530 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 79 PART 4 JULY 2021
BLACK SAGE VINEYARD PIPE 2010
Okanagan Valley #713750 $28.49
I finish with this port-style dessert wine. It is another of Harry McWatters’s
innovations from his days at Sumac Ridge. He wanted to create a fortified
wine to rival the vintage ports of Portugal and began in 2005 with experiments
using the French grapes at hand: Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet
Sauvignon, from the Black Sage area near Oliver. That blend has stuck
over the years and is still what is used. The blend is barrel-aged for 36
months. As the word “port” is trademarked (like “Champagne”, “Burgundy”
and “Bordeaux”), he came up with the name “pipe”, which is the Anglicized
form of “pipa”, the Portuguese word for a type of large barrel in which port
is aged. This 2010 version, with an alcohol level of 19.5 per cent, is in a
tawny style and has full, ripe black cherry, blackberry, a hint of dark chocolate
and vanilla, and from its aging a touch of figs on both nose and palate.
Savour it with fruit, cheeses and nuts, just as you would a port. Or, if it is
one of your habits, a good cigar.