Okanagan Crush Pad Haywire rosé

Once in a blue moon this winey girl gets to talk shop with an industry big wig. One of these special occasions was last week when I managed to swing an interview with a (handsome) sommelier and wine consultant in the name of research for an article I'm writing. Working for a magazine, while not high on the pay scale, does have its perks.

I always seem to get butterflies in my stomach when conducting in-person interviews; they tend to feel an awful lot like a blind date, but maybe that's because I've only ever interviewed young men (the majority of which were musicians). Having met this particular young man in person once while mildly intoxicated, further compounded by a string of faintly flirtatious emails, this encounter had the telltale butterflies flapping their wings.

I arrived at the Tap & Barrel just before 1 o'clock and found my interviewee seated at the bar catching up on some work. After all, I wasn't the only one on the clock that afternoon. He offered me the choice of sitting on the more beer-centric lower level, or venturing upstairs where the wine flows from taps like one might expect to find in Wolf Blass' kitchen. I don't need to tell you which one I chose.

We took a seat on the spectacular patio overlooking False Creek and began our "interview"—seriously, if it had been dark out, I would have thought I might be getting a little action afterward. Eventually the waitress placed a menu in front of me and it was time for me to show that I'm not a complete rookie when it comes to ordering a glass from a list of distinguished wines. I basically blew it though: I asked for a suggestion without giving any sort of preference perimeter.

-->After continually getting caught up in what was turning out to be a highly engaging conversation, we managed to finally settle on a couple of glass—that's the beautiful thing about wines on tap: you're not tied to one bottle just because you don't want to order by-the-glass swill. The only rosé on offer was this fantastic gamay noir from Okanagan Crush Pad, but there was a reason it made the cut. It presents notes of juicy cherry and tart cranberry, and is a beautiful golden orangey pink colour I wish I could paint on my bedroom wall.

As our conversation meandered through all manner of topic (but always back to wine), I found I didn't want my interview-date or this crisp, pink glass of wine, or the Indian summer afternoon to come to an end. But after I received a private tour of the wine kegs in the basement it was time to say goodbye and head back to the office.

Later in the week I found myself hunting down a bottle of Haywire rosé, possibly so I can gently transition in to winter reds, perhaps in the hopes that it will remind me of my perfect afternoon interview, maybe both? Either way, I need to get that article out of the way so that it won't be weird if I ask him to have an informal glass after sundown.