This winery from a little-known BC region packs great value and high scores.
Just a few reasons to choose Monte Creek:
Carl's Top Picks for You...
Your Six Bottle Monte Creek Discovery Pack
$171.89 including tax & deposits
✔️ 2020 "Living Land Series" Chardonnay | $25.39 | 92pts
✔️ 2023 “Living Land Series” Frontenac Gris | $25.39 | 91pts
✔️ 2023 “Living Land Series” Rose | $25.39 | 90+pts
✔️ 2021 “Living Land Series” Cabernet Merlot | $31.14 | 91pts
✔️ 2022 “Living Land Series” Cabernet Franc | $31.14 | 91pts
✔️ 2022 "Living Land Series" Pinot Noir 🔥 Exclusive Release | $33.44 | 92+pts
Bonus Picks
✔️ 2022 Monte Creek “Living Land Series” Riesling | $25.39 | 90+pts
✔️ 2021 Monte Creek “Ancient Waters” Riesling | $34.59 | 91+pts
✔️ 2019 Monte Creek Ranch Chardonnay 🔥 Library Release! | $34.59 | 91pts
These wines will appear on your doorstep between July 31 - August 9!
Here's exactly why I rated these wines the way I did! 👇
2020 Monte Creek “Living Land Series” Chardonnay
BC, VQA Thompson Valley
100% Chardonnay | Dry (RS 2.3g /L) | 12.9% ABV
92pts Carl’s Wine Club | Gold Medal WineAlign 202
Top Value Wine of the Year, 2023
This wine was my very top value wine of 2023, one of my top Chardonnays of our 2024 Chardonnay Marathon (which included 112 Chardos), and a Gold Medal at the National WineAlign competition last year. This 2020 vintage is now sold out at the winery, so this is your only chance to get your hands on a few bottles. On the nose, this wine exudes purity and freshness with orchard fruits like perfectly ripe peach and yellow apple, but also a stunning spark of lemon zest and a hint of white flowers. With 75% of this wine aged in French oak, you can expect a slight wood influence but also some linear precision from the 25% aged in concrete eggs. The wild ferment brings complexity and an extra “je ne sais quoi” to an already spectacular wine. The palate is a mix of crisp apple, Meyer lemon, peach, vanilla and a chalky minerality that often reminds me of some great Niagara Chardonnays. The mid-palate is juicy and well defined, while the finish lingers for almost a minute to remind you of the OUTSTANDING potential of Chardonnay in many different regions of Canada – including the Thompson River Valley! Don’t miss out on this one! (CWC, December 1, re-tasted July 4, 2024).
Food pairing: chicken Ballotine, tuna sashimi
Drink now until 2026
Winery price: $21.99 plus tax and deposit
2023 Monte Creek “Living Land Series” Frontenac Gris
BC, VQA Thompson Valley
100% Frontenac Gris | Dry (RS 11.4g /L) | 13.7% ABV
91pts Carl’s Wine Club | Double Gold All Canadian Wine Championships
This wine is what would happen if a Viognier met a Pinot Gris…
We rarely feature hybrid gapes but this one is more than worth it. The Monte Creek Frontenac Gris has been on my radar for a couple of years already and the 2023 vintage is absolutely spectacular. Fruity, exotic, creamy, and stunningly well-balanced, this wine deserves a spotlight. On the nose, a great blend of aromas highlighting floral notes of jasmine and violet and tropical scents like pineapple, mandarin, mango and honey. The palate is surprisingly fresh, and this is the main reason I rated it as high as I did. Tropical flavours of grilled pineapple, passionfruit, peach and canned pear, while a spark of candied citrus appears on the back end to close up the experience appropriately. A very nice discovery… and at this price, I suggest buying it by the case. (CWC, July 1, 2024).
Food pairing: chicken Cesar salad, prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe
Drink now until 2027
Winery price: $21.99 plus tax and deposit
2023 Monte Creek “Living Land Series” Rose
BC, VQA Thompson Valley
100% Marquette | Dry (RS 8.2g /L) | 13.5% ABV
90+pts Carl’s Wine Club | 92pts BC Wine Trends | Bronze, WineAlign 2024
One of my very pleasant surprises of the Rose Mania tasting I did (92+ rose wines tasted side by side, live). Because of the grape varietal, I didn’t have any expectations, but what a great surprise. The wine was fresh, bright and delicate offering aromas of citrus, red cherry, and cranberry sauce. The palate was on par with the nose offering great richness on the mid-palate but bright and crisp finish, allowing the wine to evolve into an unexpected complexity. The finish is also interesting offering spicy notes and a slight note of cherry/lemon cola. Perfectly versatile for the BBQ or simply for the apero. (CWC, July 4, 2024).
