Wine List: 4 Must-Try Bottles Using Cross-Border Grapes to Reboot Okanagan Wines

What’s the opposite of your salad days? Whatever it is, that’s where the Okanagan is right now. A killer frost last January obliterated the fall “harvest,” with many of the vines being so damaged that they had to be replaced—which means waiting three more years before they’re producing viable grapes. But in all this mayhem, a silver lining has emerged in the form of some cross-border cooperation with Washington and Oregon, two stellar wine regions that, amazingly, have grapes to spare. In the coming season, we’ll dive deep into the wines our B.C. winemakers will craft using these American-grown grapes, but first let’s see what our Yankee friends can do with them.

1. Lingua Franca Avni Chardonnay, $63

There’s no hotter wine in North America now than Oregon chard—everyone’s fallen for its laser-focused minerality. Sadly, we’ve been largely left out of tapping into the gold rush, but we do have access to this exquisite bottle from cult producer Lingua Franca. It’s taut to a Gyllenhaal-esque level, with super clean fruit and floral aromas. Very much worth the hype.

2. Sokol Blosser Dundee Hills Pinot, $50

Pinot noir is Oregon’s calling card, and this bottle—from standard bearer Sokol Blosser—gives a hint of what we can expect. It’s made in the “Burgundian” style, meaning the fruit is less aggressive and secondary notes of mushroom and forest floor can join in a chorus of complex notes. Also, Oregon pinot ain’t cheap—even in Oregon—so don’t expect any deals with our state-provincial mash-up.

3. Domaine Drouhin Dundee Hills Pinot, $60

Did someone say Burgundy (or Bourgogne, as the French would like us to say now)? Well, this is as close as you can get without flying over the Atlantic. The legendary Bourgogne house Joseph Drouhin bought 235 acres in Oregon’s Willamette Valley in the 1980s because they recognized that the terroir was perfect for pinot, and this bottle—pure, focused dark fruit and seriously ageable—shows how well their hunch paid off.

4. Wines of Substance Cabernet Sauvignon, $27

Growers in the Oliver/Osoyoos area are gravitating more toward Washington, which may be the best bang-for-your-buck cabernet in the world. Take this bottle from mini-mogul Charles Smith: it has ample red fruit of course, but there’s an acidity and nuance that doesn’t normally come in the under-$30 zone. These might be grapes that are tough for our growers to wean themselves off.