Monte Creek Ranch and Winery Pinot Noir Reserve 2017

Deborah Podurgiel WSET IV Candidate rated this wine as 89/100 with the following review:

Love this dry, medium-plus-bodied Pinot Noir from Monte Creek Ranch. Dark and rich with ripe blueberry compote, dried red berry and rose petals delivered on a smooth palate. Great acidity for roast duck and meat-stuffed, baked Portobello mushrooms. We paired it with a venison stir fry and grilled Mediterranean vegetables.

Smoke from the 2017 forest fires in the Okanagan Valley was the challenge for this vintage, both for working conditions and the harvest. While staff wore particle masks as they worked in the vineyard, wine grapes were hand-harvested in the cool of the early morning, hand-sorted to ensure quality fruit and lightly pressed to avoid bitter phenolics in the wine.

Well done, the 2017 vintage was awarded Gold in the 2019 Pacific Rim Wine Competition.