Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/688647
{ SOMMjournal.com } 85 walked us out to his Syrah block touch- ing the lake and bathed in golden light—a site that he says ripens this Rhône grape well despite the cold-climate challenges of the upper Okanagan Valley. In fact, a bottle of Quails' Gate 2013 The Boswell Syrah—which Basaldu describes as "Côte- Rôtie heavenly"—was stunningly svelte yet masculine, wired with acidity, while effusive with roasted meat, bacon, olive brine, bay leaf and violet perfumes. World-class, yet uniquely "Okanagan." Our dinner at Quails' Gate, according to Scott, was "amazing . . . for me, the best of our trip." Quince poached spot prawns were served with a brilliantly acid-lit 2014 Bench 1775 Sauvignon Blanc—possessing herbal, citrus skin and wild, animale-like nuances reminiscent of classic Pouilly-Fumé—as well as a gently tart, floral, imaginative Quails' Gate 2015 Chasselas–Pinot Blanc–Pinot Gris. The exotic spice dusting of the straw - berryish fruit in an unusually Syrah-like, musclebound Howling Bluff 2011 Summa Quies Vineyard Pinot Noir brought out the star anise notes in a confit of duck with roasted beets. Co-hosting the dinner at Quails' Gate was West Kelowna neighbor Mission Hill Family Estate—another pioneering Okanagan Valley producer, founded by Anthony von Mandl in 1981. When introducing the mag - nificently deep, supple, cigarbox nuanced Mission Hill Family Estate 2005 Oculus (42% Merlot with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot), Mission Hill Director of Education Ingo Grady told us, "We are not a small operation, but we are extremely aspirational." Grady also shared an accurate assessment of the emerging profile of British Columbia wines: "You can see that our wines are not like the rest of the New World, yet they are not quite Old World . . . I like to think of them as 'Next World.'" The Quails' Gate Winery Syrah block, next to Okanagan Lake. Howling Bluff Estate winemaker-owner Luke Smith speaks at the Pinot Noir Focus. Striking architecture and sculpture at pioneering Mission Hill Family Estate.