Vikas Sharma

This is a tough one.

I was out in the Okanagan Valley in the spring, making the rounds, and I wanted to make sure I stopped by Le Vieux Pin, as I’d heard some good things about it and it appeared to be a very French-inspired vineyard.

Their labels remind of those boutique Italian wines that have hand-written labels that seem to portray a level of seriousness and quality, by which I might be impressed.

And let’s face it, sometimes we pick wines based on how cool the labels are.

So, we stopped at the vineyard after calling to see if we could make a last-minute drive-by; they said yes, but there were no tastings available.

And then I, being my capricious self, went and bought a few bottles of wine that one should probably have tasted before laying down the credit card.

Maybe I was a little high off the good local product in and around Oliver? My favourite Okanagan vineyard is Black Hills Estate Winery – there’s also Road 13 Vineyards, which makes very reasonably-price quality wines – both reside in Oliver.

Maybe it was the cool-looking, bespoke-like label?

I don’t know, but I picked up two bottles of their 2018 Syrah and one 2019 Merlot.

This weekend I finally decided to uncork one of the bottles of Syrah.

On with the show:

Wine: Le Vieux Pin Equinoxe Syrah

Region/Appellation: Okanagan Valley (Black Sage Bench)

Grape(s): 99% Syrah, 1% Viognier

Vintage: 2018

Style: Red

Price: $100

The Visual: Oily viscosity in the glass – dark in colour intensity, which was ruby/bordering on purple with a purple rim.

The Aroma: Light aromas of dark berries with a predominant aroma of umami (but a flat savoury smell – nothing to pique the senses) and hint of tobacco.

The Flavour: Medium intensity with a medium body and a medium finish. Just average in all manners.

Supple-minus tannins with a predominant vegetal flavour.

Nothing much happening on the palate. It just kind of sits there.

And, unfortunately, there’s a bitterness to the overall flavour that I can’t quite peg down. I love bitter flavours when I can identify the source, but I wasn’t getting much out of this wine.

I thought, let me try and cellar the other bottle for a couple of more years, but then I was reminded of the lack of structure after a few more sips; leaving me feeling a bit defeated.

Alcohol: Medium-plus at 14.4%.

Balance: There weren’t a lot of things going on to balance. No comment.

Other notes: No comment.

Food pairing: I don’t recommend this wine with food.

Final Comments: I don’t recommend this wine. It’s $100 and there should be a ton of structure in this wine, even if just to age and improve over time.

Just to see if I’m mistaken, I’ll keep the other bottle cellared for a couple of years and give it another shot; but I’m not hopeful.

Cheers – Salud – Salute – Živeli – Prost – Na Zdrowie – Skål – Santé