Top Wine Picks From Perseus Winery

One of the hottest spots for wineries right now — in terms of popularity, not actual heat — is the Naramata Bench in the Okanagan Valley. Wineries in the area continue to thrive both commercially and critically, pulling in all kinds of awards and great scores from critics and wine industry types. And as Naramata wineries go, none offer the quality-to-price ratio as consistently as Perseus winery - host of this week's free shipping special.

Winemaker Jason Parkes and his team continue to grow and source incredible fruit from the Naramata vineyards as well as properties in and around Osoyoos and the Similkameen Valley.

Their gorgeous winery is located just minutes outside of Penticton — if you’re ever in the area it’s highly recommended you check them out in person and taste their wines right where the magic happens. (I blogged a bit about Perseus last year as well, and am as excited by their wines now as I was then. Check it out.)

If you can’t make it and were thinking of ordering wines from Perseus, don’t wait. For one week only you can get free shipping on 6 or more bottles from Perseus winery. You can mix, you can match, you can pick any 6 (or more!) that you like and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.

Perseus Winery 2015 Pinot Gris ($18)

While I’m not the biggest Pinot Gris fan going, this beauty of a white features grapes predominantly sourced from the winery’s home vineyard at Lower Bench Road. Aromatically, there’s plenty of ripe peach, pear and red apple notes —a veritable fruit salad — supported by more modest floral and honeycomb notes. It’s much the same on the palate, with the ripe fruit delivered deliciously on the light-bodied but viscous palate. Manages complexity and freshness with surprising ease.

Perseus Winery 2011 Select Lots Chardonnay ($25)

Globe and Mail writer Beppi Crosariol named this one of his top 5 wines in 2014, and it continues to show just beautifully. Sourced from Naramata and Osoyoos fruit, there’s plenty of red apple, lemon zest and chalky notes on the nose, as well as some restrained oak notes of vanilla and spice. That balance persists on the rich, full-bodied palate, with red apple, peach and citrus notes fleshed out by that subtle dash of wood. Drinking beautifully right now.

Perseus Winery 2014 Merlot ($20)

An award-winner at the All-Canadian Wine Championships (gold) as well as the WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada (silver), the Perseus Merlot consistently shows off the best that B.C. Merlot has to offer. The ripe dark berry notes on the nose (think blueberry, blackberry) work nicely with more modest vanilla, spice and black tea notes from some time in wood. On the dense, full-bodied palate things stay pretty much in check, with light, dusty tannins providing structure. Anyone who thinks Merlot is boring should try this —they’ll change their minds.

Jump on the Free Shipping deal by clicking on any of the bottles below. This week only - sale ends Sunday at midnight!

2015 Pinot Gris     2011 Select Lots Chardonnay     2014 Merlot

Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson is the wine columnist and literary editor for the Winnipeg Free Press. He’s on Twitter and Instagram at @bensigurdson.