One of the Greatest Bottles of B.C. Wine I’ve Had… Ever?

Martin’s Lane Simes Vineyard 2022 $65

A few weeks back was the Top Drop wine festival—and every year when both it and the Vancouver International Wine Festival roll around—we’re emphatic about the opportunities they present to expand both your knowledge and palate, because as great as enjoying a glass at home is, nothing pushes the envelope like comparative tasting, seeing how you respond to certain styles, certain producers and regions et al.

Such was the case with a table full of Riesling sitting around me at Elisa. The tasting showcased two producers from the Okanagan (the dual Riesling standard bearers of Tantalus and Martin’s Lane) and two from the grapes stronghold of Germany (including the beloved Nik Weis)—and wow, what a lineup. I know Riesling often feels like a grape that sommeliers love to push on reluctant diners, but it’s only because it’s such a versatile workhorse when it comes to food pairing. And the grape’s plight in getting more mainstream approval isn’t helped by its dual nature: excellent Riesling can either be bone dry or have quite a bit of residual sugar (I’m hesitant to say the word sweet because if made well, it has acidity that balances out the cloying effect of “sweetness”), so many consumers are put off by being unsure what Riesling they’ll be getting. But if you persevere just a bit the rewards are endless.

All the bottles were amazing. There was a 2017 Tantalus Old Vines—the king of B.C. Riesling—that was so fresh and vibrant that I don’t even know how you’d recommend a drinking window for it—it seemingly might last for another 25 years. Like, literally another 25 years. For a wine that’s $43 when released. Year-in, year-out this may be the most impressive wine of any kind that comes from B.C. The entry-level Nik Weis was awesome as well, and $35 at the BCL.

And then there was a wine, that to my mind, was one of the finest bottles of any B.C. wine I can recall having. That it came from Martin’s Lane isn’t a huge surprise: Anthony von Mandl’s spare-no-expense-ode-to-Pinot Noir and Riesling routinely tops the list of the best wineries in Canada. What was a surprise is that was an off-dry expression, with something like 25 grams of residual sugar—again not sweet, but definitely not dry. But holy hell, was it in balance.

Most of the Rieslings from Martin’s Lane are made in the bone-dry style, but a few years back winemaker Shane Munn noticed that the fruit coming off the Simes Vineyard was lending itself to a slightly richer style, so a decision was made to make it off-dry. In a lot of ways it’s a bold move: I find many modern Riesling makers, fearful that the wine will be dismissed as sweet, ferment so searingly dry that it can cut concrete with its acidity. That style can be revelatory, but for me it loses some of its versatility when made so austerely.

The Simes has none of those issue. For tasting notes I wrote: buzzing, electric citrus notes, desert sage?, but really when I think of this wine I’m bowled over by the sheer deliciousness of it. It tastes wonderful, so much so that my final note was, I can’t fathom anyone not loving this wine, and now several weeks later I stand by that sentiment. If you don’t like this, you’re the problem, full stop.

And usually, the proviso here would be that, for the most part, you have to be part of the Martin’s Lane wine club to purchase the wine, but in this case there are a few bottles kicking around at the BCL in Vancouver, West Van and in Victoria. At $66 it’s not inexpensive, but what price greatness?