Day 12 – The Syndicate 2018
We’ve made it!!! This is the final day in both our 6 and 12-bottle wine advent calendars. We hope you’ve had as much fun as we have, and if you haven’t been able to keep up with this pace, that’s totally fine! We’ll keep these pages active until next year, so feel free to come back and check things out. Plus, all of the recipes from this year are now part of our collection that is always accessible on the website.
The final day offers a treasure from the library: the 2018 vintage of our flagship red blend, The Syndicate. This is the wine that started it all for us back with the 2012 vintage, and it’s been at the heart of our portfolio ever since. Always Merlot-dominant, our Syndicate has taken on a bit more structure since we started using our estate Merlot for this wine with the 2018 vintge. This vintage started out powerful and muscular, and is just now starting to blossom after a few years in bottle.
Today’s food pairing suggestion is intended to get you to take a fresh look at a very classic dish: Beef Wellington. The recipe we’ve chosen is from the Binging with Babish series, inspired by an episode from the TV series Mad Men. We know that everyone has their own traditional meals for Christmas, so if this doesn’t fit into your holiday plans, that’s cool with us. We are going to give it a shot on Christmas day. Enjoy!
Winemaking Notes
Step into the Old World through the New World’s front door. This medium-bodied blend is classically structured, but brimming with vibrant Okanagan fruit. An elegant combination of Merlot (41%), Cabernet Franc (29%), Petit Verdot (15%), and Cabernet Sauvignon (15%). This wine was grown in sun-drenched vineyards in Kaleden, Oliver and Osoyoos, and harvested between October 12th and October 21st. Each varietal was fermented separately in small 1-ton fermenters and aged for 21 months in French oak barrels, of which 40% were new.
Tasting Notes
An elegant, well-balanced wine with aromas and flavours of black currant, plum, dark chocolate, cedar and tobacco. Firm tannins with a hint of acidity, and a long finish. Smooth and rich in texture and approachable now, this wine will blossom with another 5 years in the bottle.
Food Pairings
As food and wine always go hand-in-hand at our house, The Syndicate is always destined to be a food wine. We achieved a balanced wine with enough acidity and tannins to enjoy with a variety of foods, especially with grilled or roasted red meats.
Wine Specs
Vintage 2018
Appellation Okanagan Valley VQA
Vineyards Kaleden, Osoyoos & Oliver
Acid 6.3 g/L
pH 3.7
Residual Sugar 2.9 g/L
Alcohol % 13.8
Production: 275 cases