Hester Creek Estate Winery Golden Mile Bench Estate Vineyard Garland 2020

Deborah Podurgiel WSET IV Candidate rated this wine as 92/100 with the following review:

Can you say “Rich”? Garland is Hester Creek Estate Winery’s Top Tier red wine and so named after owner Curt Garland. Garland 2020 is a gorgeous Cabernet Sauvignon-driven red wine blend with 15% Petit Verdot and 4% Malbec in support. The Petit Verdot and Malbec were co-fermented and blended with the Cabernet Sauvignon and aged for 24 months in French oak barrels.

All grapes were sourced from the winery’s Golden Mile Bench vineyard in the South Okanagan, British Columbia, and 2020 was an exceptional year for red wine grapes from this region. The fifth warmest year in GDD in two decades, 2020 saw smaller berries resulting in wines with concentrated flavours and long-term ageable wines (15-20 years).

Rich and refined, Garland 2020 is deep, dark red in the glass and savoury on the nose with medium-intensity aromas of ripe black fruits, earthy violets, fresh blackberry, cassis, caramel and well-integrated toasty oak spice notes smooth, silky and ultra-balanced with fresh acidity on the palate. Tannins are fine-grained and firm. Great now and will continue to evolve in bottle. Drink through 2035. Tasted October 2024.

Jennifer Havers rated this wine as 92/100 with the following review:

Robust and powerful!! This is a beautiful Bordeaux style wine, primarily Cabernet Sauvignon 81%, along with 15% Petit Verdot and 4% Malbec. Aromas include dark plum and blackberries, cigar box, sweet tobacco, rustic leather and smoky campfire. Full bodied, with soft tannins that mellow nicely after decanting, deep velvety fruit, medium+ acidity, and a smoky, leathery finish. Perfect with prime rib or any Sunday roast.