Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/688647
90 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } JUNE/JULY 2016 tasted in B.C., only with a sagebrush miner- ality strikingly unique to Similkameen. Our sommeliers seemed equally enthralled by a strawberry-bright, sleek and zesty Orofino 2014 Celentano Vineyard Gamay, as well as the chunky, teeming, earth/mineral laced Orofino 2014 Wild Ferment Syrah and Orofino 2013 Scout Vineyard Syrah. Perhaps the most terroir- driven wine of all was the Orofino 2012 Passion Pit Cabernet Sauvignon, layered with peppermint spiced, cocoa coated black fruit, couched in a strikingly lanky medium body and finishing with distinctive sensations of graphite, echoes of compost, and vaguely resiny wild sagebrush. Our next stop was back to the south - ernmost edge of Okanagan Valley in a vine- yard planted in fluffy, moondust-like sand alongside Osoyoos Lake—Laughing Stock Vineyards' Perfect Hedge Vineyard. Warm climate, a semi-desert aridness, wild sage native vegetation and a slightly alkaline soil with almost no moisture-holding capacity all have a direct impact on the wines, such as the fleshy, ultra-concentrated, peppery, perfumed, almost briny-textured Laughing Stock 2014 Viognier and Laughing Stock 2014 Amphora Viognier/Roussanne (the latter skin contact–fermented). Explained Laughing Stock owner/viti - culturist Cynthia Enns, who works hand- in-glove with her husband, co-owner/ winemaker David Enns, "This is desert winegrowing, but we get over 15 hours a day of sunlight, with winds whipping through the last few hours of each day, spreading the volatile oils of native vegeta - tion around." We could taste this directly in the sagebrush spice, jammy/phenolic fruit, flowery violet perfume and natural acid lifted qualities of the Laughing Stock 2013 Syrah. We found similar scrubby notes, compact phenolics and lifted perfume qualities mingling in the cassis, black cherry and blackberry notes of the Laughing Stock 2013 Portfolio (41% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon balanced by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot). At nearby Nk'Mip Cellars (pronounced inkameep)—self-billed as "North America's first Aboriginal winery"—we tasted an even wider range of original, exciting wines grown in Osoyoos Lake terroir. Chef Mertz makes special note of the Nk'Mip 2015 Dreamcatcher (Riesling/Sauvignon Blanc/Ehrenfelser), describing it as "just brilliant . . . great aromatic notes, tropi - cal flavors, balancing acidity." The steady Canadian movement away from oak over- ripeness was refreshingly evident in a flinty, airy, Chablis-like Nk'Mip 2014 Chardonnay Reserve; and the Nk'mip 2014 Riesling Icewine was a silky, sharply pinpoint revelation, screaming for Gorgonzola Dolce, if not ankimo or foie gras with natural fruit infusions. Our visit to Nk'Mip Cellars was capped by a double-blind tasting of five Syrahs, which gave us a better handle on the unique terroir-driven complexities to be found in British Columbia. DeBoeur gives kudos to the Quails' Gate 2013 The Boswell—which he says "could have eas - ily been mistaken for a Northern Rhône with the green olive and green peppercorn notes to its black and blue fruit, smoke and curing spices—as well as to the Painted Rock Estate2013 Syrah, which was "even bolder, a little more New World." Rob Renteria of San Francisco's La Folie praised the Burrowing Owl 2012 Syrah for its "pretty, harmonious qualities"—its Syrah spiciness imbued with dark roast coffee-like smokiness. The Nk'Mip 2013 Syrah was even more concentrated, dense and vel - vety, its meaty-textured fruit finishing with coffee grinder spice, while the Summerhill 2011 Pyramid was more of an outlier with its deliberately restrained, Saint-Joseph–like medium weight and clarity of flowery fruit. A close-up of fine, sandy "moon dust" soil at Laughing Stock's Perfect Hedge Vineyard. CAMP [ ] [ ] A double-blind Syrah tasting at Nk'Mip Cellars (Chevis Scott in foreground). Somm Campers Nichole Dishman and Marie Mertz at Laughing Stock's Perfect Hedge Vineyard.