Food pairing: charcuterie, grilled vegetable pasta
Drink now until 2027
Winery price: $21.99 plus tax and deposit
2021 Monte Creek “Living Land Series” Cabernet Merlot
VQA British Columbia
57% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Franc | Dry (RS 0.3 g/L) | 14.1% ABV
91pts Carl's Wine Club | Bronze, WineAlign 2024
The BC VQA designation tells me that the fruits were sourced between the Okanagan Valley, the Similkameen and the homeland of the Thompson River Valley in Kamloops, BC. This is a plush and juicy wine showing a readiness and approachability that make it very enjoyable right now. 19 months of aging in French oak, which included 20% in new barrels, definitely adds depth and complexity. On the nose, fragrance of cassis, dark cherry, cherry wood, mocha, tobacco, vanilla beans and black licorice burst out of the glass while the palate exudes a similar profile which includes a soft tannic structure, moderate frame of acidity and a delicate spicy finish. This is a FANTASTIC crowd pleaser option, as the price is right on the money! Personally, I’m much higher on this wine than the Bronze Medal at the recent WineAlign competition. This is at least a Silver medal, if not a Gold medal candidate. (CWC, March 30, 2024).
Food pairing: bacon cheeseburger, meat lasagna
Drink now until 2028
Winery Price: $26.99 plus tax & dep
2022 Monte Creek “Living Land Series” Cabernet Franc
VQA British Columbia
90% Cabernet Franc and 10% Merlot| Dry (RS 0.2 g/L) | 14.0% ABV
91pts Carl’s Wine Club | 91pts BC Wine Trends
This is a developing wine already showing promising results. First and foremost, the price-point is absolutely right, and offers great value. Second, the aging potential can hit 6 to 8 years easily. On the nose, you’ll get aromas of plum, dark cherry, cassis, black licorice and dried rose petals. Barrel aged for 15 months, this Cabernet Franc with a splash of 10% Merlot is well layered and fantastically soft. On the palate, this is a well-balanced and racy Cabernet, has the cool feel of stone, great tannic depth complexity completely filled by ripe plum fruit, earthy black fruit, black licorice, baking spice and dark chocolate flavours across the palate and into a soft and lengthy finish. (CWC, June 27, 2024).
Food pairing: grilled sirloin steak, meat lasagna
Drink now until 2030
Winery price: $26.99 plus tax and deposit
2022 Monte Creek “Living Land Series” Pinot Noir 🔥 Exclusive Release
VQA British Columbia
100% Pinot Noir | Dry (RS 0.2g /L) | 13.0% ABV
92+pts Carl’s Wine Club | 93pts, Gold, WineAlign 2024
A stunning Pinot Noir… WOW! Clean and crisp, but also round and layered, this wine can rival with some of the top Pinot Noirs in Canada. The nose offers precise notes of violet and dried herbs, red cherry and cranberry, dark cocoa and cedar box and wet forest floor. The texture of this wine is one of the most tantalizing aspects of this wine: creamy and soft, with satin like feeling on the palate. I usually only find that type of texture in a $40+ premium Pinot Noir. The palate is pure and expressive, offering exciting notes of crabapple, red cherry, stewed strawberry, red current, a hint of mushroom, sweet tobacco leaves and mocha. The finish is long and complex offering evolving notes of oak spices and light white pepper. Once again, this wine offers a tremendous value proposition, which seems to be the calling card at Monte Creek winery. 400 cases made. (CWC, July 4, 2024).
