Joie PTG 2006

I recently received information about the release of three Joie limited release wines. Being the Joie fans we are, we rushed to out to the Broadway International Wine Shop (http://www.broadwaywineshop.ca/) and bought three bottles, two of the 2007 Dedication Pinot Blanc and one of the 2006 PTG (Passetoutgrain), a red. Although we had not planned on opening either right away, our resolve did not last; neither did the PTG.

A combination of Pinot Noir and Gamay, the PTG has the light colour of many pinots. But don’t let the visuals fool you, this wine has more body than you would think. (I was actually surprised to see that it’s 40% Gamay; to my mind it drinks like a Santa Cruz Mountains pinot, although with a bit more levity.) Like most of Joie’s offerings, this wine is very old world in style. It has balance. The berry and cherry are very present, but the fruit does not dominate to the exclusion of all else. Likewise the alcohol content; it is listed at 13%, substantially lower than many pinots from Oregon or California. And there is enough acid to enable food pairing, while not so much that it is not also a very pleasant drinking wine.

Notably, this is the first BC Pinot (or mostly pinot as the case may be) that we have thought was worth the money. Given where I actually live most of the year, we have had access to many incredible (and not so incredible) pinots from all over California and Oregon, and as far as new world pinots go, we’ve never been that impressed by those from BC. Several we have tried have been perfectly drinkable, but highly overpriced relative to comparable wines from down south. Less so the PTG.

They suggest this wine will continue to improve for 3-5 years, but I don’t get that same sense. There aren’t components that need mellowing. The various aspects and flavors are already well integrated. And it didn’t change much over the several hours we had it open and exposed to air. Chris in fact suggested that by 2-3 years this wine will begin to decline, and I would have to agree. (Usually we have very different assessments on a wine’s aging potential.) But then, I’m not a winemaker, I’m a wine drinker, and they know their wine better than I do. From my perspective, however, what this really means is that we plan to buy more soon, and enjoy it.