Last week’s column focused on Blue Grouse Estate Vineyards in Duncan. The other premium winery in the Cowichan Valley is Unsworth Vineyards. They just completed a new winery and hospitality area and are ready to welcome wine lovers to their new facility.
Unsworth Vineyards is located in Mill Bay, Cowichan Valley, on Vancouver Island. It was established in 2009 by Tim and Colleen Turyk. They renovated a 19th-century farmhouse on the property, established a restaurant, and developed a reputation for sustainably managed vineyard practices. In 2020, members of Jackson Family Wines purchased Unsworth Vineyards.
I recently visited their new facilities, and it is really a wonderful place to taste wines. Instead of standing at a counter, each group is treated like a restaurant reservation, where you will have your own table to taste wines.
To enhance your experience, you can either order a locally crafted charcuterie and cheese plate or have lunch or dinner at the restaurant on site, which has many back vintages of Unsworth wines along with by-the-glass and 500mL offerings of many of their wines.
During my tasting, there were a number of standouts, including:
Unsworth 2023 Unsworth Vineyards Pinot Gris
The grapes used to produce this wine are sourced exclusively from their estate vineyard in Mill Bay. This is a dry style of Pinot Gris and probably one of the best examples of B.C. Pinot Gris I have tasted.
You will smell orange, confectionery store/bubble gum and citrus on the nose and get citrus, lemon peel and apple flavours with salinity on the aftertaste.
The body of the wine allows it to pair well with cheeses and fish dishes, and the wine showsa great balance of sweet fruit and citrusy elements. It is priced at $25.99 at BC Liquor Stores
Unsworth 2024 Saison Vineyard Pinot Gris
This is a great comparison and contrast wine to the above Pinot Gris. This wine is produced in an off-dry style and the grapes used to produce this wine are sourced from the Saison Vineyard site, known as one of the top vineyard sites on Vancouver Island.
You get honey and peaches on the aroma and stone fruit and pear on the palate. This is a lighter style of Pinot Gris compared to the Unsworth Vineyards Pinot Gris. The wine is priced at $29.99 at BC Liquor Stores
Unsworth 2022 Auxerrois
Many Cowichan Valley wineries are producing Germanic clone grape varietals that grow very well in the region.
With global warming and the added knowledge and capital injection from members of the Jackson Family Wines, Unsworth is now able the show the distinctiveness of these grape varietals. One grape varietal that Unworth produces is Auxerrois.
Auxerrois grapes typically produce medium to full-bodied, low-acidity wines. Only a few barrels of this wine are made each year at Unsworth.
It is fermented and then matured for eight months in neutral French oak barrels. You get ripe melon and apples on the nose.The palate exhibits good weight with notes of cantaloupe, lilies and apple. This wine is available at the winery for $26.90 per bottle.
Unsworth 2022 Pinot Noir
I believe the Cowichan Valley is going to be a hotbed for stunning B.C. Pinot Noir wines. This wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks and then aged in French oak barrels (five per cent new) for 15 months.
This wine exhibits cherry and strawberry on the nose and cherry, tea leaves and spice on the palate and is priced at $38.99 at BC Liquor Stores.
If you have the means, try the Unsworth 2022 Saison Vineyards Pinot Noir. The grapes used to produce this wine are sourced from the Saison Vineyard site and represent a flagship wine in their portfolio.
The wine is aged 15 months in French oak barrels (15-per-cent new barrels). The wine exhibits strawberry and violets on the nose and dark plums and dark cherries on the palate. The wine has more intensity and depth of flavours as compared to the estate Pinot Noir. It is priced at $75.90 at the winery
For my full tasting notes of my visit to Unsworth Vineyards, see here. For more information about the winery, please visit their website.
It is fortunate that many of their wines are available in B.C. Liquor Stores, so you don’t have to take my word for it, you can try the wines yourself!
Until next time, happy drinking!
Tony Kwan is a Richmond News columnist. Lawyer by day, and a food and wine lover by night. Kwan is an epicurean who writes about wine, food and enjoying all that life has to offer.
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