River Stone Estate Winery in Oliver is a hidden gem. Proprietor Ted Kane truly loves this business and is in it up to the elbows. He enjoys meeting all of the wine travellers who come to visit. Ted and wife Lorraine have recently introduced a cheese plate with home baked bread for a reasonable price and encourage visitors to relax and share a bottle of wine while enjoying Lorraine’s beautiful gardens and the vineyard surrounding the tasting room patio.
2009 Corner Stone
This is the flagship wine from River Stone; the one around which the vineyard was designed. It contains four out of the five traditional Bordeaux varieties; Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. Beautifully rich and complex, this wine is bursting with notes of blueberries, ripe cherries, tobacco, vanilla and ripe, dark fruit. The tannins are fine and well integrated.
2011 Pinot Gris
This wine is pale in the glass with a nose full of melons and minerals. On the palate, lush elements of cantaloupe and honeysuckle are underscored by mineral notes. The Pinot Gris would be a delightful pairing for a number of different dishes, possibly something with prawns.
2010 Cabernet Franc
Gorgeous and dark in the glass, the nose is full of cocoa and ripe blackberries. On the palate there is so much going on in this complex stunner. Flavours of black cherry, black currants, and cocoa with elements of vanilla and oak prove quite seductive. There is a limited amount of this beautiful wine produced each year, so if you’re afforded the opportunity to get your hands on a bottle, take it.
If you stop in for a visit, you might get to meet the label dog, Charlie. He’ll show you the way to the tasting room.
~ Courtney Fossett