2008 Therapy Vineyards Merlot

At my local curling club (Tunnel Town Curling Club in Tsawwassen, BC) there’s been a poster for Therapy Vineyards for the most part of the year.  I’m guessing someone affiliated with the winery happens to curl out there.  Before I noticed the sign, I was completely unfamiliar with Therapy.  However, some of the club members have commented that it is actually great wine.

So I’ve kept my eyes open for a while, but had trouble locating their wine.  A few weeks ago I visited Taylorwood Wines on Mainland Street in Vancouver.  I stumbled into Taylorwood Wines when I was downtown for the Olympics one time and was completely impressed by their selection; especially because it’s all BC wines.  And they have a knack for focusing on the great BC wines that are difficult to find.  Sure enough, they had three different reds from Therapy Vineyards (merlot, shiraz, and Freud’s Ego).  I opted for the merlot because I’ve been craving a wine with some punch.

I actually love the bottle design.  Nice to see something completely unique.  In particular, the back label gives some insight into that you should expect.  Although not exactly a unique practice, playing along with the image on the front, they coined the back “what do you see in this wine”.  I found the move quite clever.

So I cracked this bottle this past weekend and really enjoyed it.  I didn’t quite finish it so I put the twist-cap back on to save it overnight.  The following night I pulled the cap off and found the bottom completely thick with sediment.  Not sure if I just missed this the first night or if it turned overnight.

In any case, this wine was great the first night.  I’ll have to try another bottle shortly to get the full experience.  Highly recommended.

2008 Desert Hills Gamay

One of my favourite wineries on the Black Sage Bench is Desert Hills.  I’m not sure why exactly I like it, but I do.  I try to stop in every time I am in the area.  One of my favourite wines is their Gamay.

I think I partly like that the winery is a small, family run operation.  I also like that they make consistently excellent wines.  And the family is incredibly friendly.  It’s easy to visit for a tasting and end up in a conversation.  The first time I was there, around four or five years ago, a gentleman came in to taste some wine (which he had never tasted before).  He was on a trip through the valley to pick out wine for his son’s wedding.  He ended up buying a number of cases of their Gamay on the spot.  I guess from that point on, I always paid close attention to the wines I was tasting, even if they were lesser known wines.

Now Desert Hills has developed quite a reputation for themselves and recently won the SILVER Indy Int’l , Bronze Ok Wine Festival & Int’l for their 2008 Gamay (click HERE for their notes).

In any case, I shared this bottle with my wife tonight.  My wife does not drink many reds at all, but this one she likes.  Overall, this is an excellent wine.  I love this wine because it doesn’t need to be paired with anything.  Even as Desert Hills states on their website, this is a great sipping wine.  I agree.