Creekside Iconoclast Sauvignon Semillon (Canada)

Er, wow! Intense zesty grapefruit, wildflowers, green apple and pear, honey and beeswax, even brioche! Nice fat Semillon texture bracketed by zingy sauv blanc intensity.

As always, this wine is a tale of two vineyards. Fruithaven’s Semillon in 2018 was a huge & healthy crop with fat, lush bunches. Happily, the wines ended up tasting that way. On the other hand, the Sauvignon blanc bunches in their Backyard block were relatively tiny and intense; again, those wines tasted as they promised they would. Creekside always do exhaustive trials on this wine and were surprised at a 3:1 Sem ratio that won the day.

The word “fresh” comes to mind. Don’t be afraid of spice: this wine has ample intensity and won’t get lost in the big-flavour shuffle. Serve as an aperitif with jardinière marinated vegetables (especially kimchi)!