Monday night’s La Stella and Le Vieux Pin winery dinner had us all huddled up in Salt Tasting Room’s cozy cellar below Blood Alley. Salt’s underground lair is perhaps what makes their events so glorious: alongside the communal dining room table, are the contents of their showpiece walk-in cooler, temptingly displaying rows upon rows of Champagne, hanging Iberico ham, other such salumi, and even bunches of celery stalks and citrus fruits for all to see, but not touch! Let’s just say I know exactly where I’m headed should there be any type of apocalypse in our near future.
We were warmly greeted by winery owners, Mr. and Mrs. Sean Salem, and host, Rasoul Salehi, Executive Director of Enotecca Winery and Resorts.
The key to La Stella is that all their wines are named after musical notes, so it was fitting that we rang in the evening with their 2008 Vivace (meaning joyful) Pinot Grigio. Demonstrating a rounded tartness with notes of limoncello and key lime pie, it was met with the creamy, yet bitter finish of a BC Ash Camembert, and a salty BC duck and pork salami with spicy apricot chutney.
Next came Le Vieux Pin’s 2008 Sauvignon Blanc paired with a citrusy, sharp Italian Piave cheese, which expertly mirrored the tropical, passion fruit tones of its crisp white wine counterpart.Rounding out the batch of whites was La Stella’s 2008 Leggiero Un-Oaked Chardonnay. Living up to the lightness its melodious name implies, the subtle hints of hay and rich floral notes were exactly what the smoky, garlicky, spicy Pamploma chorizo and sweet cipollini onions basted in balsamic vinegar needed. It truly was a symphony of flavours in the mouth. 
We were then privy to a triple header of 2006 Okanagan merlots. First up to bat was the ever so mellow La Stella Allegretto Merlot, which Salehi considers an “honest and polite” wine. (He achieves this by planting the vines Pia Franco – on its own foot – meaning that the vines have not been grafted to American rootstock.) Paired with a mouth-watering shaved corned beef and UK Isle of Mull Cheddar, this lack of manipulation translated clearly to the glass, where the tannins were practically non-existent, with ripe red fruit and a deliberate smokiness.
But it was the showdown between the two 2006 Le Vieux Pin merlots that was the highlight of the evening. Known for their heightened, dry tannins, these heavy hitters were matched with Wild Boar and Rosemary Salami and fresh honeycomb with Stilton cheese. And thank goodness for that, as these wines in particular absolutely beg for food. The Époque was full bodied but subtle on the nose, showing violet and candied plum notes. This one was the easiest to drink of the two, with juicy tart cranberries and tobacco on the tongue. The Apogée had hints of wild blackberry, mocha and dark chocolate notes, with a pleasant sugared rhubarb finish, with very dry and stiffly structured tannins.
Only 200 cases of the Sauvignon Blanc were made, and are therefore already sold out, but all the rest can be ordered online at www.levieuxpin.ca or www.lastella.ca. And be sure to visit www.salttastingroom.com to keep up with their ever-changing meat and cheese selections. ~ Katherine van der Gracht
