The Vancouver Province's WINEGUY flirts with Farmer's Daughter

James Nevison on aromatic wines

BY JAMES NEVISON, THE PROVINCE MARCH 18, 2010

Cracking open a bottle of aromatic white is like spring cleaning with wine. The whiff of generous aromas will make your palate do a double-take, reinvigorating the senses and chasing away the grey sky blues. What is an aromatic wine? It's one that jumps out of the glass with nary a feint swirl of the wrist to arouse the smelling faculties and put a smile across the lips -- before the first sip. In short, they're fun wines to both smell and drink, and as we await the first long weekend of 2010, now is the time to get a nose full.

Rustico Farm & Cellars 2008 "Farmer's Daughter" Dry Gewurztraminer, B.C. (about $22 at select private wine stores)

Gewurztraminer is like Riesling in technicolor, dialing up the aromatics to tropical and floral extremes. For this alone, Gewurztraminer is a great wine for budding aficionados to cut their palates on; it's one of the most expressive, identifiable grapes out there that is simply enjoyable to swirl and sip.

One of B.C.'s newest wineries (albeit one using older vineyards) Golden Mile Bench's Rustico Farms and Cellars has recently released their first vintage of Gewurz. A dry rendition dubbed "Farmer's Daughter," it's a super floral, lush textured quencher that bursts out of the glass with lychee, rose petals, and canned fruit cocktail aromas before ending with equal parts spice and bitter heat. Bottom Line B+ "Bring on the curry."