Michael Godel: 2019 Ava

In a reversal of fame and varietal fortune the roussanne of 2019 submits to the viognier with the northerly and exotic one taking up 51 per cent blend time. The roussanne at (37) and marsanne at (12) come together in support at the Rhône turned Okanagan meridian to forge one of Western Canada’s finer, then rising to finest white wines. Elegant Ava begins out of a precocious nature, glides with graceful presence and makes good on prescient layering. Silk threads tie the varieties together, gift a gentility of texture and the most subtlety yet prescribed. Bâtonnage two times a week stirs up most excellent lees; clean, pure, unalloyed. And back to viognier at the helm because exotica is not just a six letter word but one that imagines that number of far away white, sweet and translucent fruits; litchi, longan, mangosteen, salak, rambutan and langsat. Take your pick because Ava goes there and also to an Okanagan place where evergreen and coolness reign. Captivating wine in 2019. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted January 2021.