Ganton & Larsen Prospect Winery ‘Ogopogo’s Lair’ 2008 Pinot Grigio , $15 at the BCLDB

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Bob Dylan – When The Deal Goes Down (Video Clip, Scarlett Johans

When The Deal Goes Down – Bob Dylan  (Modern Times)

The sun has been shining and summer is here early!  A bottle of the lip-smackingly delicious Prospect Winery ’08 Pinot Grigio ended up in our fridge, and it’s been a summer hit ever since.

From the winery’s website:

The Ganton and Larsen Prospect Winery is a tribute to the Okanagan Valley’s rich and colourful history, geography and incredible wines. The wines pay homage to the Ganton and Larsen families; original and longstanding land-owning partners of the winery. The grapes are sourced from vineyards all across the Okanagan Valley, allowing for diversity, consistency and distinctiveness. Each varietal features a gem; a historical place, figure, animal or item from the Okanagan Valley, commemorated by original artwork from local Okanagan artists.

An offshoot of Mission Hill - the winery also held its own at the 2008 Decanter World Wine Awards, thank you very much, and shows no signs of losing consistency.  The name refers to the Okanagan’s legendary sea monster, but it’s what’s inside the bottle that’s so great.  Tropical papaya, mango and pineapple are on the nose, leading to the same juicy notes on the palate with elements of ginger and citrus.  Softer to mid-weight, it’s not fussy, it’s full of cheer, and bottles summer quite well.

When thinking of this wine and summertime, I couldn’t help but think of summers past and what I’d like to fill my time with over the next couple months.  Always an inspiring time of year, I’d like to do a few road trips, more winery touring, and throw in a healthy dose of idle leisure time.  In Bob Dylan’s last few albums, this is the song that has resonated with me the most, and the video (starring the lovely Scarlett Johansson) just frames summer, nostalgia and warmth beautifully.  Like the wine, it’s soft, summery, cheery, and just pretty damn enjoyable.