Tasting Note – This giant syrah is so very deftly manicured, polished and balanced, and every ounce deserving this Platinum award. It is deeply coloured, and beautifully rendered – so smooth, substantial and elegant. The nose is nicely lifted with blackberry/blackcurrant (not typical syrah cherry), fine spice, pepper, rosemary/evergreen. Fruit and barrel interplay is excellent. It is full bodied, rich yet just firm and balanced enough, a touch sweet but oh-so texturally harmonized. Excellent to outstanding length. I can visualize Australians bolting upright in the Barossa and taking notice. Should live well into the early 2030s but can you wait, nor do you need to? Tasted June 2026

Backgounder – Laughing Stock is a small, Naramata property that was purchased by Arterra – Canada’s largest wine company in 2017.  With that purchase came access to the company’s large vineyard holdings in Osoyoos. This is from the sandy soiled 22-acre Perfect Hedge vineyard, with a southwest exposure above Osoyoos Lake.  In 2022 Laughing Stock hired homegrown Sandy Leier, with 16 years winemaking experience at home and abroad, as head winemaker. The results have been marked ever since, with Laughing Stock winning Best Performing Small Winery in Canada at the WineAlign National Wine Awards in 2025. She has overseen the introduction of amphora and concrete egg production. Inspired by Côte-Rôtie in the northern Rhône this a blend of 95% syrah with 5% viognier (a fairly large proportion that might speak to its gloss) that were whole-berry co-fermented in stainless steel. It was barrel aged for 20 months in 40% new oak barrels, and the remainder in older French oak.

Accolades:  Platinum National Wine Awards of Canada 2026