Head Winemaker, Dan Jones, was kind enough to take some time to tell me about the New Westminster winery, the wines, and the barrels.  He outsources his grapes from the Lake Country just north of Napa, has them shipped up here in a temperature controlled truck within 24 hours of being picked, and then stems and crushes them.  It is all as if he were on the vineyard himself with that short timeframe.  He is a true garagiste; the first in BC and one of very few in Canada.  A garagiste is a French term for someone who makes a relatively small production of wine based out of a small building or, you guessed it, a garage.  In this case it was a building in a business park and was full of lovely French oak barrels parked on the racks amongst stainless steel vessels.

When I asked how much of a difference his influence and the changed environment makes on his wine compared to wines made from the same grapes in Napa, he proudly gestured at his many awards.  He has also earned some sparkling reviews from Jurgen Gothe, Deanna Van Mulligan,  Dr. Gary Hayes, and Robert Whitley.

French Oak Barrels at Pacific Breeze

I have a fascination with barrels.  They remind me of hibernating bears or butterflies, sleeping until they are mature enough to fill bottles.  These sleeping beauties were segregated into two areas.  The reds were the largest group stacked in the main area, and the chardonnnay ‘princesses’ had their own temperature controlled room (appropriately named: Chardonnay Room).

Dan deciphered the labels on the barrels for me: The first letter indicate the forest from which the oak originated, the second group of letters indicate the level of toastiness, and the third group (if it applies) indicates if the head of the barrel is toasted.  Why are the barrels toasted?  The answer is simple: toasted tastes better.  The toasting inhibits the oak from transfering and overpowering the wine; the heavier the toast the less oaky the wine, and the lighter the toast the more oaky it becomes.  Everyone has their own preference of how much oak a wine needs.  There are the two extremes of those who prefer unoaked and those, like my hobby wine dabbler father, who ask the question: can there be too much oak?  Most people would say yes.  Yes, there can.  (He created a wine he affectionately named ’splinters’.)  I find myself in the middle-of-the-road depending on the wine.

Pacific Breeze does many different tastings and educational evenings.  Sam Hauck does the teaching based on his experience as a wine maker and wine adjudicator.   Dan was telling me how they once tasted the same wine from different barrels made from different forests and were amazed by the distinctness that each forest added to the grapes.

I enjoyed tasting a few of the varietal wines on their own and then picking out the flavours in the blended wines.  I was blown away by the spring release of P2 as well as the unabashedly oaked 2005 Chardonnay (I am my father’s daughter).  Of course, I left with my arms full of those plus the summer porch friendly unoaked Sauvingnon Blanc.  I am very impressed with the quality of these wines and the artistry of Dan Jones and his team.  The simplicity of a garage creates a perfect canvas to create revolutionary, award winning wines and breaks the mold of the preconceptions that a great wine must come from large establishment.  Sometimes the greatest wines are born out of humility, innovation, and hard work.