Here we have the third BC winery profile on the day of Canada’s domination of Russia in Men’s Hockey. Perhaps unfortunately there is no Russian wine to compete against – but Canada still has a ways to go in the wine world before it can compete with the world’s best.

Road 13 used to be known as Golden Mile, but have since rebranded. Their labels are certainly a lot snazzier than before, but the question remains how their wine has weathered the change. As with many Okanagan vineyards, Road 13’s owners Pam and Mick Luckhurst started the winery fairly recently (in 2003) and did so simply as a change of pace and a new challenge.

The winery is located six kilometres south of Oliver, BC and has three vineyards (Castle, Home, Rock Pile), with a total of about 34 acres. The production is pretty big for a BC winery, sitting at 15,000 cases, divided into three tiers ranging from “honest John” blends to the mid-range “Road 13” label and finally to the premium “Jackpot” wines.

Winemaker Michael Bartier explains the winery’s philosophy: “We’re on a mission. It starts with our terroir, focusing on the land, the site and the soil profile. Our viticulture practices then guide the wines to express their natural growth and characters.” Many wineries say this, but few can deliver. Further, “terroir” might be the most overused word in the marketing of wine – sort of like the greenwashing of wine. The real question is, what is the winemaker’s philosophy of terroir. It’s one thing to say that “we want to express terroir” – it’s another to have a sense of art and philosophy about how to do so. Now, I’m not saying Road 13’s winemaker doesn’t have these ideas at all, I just would like a little more details on what they are.

In fact, Michael does reveal a bit of his philosophy and passion when he waxes about the future of BC wine:

Okanagan Valley winemakers have historically made wines that emulate those from Australia, California or Europe. I think we have gained enough confidence over the last decade to start creating wines that are expressions of the Okanagan Valley. To me this means wines with the aromas of the Okanagan … flavours such as tree fruits, peaches, cherries and sage.

While I don’t know if I can call those aromas specifically Okanagan, I do believe that BC does have the potential for a distinct aromatic profile (beyond that of under-ripe Cabernet Sauvignon) – and I appreciate Michael’s push for a unique Okanagan sense of aroma.

Now, let’s not forget that owner Mick Luckhurst spends plenty of time in the vineyard hand-pruning and tending to the vines. I appreciate an owner who takes a direct interest in his or her vines – and not just the end product. As I’ve been ranting on about again and again, wine is an organic process encapsulated in a bottle of liquid. If you neglect that process then you lose the soul of the final product.

Winemaker Michael Bartier affirms this approach when he says “We all firmly believe that the effort that takes place in the vineyard is reflected in the final wines. As a result, we place paramount importance on quality viticulture practices.” Yes, and yes. This is the right attitude, and it likely explains why Road 13, while still having some growing pains, is, in my opinion, absolutely moving in the right direction.

I also like that Bartier is experimenting with oak in the winemaking process. He is not content simply to rest on the laurels of a particular cooper, or simply by relying on 100% new French Oak (which is oh so common in the prestige cuvees). Rather, Bartier maintains a robust program of experimentation, trying Hungarian oak for example, or various coopers and toast levels with different varieties.

Let’s talk a little about climate and soils here. As I’ve mentioned before, the microclimate of the southern Okanagan is quite arid, but also sports a very short growing season, with serious heat spikes in the summer and potential frost in the fall. However, the southern Okanagan is warm enough to grow some of the varieties that would not be as successful in the north. The three vineyard terroirs vary somewhat, with the Home vineyard having humus on top of rock, the Castle vineyard having hard rock interspersed with fine clay, and the Rock Pile vineyard having gravel and rock topped with 12 inches of humus.

The Jackpot wines, which I will be reviewing below, are from all estate fruit blended from the various vineyard sites. Let’s taste some wine.

2007 Jackpot Chardonnay

The nose on this was pretty classic for chard, with apple, quince, pear, butter, toast and some mineral elements. The complexity here was definitely beyond many BC chardonnays. The palate provided tropical notes with a standard butter/caramel quality. The acidity is solid, and is definitely not flabby in the way we wine geeks love to hate. But, this is also basic new world style chardonnay – nothing more, nothing less. It’s well made and totally drinkable, but if you hate that classic new world style you will not like this wine.

But, what I can say is that after tasting a bunch of California chards priced at $30-$40 in this market, that this wine stands up to many of them. No, it will not be comparable to those great wines that you’ve sourced out for these prices, but it is comparable to its average competition from the new world (which I would add I think is generally overpriced). With a little more work and experience, though, this could become as good as the Meyer chardonnay.

Very Good
$35

2006 Fifth Element

This is a classic Bordeaux blend with the basic five varietals of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. The colour on the wine was a moderate brick red. The nose revealed greenness immediately, but that is to be expected for most Bordeaux blends in BC. I also got coffee and chocolate, but I found the phenollics fairly forced, with definite green bell pepper underlying everything. I don’t know why so many people go for wines made from these grapes in BC – you aren’t going to get anything spectacular and are just feeding money to silly projects!

The palate presented more green bell pepper, jalapeno, and coffee. While this is somewhat underripe, Road 13 is not trying to shy away from this the way I thought Hester Creek was. This wine is more honest than what a lot of producers are doing, and, I think this is very drinkable despite the fact I don’t think these varieties should be grown in BC. What do I like about the wine? Well, the acidity is pretty forward and the palate is clean. There is a short finish right now, but also reasonable balance. This is not my kind of wine, but I can see how some would appreciate this and I do think it is pretty approachable for an Oakanagan Bordeaux Blend – I just wish people clued in to the fact that it’s really hard for wine makers to do the right thing here. Nonetheless Road 13 seems to be doing what they can with these tough varieties.

Good+
$36

2007 Jackpot Pinot Noir

Here we have a big new world style Pinot Noir, which is very similar to the Golden Mile Pinot that I had and enjoyed many years ago (the first BC wine that I liked). There is tons of bright dark red cherry, spice, and chocolate here. I almost find a strawberry-rhubarb jam-like quality to the wine. Simple but modern, bright, and easy drinking. I do think this is expensive for the quality, but it is better than many many BC pinots. Its biggest problem is that it is somewhat innocuous – and it doesn’t rise to the level of the Meyer pinots.

Good+ to Very Good
$35

2007 Jackpot Syrah

Well I recently learned that syrah plantings are growing faster than any other variety in the Okanagan, and if the quality of this wine is any indication then I can understand why. The nose here is very meaty, gamey, funky, and coffee laden. The palate a mélange of sweet red fruit, some herbs, earth, coffee and chocolate with a game based backbone. This is extremely solid Syrah with a nice acidic lift from mid-palate to finish. The clean bright fruit with subtle oak provides a very presentable wine. The big caveat here, though, is that at about $5 more you can get an absolutely outstanding world class syrah from central California or a lesser-known French appellation in the Languedoc or Rhone. And, those wines will give you a sense of terroir, whereas this wine is really just about providing easy to appreciate and simple fruit flavours with no real depth.

However, in time, I think that this syrah could prove to be something of note. Right now, if you like gamey Syrah then you will probably enjoy this – but it will also not blow you away, especially for the price, the perennial problem of BC wines. I think the fruit is there to make this quite a good syrah so long as Road 13 is willing to be bold and take a risk.

Very Good
$35

*Full disclosure: I received these wines as samples.