Best BC Wines – Serendipity

Naramata Bench Wineries
Each year we get invited to a number of industry wine tasting events and our favorite is always hosted by the Naramata Bench Winery Association. We like that the Naramata Bench is a compact region to visit and appreciate that the wineries all work together to promote the area. But we also love the small size of the operations and the unique stories behind each winery and their winemaking making many wineries of the region a great pick for our best BC wines.

Serendipity Winery
This year we found a new favorite in Serendipity. We were fortunate enough to go through a tasting with owner and true soul of the winery Judy Kingston. We especially loved her passion for food (she was a trained chef in a previous life) and her approach to food and wine pairing. As food and wine lovers (especially BC wine) the story of both Judy and Serendipity is fascinating. And so is the wine.

Our Serendipity Picks 
We tasted 5 whites and 5 reds from Serendipity and had a few standout favorites.

Serendipity Viognier 2013 ($20) – medium bodied, hints of coconut and orange. Was awarded 90 points and won gold at the 2014 All Canadian Wine Championship. Would be great with ‘big and rich foods’ like lobster or we are thinking spot prawns with dipping butter very soon.

Serendipity Rose 2014 ($18) – traditional style (Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Pinot) with hints of strawberry and rhubarb. We liked it because it would go well with turkey or salmon and could be a great Thanksgiving wine.

Serendipity Pinot Noir 2012 ($40) – made from a crop yielding only 1.5 tons per acre (instead of the typical 5 to 8) this high quality pinot is full bodied with hints of cinnamon and tobacco. This wine will be at our BBQ this summer and with some risotto this winter (assuming one of us will actually cook it).

Winemaker
What we did not know (or we forgot) was that Serendipity’s wine maker is Bradley Cooper. Bradley produces Black Cloud Pinot Noir and the very special Cumulus Nimbus (of which we just received 3 bottles from the wine club). So it is no surprise that we liked the Serendipity wines.

A Naramata wine trip is now in order. Watch for posts from the road this summer. And more in our new series – Best BC Wines.

 

We, Jeff & Tara Ciecko of CK Golf Solutions write two blogs, one is our 19th Hole Blog where we share personal experiences and the other a Biz Blog where we comment on business best practices and give golf industry related opinions. We do not get paid for any of the blogs on our website. We are affiliates of a select few products listed on our resources page. Our 19th hole blog is the places we visit and the things we do because we want to. When we say that we like or dislike something or have a good or bad experience this is our opinion and the truth as we see it. If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact us anytime.