Nk’Mip Cellars Qwam Qwmt Merlot 2015, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 🇨🇦

🍇 Merlot

🧐 14.5%

🍁 My Score 90 Points

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Very expressive nose with aromas of ripe cherries, blackberries, black currants, baking spices, leather, chocolate and light toasty notes. On the mouthfeel, full bodied, broad texture, grainy tannins and light acidity. The finish is long, flavourful with black fruit and wood spices lingering.

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Nk’Mip Cellars (pronounced in-ka-meep) is North America’s First Aboriginal owned and operated winery. Qwam Qwmt (pronounced Kw-em, kw-empt) as spoken by the Osoyoos Indian Band translate to "achieving excellence" and is their premium tier of wines. The winery and vineyards are located in the town of Osoyoos (7 km from the US border and the State of Washington) in Southern Okanagan Valley.

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I am a longtime fan of Nk’Mip and all their quality wines across their portfolio. This was my last of three bottles purchased at the winery in 2018. This Merlot is like a warm blanket on a cold evening, very comforting. Cheers my wine friends 🍷

Nk’Mip Cellars Qwam Qwmt Merlot 2008, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada

This Merlot opened up with aromas of cherry, plum, herbal, baking spices, tobacco leaf and light cedar notes. On the mouthfeel, medium bodied, dry, fruity and spicy with balanced acidity and fined grained tannins. The finish is short but pleasant. The challenging 2008 vintage is showing in this wine, not as ripe or concentrated and savoury as there very good Qwam Qwmt Merlot 2006 and 2007 vintage, score 88 points.

Purchased July 18, 2011 at the Wine Barrel in Victoria, BC at $30.10

Nk’Mip Cellars Mer’r’iym 2008, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada

 

Nk’Mip Cellars (pronounced in-ka-meep) is North America’s first aboriginal owned and operated winery. This wine name, Mer’r’iym, pronounced mur-eem, it is a word from the dialect spoken by the Osoyoos Indian Band. This word represents marriage, in this case, the marriage of all five Bordeaux varietals; 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 7% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot with maturation taking place in French and American oak barrels for 18 months and alcohol coming in at 14.5%.

I have fond memories of tasting this inaugural vintage of Nk’Mpi Meritage at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival in March of 2011 where I was able to purchase a bottle. I remember thinking that this wine had a lot of potential but needed time to allow the tannins to soften up. I easily fell for the aromatics. Now a little more than 1 1/2 year later, this wine opened up with exquisite aromas of cherry, blackberry, plum, cassis, black pepper, smoky and cedar notes. On the mouthfeel, full bodied, layered dark fruit and gentle wood spices flavours, well structured by balanced acidity and slightly chewy tannins. This blends finish is long with fine textured, excellent depth of flavours and fine tannins lingering. This wine managed to achieve both power and elegance and was absolutely delicious. Nk’Mpi Cellars Mer’r’iym is a great addition to their portfolio of wines and strongly recommended, score 92 points.

Purchased at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival on March 31, 2011 at $50.00

 

 

View of part of Nk'Mip vineyards and the Osoyoos Lake

Nk’Mip Cellars Qwam Qwmt Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Osoyoos, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada

Nk’Mip Cellars (pronounced in-ka-meep) is North America’s, first Aboriginal owned and operated winery. Qwam Qwmt (pronounced kw-em, kw-empt) as spoken by the Osoyoos Indian Band translates to “achieving excellence” and is their premium tier of wines. The winery and vineyards are located in the town of Osoyoos (160 kilometres from the US border and the state of Washington) in Southern Okanagan Valley.

Strongly deserving of the only gold medal given to Cabernet Sauvignon at the Wine Access 2010 Canadian Wine Awards, this wine opened up with aromas of blackberry, wild berry, cassis, mint, cedar, tobacco leaf, coffee and earthy notes. On the mouthfeel, full bodied with alcohol coming in at 14.5%, very fresh and elegant with flavours of black fruit, cassis, mint, leather and tobacco with balanced acidity and smooth well integrated tannins. Good weight and length on this Cabernet Sauvignon finish with a very smooth texture and excellent depth of flavours. Very enjoyable Cabernet, definitely more earthy than fruity. Score 89 points.

Purchased July 18, 2011 at the Wine Barrel in Victoria BC at $30.10.

NK'Mip Qwam Qwmt Pinot Noir 2008, Osoyoos, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada

NK'Mip Cellars (pronounced in-ka-meep) is North America's, first Aboriginal owned and operated winery. Qwam Qwmt (pronounced kw-em, kw-empt) as spoken by the Osoyoos Indian Band  translates to "achieving excellence" and is their premium tier of wines. The winery and vineyard are located in town of Osoyoos (160 kilometers from the US border and the state of Washington) in Southern Okanagan Valley, Canada's only dessert with 1450 Celsius degree days and 8 inches average annual rainfall. 

I have enjoyed many of NK'Mip wines in the past and still have their Qwam Qwmt Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Qwam Qwmt Merlot 2008 and Mer'r'iym 2008 (Bordeaux blend) in my cellar. As you may know by now, I prefer cooler climate Pinot Noir (PN) which are lighter and more delicate. This wine opens up with aromas cherry jam, pepper, tobacco and dried earth notes. On the palate, the texture feels a little bit heavy with concentrated flavours, low acidity and firm tannins. I am not sure you could make a pure delicate Pinot Noir in Osoyoos, its just to warm. This PN is definitely a more muscular style which would appeal to fans of most California Pinots. In the future, I will stick with their delicious full bodied Merlots, Syrah and Bordeaux blends Score 88 points.

Purchased at the Wine Barrel in Victoria BC July 18, 2011 for $30.10