I recently attended a Saturday afternoon tasting at Save-on Ironwood and the winery being showcased was one of my favourites, Culmina from Oliver in the Okanagan. Pouring the wines was one of the pioneers of the B.C. wine industry, Donald Triggs.
Most of us know Donald from his winery, Jackson-Triggs. Since 2006, Triggs has worked on the culmination of his 50 years in the business, a retirement project: his Culmina Family Estates Winery.
Triggs poured me a sip of his 2016 Culmina Decora Riesling ($24.99). It’s a dry Alsatian style Riesling from up on Margaret’s Bench, named after his mother. There are hints of citrus and lime with a bit of wet stone on the palate.
Triggs boasted, “I’m really excited about that because it’s the land talking and we have lots of minerality in the soil: calcium oxide and calcium carbonate.”
He added, “What’s minerality in the wine? To me it’s like soft water and hard water. You can get that sense of ‘there’ there.”
Wine number two was the R & D White Blend ($23.99). “It’s predominately unwooded Chardonnay with a hint of Gewurztraminer to soften the character,” he said.
As Triggs revealed, “The R & D was to celebrate all the research and development we did on the property to really understand the terroir.” But his daughter was adamant it really stands for Ron and Donald. Ron is Donald’s identical twin brother.
It’s an ideal white for spring and summer. Aromatic and light. What is surprising is that you think it’s off-dry or slightly sweet after tasting the dry Riesling. Triggs explained, “This is the surprising thing. If you actually did the analysis, the grams of residual sugar is the same on both. However, the acidity is a bit more elevated on the Riesling so it tastes drier.”
Switching colours, the R & D 2016 Culmina Rosé($20.98) is vinted in a dry Provencal style. Produced from Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cab Franc, and Malbec, Triggs revealed. “It’s not your sweet pink popsicle.”
“Berry fruit in the character, but a nice long finish, a little bit of residual sugar to balance the acidity, he said. “It’s a great food wine, works with salmon and turkey but at the same time it can qualify as a summer wine.”
The culmination of my tasting with Donald Triggs was the 2015 R & D Red Blend ($24.98). Produced from all five of the Bordeaux red grapes, I was impressed with its complexity. There is dark fruit, a whiff vanilla and toasty oak, and a rich flavour of plum and dark chocolate wrapped in a smooth texture.
Triggs confided, “It’s soft and smooth but it has some grip. It will age for another two to four years. It’s good with red meat and spaghetti and meatballs.”
All of these Culmina wines are available at Save on Foods in Ironwood. And while free wine tastings may occur on any day of the week, Saturday and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. are the most popular. This Saturday, Vintage Ink will be pouring their Okanagan wines and on Sunday it’s Vancouver Islands’ Averill Creek.
Eric Hanson is a Richmond wine educator
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