. Perhaps it does not happen often because not many young couples have started wineries lately.

Amber has an outstanding wine named for her. It begins dramatically with aromas of pineapples, bananas, peaches and apricots. On the palate, the wine is a tropical fruit bowl, with ripe flavours of apricots, pineapples and papayas. The rich palate weight of this wine is wrapped around the light spine of tannin from the Viognier. The fresh acidity gives the wine a crisp finish.