Dolce Amore: Bottled liquid gold

Credit: Deep Creek Wine Estate and Hainle Vineyards

Romantics will fall head over heels for the late-harvest Riesling Dolce Amore.

Romantics will fall head over heels for the late-harvest Riesling Dolce Amore

In the early morning hours of Valentine’s Day 2003, when most people were still tucked under their warm blankets, the crew at Deep Creek Wine Estate and Hainle Vineyards were outdoors handpicking frozen grapes for what would later become North America’s first-ever Valentine’s wine. Dolce Amore would also become an international award winner.

Romantics will fall head over heels for this late-harvest Riesling, a sweet treat with flavours of caramel, honey and apricots. Plus, it’s made organically, as are all wines produced at the estate winery, which is the birthplace of icewine in Canada.

Oenophiles are sure to be enraptured by the winery’s 1983 Riesling Icewine, a true labour of love. Grapes with 37 percent sugar were hand-harvested on a frigid, -11 C morning. But for this icy elixir, it was a long journey from grape to glass: the wine was left to age in the cellar for 19 years before being bottled.

At $988 for a 200-ml bottle, this is precious gold. Locals can enjoy a glass at Vancouver’s Aqua Riva restaurant for a mere $295.
 

Dolce Amore

Available at Taylorwood Wines in Vancouver.
Deep Creek Wine Estate and Hainle Vineyards, 5355 Trepanier Bench Road, Peachland. 250-767-2525.
www.hainle.com