Kettle Valley Winery Extra 4079 2008
The Extra 4079 is one of my favourite wines from Kettle Valley Winery and Vineyards, but like many wines from there it’s a bit ambiguous as to what’s actually in the bottle.
With names like Old Main Red, Adra Station, and Brakeman’s Select I basically have zero idea as to what’s inside. I know there are other wineries like Road 13 and Laughing Stock that deliberately leave out the ingredients and percentages as a way of saying “trust us, it’s good,” but for whatever reason with Kettle Valley it irks me.
The back of the bottle has a great story about trains and local history, but I don’t really care. I just want to know what’s in it!
One day while at the winery I finally remembered to ask and it turns out that the Extra 4079 is actually a Marichel Foch varietal wine. All-in-all, at $26 this is also one of the better values on the Naramata Bench, as many of the other boutique wineries have focused on premium reserves in the $35 plus range. I really like this particular Foch. It’s got some kick to it, but with some nice fruit on the palate also. For $26 it’s a good buy for a local wine. I would suggest drinking this one a bit chilled. 15-20 minutes in the fridge should do it.
[...] I used to have a slightly crude, but celebratory nickname for this wine, but that is no longer. The Marichel Foch by Lang Vineyards is no longer in my repertoire. It basically tastes like grape juice — totally unstructured and uninspired grape juice. I was a fan but now I’m not. It has simply been outpaced by the other great Foch’s in the valley. Prove me wrong, but that is my current take. The Optima by Lang is still pretty good for a sweet sipping wine. If you’re going there look that one up, but unfortunately the Foch by Lang just doesn’t do it for me anymore. If you are looking for a nice Okanagan Foch I would suggest the Old Vines Foch from Quails Gate or the Kettle Valley Extra 4079. [...]
Glad you like this wine. The grapes come from my father’s property in Naramata. If you want to know exactly which vineyard, it’s the only one right in town, across from the packing house (now shut down) on 3rd. Kettle Valley isn’t buying the grapes this year (not sure why) so enjoy the remaining bottles!
Thanks for the info! The Foch from KV is one of the best buys in the area. It’s too bad they won’t be producing it this year. I’ll have to stock up!