Where we taste new wines and share highly subjective and uncorroborated tasting notes.

Blackwood Lane Winery’s 2016 Victoria Siegerrebe

Known as “the grape of the Fraser Valley”, Siegerrebe (pronounced “see-gah-REH-bay”) is ideally suited to the region’s wet, cool climate. Its origins go back to 1929 Rheinhessen, a wine-making region in Germany. The name means “victory wine”, and the red-skinned grape is a crossing of Gewürztraminer with Madeleine Angevine.

Tech Sheet: Blackwood Lane is a 12-acre winery in Langley, where south-facing slopes grow grapes that the founders brought in from the Oliver-Osoyoos region, such as Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc--with the exception being locally sourced Siegerrebe grapes. The 2016 Victoria has aromas of lychee nuts and Asian pears, the flavour of perfumed honey, and a quince-y finish.

Sip it: This dry wine forces you to pay attention: sure, there’s a pleasant, floral bouquet, but this Sigge is no pushover. It has a backbone.

Next level: Serve it on the patio with spicy food, like Vancouver-based Pailin Chongchitnant’s Fried Chicken in Sweet Chili Lime Sauce from her sensationally popular YouTube channel Hot Thai Kitchen.

Swirl this: Find the wine online at Blackwood Lane for $19 (and take 20 percent off during the month of May).