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Show Notes: Liquor Plus Radio Episode 3: Wine of the Week Jan. 3-Jan. 9, 2012- Wild Goose Vineyards 2010 As many of you know I’m not a huge fan of Pinot Gris and it is not because there is a dearth of great options. The reason is that the majority are poser wines without any soul. Harsh…. Maybe, but there are too many watery, fruit cocktail syrup versions on the market and they are crowding out the few spectacular ones that are on the market. Wild Goose vineyards is located in the Okanagan Falls region of the Okanagan Valley. They have won plenty of awards for the wines sourced from the God’s Mountain Vineyards which, incidentally is home to one of my other favourite BC Pinot Gris’s – Bartier Scholefield – yum. Their Rieslings are too die for and are pretty hard to get as they can sell out at the winery in the blink of an eye. What makes this Pinot Gris different is not only the terroir, but also that it has undergone Battonage. Battonage is a winemaking term that describes the process of sur Lie ageing a wine. Simply put when the wine maker decides that a white wine has the umpf or the guts to handle he or she will let it age in barrel with the dead yeast cells. Every so often they gently stir it so that all the wine in the barrel gets the benefit. The result, and this totally requires top quality grapes, is a bright fresh fruit wine with the added bonus of a creamy texture. Most Pinot Gris’s feature brisk acidity and flavours of pear and white peach. This one has bright acidity which makes the fruit flavours of apricot, Bartlett pear, White peach and apple taste fresh instead of baked or cooked, however the bonus here is in the texture. The Battonage gives this wine a creamy texture to it which is not only enjoyable, but means you can pair the wine with some heartier foods. Pair this with halibut done in butter with a side of fruit salsa and oh my goodness. This also works with roasted poultry, hearty vegetarian dishes and creamy cheeses. This is a great wine for Culinary nights, Date Nights, Gift Giving, Going to Friends for Dinner, Family Dinners, Afternoon Nibbling, Cocktail Parties. The Bang for the Buck Score for this wine is 7.65/$1 – pretty damn good in relation to a lot of other Pinot Gris on the market today. As our Wine of the Week you can taste this beer in everyone of our 5 locations this Saturday January 7 from 3-5pm. Liquor Plus Radio is hosted and Produced by Rod Phillips with technical assistance from Steve Jobs (RIP) via GarageBand, Mike & Cheryl DeWolfe and Mike Vardy. Liquor Plus Radio is now on iTunes and you can subscribe by going to iTune Store/ Podcasts and typing in Liquor Plus Radio. As always please let us know what you think as we know we can improve but need feedback to do that right. That’s all for now so take it easy and hopefully, we can all improve our quality of life… one sip at a time.