Whistler Wines

Toss around the word “Whistler”, and many people think of boarding and skiing down the snowy mountains of British Columbia’s Whistler Mountain (followed by some cold Kokanee beer). Whistler makes me think of the upcoming Vancouver 2010 Olympics, and whether or not I should rent my apartment and skip town, or enjoy the throngs of sport revellers.

In the wine world, Whistler Wines (whoa, that’s allotta W’s) is a family owned winery in South Australia’s Barossa Valley. Whistler Wines planted their first estate shiraz vines in 1994, followed by a range other varietals like delicious grenache and semillon. If you give the winery website a quick read, it’s evident that the whole family is into wine on some shape or form. Not sure about you, but that kinda makes me want to buy this wine over a corporate-y brand any day. 

In fact, one of the ‘fam’ let me know that a couple of the cousins teamed up this year to make an amarone style wine. If you’ve had this Italian originated wine before, you’ll know it’s a big, rich flavourful wine that goes great with food. Amarone is actually made quite a bit differently than other wines styles – the grapes are set out to partially dry on racks before pressing the juice. Lots of work!  

For now, I’ll have to stick to what’s available at stores in Vancouver. At the moment, BC-ers can pick up a bottle of lusciously blended grenache, shiraz and mourvedre called The Black Piper ($24.99). Look for ripe raspberry, plum, pepper, spice and leather from this wine. A decant or short breather in the glass always does great things for full-bodied red wines like this one. 

If you’re planning to be in the Barossa, Whistler Wines has a new project on the go. The winery will soon be home to eight rescued kangaroos in it’s new wildlife enclosure. NEAT.