Weekend wine picks

Mission Hill Reserve Ros? 2022, Okanagan Valley $25.99 I 90/100 UPC: 776545993069 The MHFE Reserve Ros? comes from southern estate vineyards in Osoyoos and Oliver, and in 2022 it is easily the best I have tasted. Clean, crisp, fresh, and bright, it is a vibrant red fruit affair mixing watermelons, strawberries, and rhubarb while hinting sweetness with no sugar to be tasted. Predominately set in stainless steel - only seven per cent goes into neutral French oak - but it is just enough to keep the palate creamy and texturally attractive. Ready to drink with prawns, crab cakes, and olives. A delicious style that should make Provence nervous. Orofino Vineyards Cabernet Franc Ros? Pozza Vineyard 2022, Cawston, Similkameen Valley $19.04 I 89/100 UPC: 626990286271 Pozza, with its intriguing pale pink-orange colour, comes off a small block of Cabernet Franc on the sloping vineyard, a cooler, higher site in the Similkameen Valley Olalla Gap. Look for a mix of fresh strawberries and citrus streaked with cranberry and rhubarb. The textures are soft and silky; the finish combines desert scrubby sagebrush and stony mineral notes. If you visit the winery, the exact wine in the 750 mL bottle is also sold in a 1.5 L bag, a.k.a. the Mag Bag ($43.30). Environmentally sensitive and excellent for camping, boating, backpacking, beaching, picnicking - well, you get the picture. Corcelettes Oracle Ros? 2022, Keremeos, Similkameen Valley $24.90 I 90/100 UPC: 626990190486

Oracle 2022 is a mix of 76/24 Pinot Noir/Syrah, with 24 per cent coming off Keremeos'Corcelettes Estate Vineyard, 58 per cent from Cawston's Second Chance Vineyard, and 18 per cent from Earlco Vineyards in Naramata. It boasts a pale, Proven?al-like colour leading to a fresh, bright nose of wild strawberries and cinnamon hearts. Raspberries, guava, and pear streaked the palate with a mineral wet stone finish. A summer of fish tacos, spot prawns, crab cakes, and Mexican dishes calls out for this pink. Liquidity Ros? 2022, Okanagan Falls, Okanagan Valley $30 I 90/100 UPC: 626990442653

Another fresh aromatic pink stuffed with peach and guava notes with bright floral undertones. On the palate, savoury blood orange and crancherry rhubarb flavours with a dusting of pepper. Fresh, juicy, and easy to sip, it delivers with perfect tension of sweet fruit and acid. Most sushi works here, or, a winery suggestion, an arugula and tangerine salad. The fruit comes off a young block of Cabernet Franc grown near the U.S. border. The juice is in contact with the skins for only two hours, hence the super pale colour, while a portion is fermented in neutral French oak barrels to bring added weight and depth to the wine. Bartier Bros. Pinot Noir Ros? 2022, Penticton Bench, Okanagan Valley $24.99 I 89/100 UPC: N/A A new addition to the Bartier pink lineup is labelled Pinot Noir Ros?. In 2022 the all-Pinot pink offers a drier, more sophisticated style you can serve with food. Post ferment, it spends four months on its lees that help to build a silky mid-palate. Look for a freshly picked strawberry nose with a thread of spice and tangerine running through the entire wine. Wine club only.