Food pairing: beef and vegetable stew, duck confit balsamic pizza
Drink now until 2028
Winery price: $28.99 plus tax and deposit
2019 Monte Creek Ranch Chardonnay 🔥 Library Release!
Only 24 bottles available
VQA British Columbia
100% Chardonnay| Dry (RS 6.7 g/L) | 13.4% ABV
91pts Carl's Wine Club
My notes are very consistent from the first time that I tasted this wine in 2021 and now. The wine has aged slowly but gracefully, offering aromas of vanilla, caramel, white flowers, citrus and orchard fruits. This is a classic Chardonnay where the oak is very well integrated, the warm climate of the region is highlighted by a balanced weight on the mid-palate, and the texture shows a stunning concentration. The palate delivers some toasted oak notes like almond cookie, vanilla and clove, while the fruit profile is directed towards a blend of citrus and orchard fruits like zesty and candied lemon plus ripe peach and golden pear. I really like the evolution of this wine and I’m very excited to see where it goes over the next 2 years. (CWC, January 3 2021, re-tasted July 4, 2024 )
Food pairing: creamy shrimp pasta, chicken cordon bleu
Drink now until 2026
Winery Price: $29.99 plus tax & dep
2021 Monte Creek “Living Land Series” Riesling
VQA British Columbia
100% Riesling| Dry (RS 7.4 g/L) | 11.5% ABV
90+pts Carl's Wine Club | 91pts BC Wine Trends
Real soft, real smooth, real delicious! From a single vineyard in the Similkameen Valley, this Riesling is very expressive and generous, featuring aromas of peach, citrus and white flowers. The palate displays a great texture, offering perfect mid-palate weight and notable length. Flavours of orchard fruits (mostly peach) and bright pineapple come up first, followed by a spark of lime and lemon zest. It finishes with a hint of flinty minerality and a subtle touch of caramel. To me, this very vintage is a great snapshot of classic BC Riesling, showing balance and versatility… at the perfect price-point! A blend of fruits from the two Monte Creek Kamloops vineyards and some from their Similkameen Valley vineyard. (CWC, March 30, 2024)
Food pairing: scallop ceviche, spicy red curry with pork and yellow pepper
Drink now until 2027
Winery Price: $21.99 plus tax & dep
2021 Monte Creek “Ancient Waters” Riesling
BC, VQA Thompson Valley
100% Riesling | Dry (RS 8.8 g/L) | 12.3% ABV
91+pts Carl's Wine Club
This energy filled version of the 2021 “Living Land” Riesling is much more precise and terroir driven showing the tremendous potential of the Thompson River Valley. The nose is a bit shy compared to the exuberant style of the “Living Land” version, with aromas of green apple, zesty lime, chamomile and a hint of blood orange towards the end. The palate is filled with tension, including flavours of lime, Meyer lemon, just a touch of orange peel and a spark of fresh peach. The mid-palate is where the complexity takes place showing stunning minerality levels and lip-smacking acidity, leading towards a very impressive and lengthy finish. This wine hangs in there for at least 30+ seconds making your mouth water, ready for more. This wine triggers my geeky side! 100% Thompson River Valley Riesling. (CWC, March 10, 2024)
Food pairing: spicy Korean chicken, smoked ham
Drink now until 2029
Winery Price: $29.99 plus tax & dep
The Story & People
This week let's discover the largest winery in the Thompson River Valley...who recently cleaned
up yet again at major wine competitions!
Monte Creek opened to the public in 2015, but the owners had been cultivating vineyards since at least 2009. Monte Creek has two vineyards in the South Thompson valley totaling over 75 acres – Lion’s Head vineyard on the north side of the valley and Monte Creek Ranch vineyard on the south side where the winery resides.
They also have a vineyard in the Similkameen, and receive some fruit from the Central and South Okanagan.
Monte Creek is a sought-after wedding and events venue, and their on-site restaurant pairs their wines with grass-fed beef, honey, haksap berries and other foods grown at the ranch.
The winery practices healthy permaculture and organic farming methods at every opportunity, and is certified organic. I am pleased to see this translate to high quality vines and wines, under the leadership of winemaker Galen Barnhardt.
What stands out the most with Monte Creek is exceptional, surprising VALUE in each bottle.
And with the lesser known region, this is the perfect crowd-pleaser wine that you can surprise your next party guests with.
They'll never guess where it came from! Or how little you paid for it ;)
Cheers,
Carl
Winemaker Galen Barnhardt grew up in the North Shuswap and developed a passion for wine after 15 years in the restaurant industry.
In 2009, he began studies at the Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) at Brock University in Niagara, Ontario. Galen’s career has entailed winemaking in Niagara, the Okanagan, New Zealand, and Australia including ultra-premium production of pinot noir and chardonnay.
Galen joined the Monte Creek Ranch team in December of 2014. His broad range of experience has been instrumental in the completion of the winery and the guidance of the winemaking and viticulture.
Driven to make Monte Creek a leader in the BC wine industry, Galen emphasizes: “we are at the boundary of cool climate viticulture and it is when wineries push boundaries that exciting, unique, and delicious wines are made.”