Tasting Note:  This is perhaps the least ‘brassy’ of all the whites featured in this post, but there is a sense of volume and exoticism. It pours pale yellow. It sports a generous, quite complex nose of greengage plum, green melon, fennel, linden and almond biscotti. Quite unique and intriguing. It certainly has more weight, fruit and sweetness than the regular Unsworth Pinot Gris 2025 tasted at the same time, but is still light to mid-weight Vancouver Island fare at only 11.5% abv. Well balanced, fresh with a touch of CO2 spritz which offsets the modest residual sweetness.  The focus and length are excellent. Don’t overchill, and consider rich scallop dishes. 

Backgrounder: The Cowichan Valley is very much a coastal region not far from the Salish Sea, yet blessed by rain shadow growing conditions in the summer and enjoying mild winters.  Unsworth is one of the most well-established wineries therein, founded by the Tim and Colleen Turyk in 2010, who created a very popular vineyard, winemaking and restaurant/hospitality space less than an hour over the Malahat Pass from Victoria. California’s Jackson Family saw the potential and purchased Unsworth in 2020, building a grand new winery facility and refurbished restaurant. The neighbouring, south-facing Saison Vineyard has stood out from the beginning creating slightly richer Pinot Gris in particular, as well as pinot noir. The hand-harvested grapes are gently whole-cluster pressed. About 90% of the juice ferments in stainless-steel tanks, while 10% ferments in neutral French oak barriques. The wine is aged on its fine yeast lees for four months to build texture.