Purchased in February 2013 at the winery in Kelowna on a beautifully sunny late winter’s day, this wine was part of a case I was lucky to snag following the venerable Jancis Robinson’s declaration of the 2008 Tantalus Old Vines Riesling as the best white wine in Canada.

Tantalus has managed, as a result of darned hard and good work, to make quite a name for itself as a Riesling house. This wine is an example though of why they’ve become so well known for not only their Riesling, but also for other varietals including Chardonnay, far outside the boundaries of BC.

This Chardonnay wine is clear and bright, pale gold with legs. On the nose it’s clean with medium plus intense aromas of oak, significant lime, citrus, honey, wax, lemon creme and quince. There’s a sharp minerality as well to the aromas.

On the palate it’s dry with medium plus acidity, medium alcohol, medium body, and medium plus flavours of lime creme topped with lime zest, more quince, Granny Smith apples and bright starfruit. The finish is medium long and this is WSET Very Good wine.

I would love to try this in a tasting alongside one of the New Zealand Kumeu River Chardonnays; they’re both very good. We enjoyed this with a lemon peppered basa fillet alongside quinoa and long grained wild rice. Stunning on one of the final days of summer.