Tantalus
Part 4 of a series on the Okanagan Valley, a
remarkable wine region in British Columbia, Canada

Website:
http://tantalus.ca/
It was glorious summer’s afternoon when I
visited Tantalus, whose vineyard is enviably positioned above the
lake, with lovely views. Eric Savics, a stockbroker, bought the
property in 2003, which had previously been known as Pinot Reach
Cellars. Savics made a lot of changes in 2004, and the first
Tantalus release was 2oo5.

The history of the Tantalus property goes
back to 1927 when the Pioneer Vineyard was established, planted with
Vitis lambrusca varieties. The vineyard was then bought by
Marin Dulik, who as vineyard manager was allowed
to buy it in stages from the then owner in the 1940s.
Dulik sold the crop as both wine
and table grapes.

Looking up to
the winery, built in 2010

In 1978, Marin's son
Den Dulik began planting vinifera, and one of the
vineyards he planted was with Riesling.
This vineyard, which is one of the oldest vinifera vineyards in
Canada, is planted with Clone 21 from St Urbanshof.
This forms the backbone of Tantalus' most famous
wine: the old vine Riesling. In 1983 Dulik
planted some Clone 93 Pinot Noir from Germany,
which is now used to make sparkling with (it's not a great still
Pinot Noir clone). His daughter Susan began selling wines
from the property under the Pinot Reach label in 1997.

The focus now is solely on Riesling,
Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. They are grown in 9 blocks, totalling 37
acres. Soils are mainly silt over gravels.

I visited with winemaker David Paterson
(above), Canadian born but brought up in New Zealand,
and with winemaking experience in New Zealand, Oregon, France and
Australia. He says that he picks on acid and is happy to chaptalize
if needed: if you add acid it doesn’t change in the wine, but if you
add sugar it is fermented by the yeast. If he does add sugar, he
does it at 4 brix with lots of air around, which results in more
glycerol and better mouthfeel.

THE WINES
Tantalus Juveniles Pinot Noir 2012
Okanagan Valley, Canada
Young vines: the first crop from the new block. Juicy and bright
with lovely sweet cherry and berry fruit. Supple with nice texture.
Juicy and attractive. 89/100
Tantalus Pinot Noir 2011 Okanagan
Valley, Canada
The last of the German clone 93 went into this: it’s now used
for sparkling. Vivid and quite tannic with nice black cherry fruit
and some spice. Good texture and purity. Sweet and dense. 91/100
Tantalus Chardonnay 2012 Okanagan
Valley, Canada
Taut, nutty and precise with some spiciness. Lean and quite
powerful with keen acidity and savoury notes. 89/100
Tantalus Chardonnay 2011 Okanagan
Valley, Canada
Savoury and nutty with nice texture and some spiciness, as well
as citrus and pear fruit. Nice acidity and an intense core of lemon
and minerals. Really interesting. 91/100
Tantalus Rosé 2013 Okanagan Valley,
Canada
Pinot Meunier and young vine Pinot Noir, 9 days on skins, with
no malo. This starts out deeply coloured but then loses a lot of it.
Cherry fruit with a bit of grip and some pear and spice notes.
Textured and rounded. 88/100
Tantalus Riesling 2013 Okanagan
Valley, Canada
Young vines with just a bit of old vine fruit, made to taste:
this has 10.5 g acid, 15 g sugar and a pH of 2.85. Lively and
focused with lovely pear and citrus fruit and some grapiness. Keen
acidity with a hint of sweetness. Fabulous. 91/100

Tantalus Riesling ‘Hard Pressings’
2013 Okanagan Valley, Canada
The pressings are taken: dirty brown juice, which then goes to
barrel, and the result is this wine. Lovely citrus and apple nose is
quite floral. The palate is sweetly fruity with textured pear fruit.
Nice weight: a lovely wine. 92/100
Tantalus Old Vines Riesling 2013
Okanagan Valley, Canada
Very lively with apples, citrus and pear, as well as some herbal
tones. The palate is precise with great acidity and good
concentration. Notes of minerals and herbs. Dry with keen acid and
real intensity. 93/100
Tantalus Old Vines Riesling 2008
Okanagan Valley, Canada
Keen and precise with high acidity and notes of lemons and
herbs. Dry, focused and linear with high acidity. 92/100
Tantalus Old Vines Riesling 2006
Okanagan Valley, Canada
Lovely precision here. Great acidity and lively apple, pear and
citrus fruit. Just a hint of creaminess. Very pure with remarkable
precision. 93/100
Tantalus Riesling Ice Wine 2013
Okanagan Valley, Canada
16.5 g acidity and 240 g sugar! Lively, fresh and grapey with
intensely sweet peach and pear fruit. Viscous with incredible
acidity. 93/100
Tantalus Syrah Ice Wine 2013 Okanagan
Valley, Canada
13 g acidity and 240 g sugar. Pink with a hint of orange. Sweet
with cherries and grapes, as well as pear and citrus. Viscous and
intense with high acidity and lovely purity. 92/100
OKANAGAN VALLEY
Introduction
Mission
Hill
Haywire
Tantalus
TH Wines
Cedar
Creek
Blue
Mountain
Synchromesh
Painted
Rock
50th
Parallel
Okanagan
Crush Pad
Culmina
See
also:
Visiting
Ontario's wine regions, Canada (series)
Wines
tasted 06/14
Find these wines with wine-searcher.com
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