Category: bc

With this hot, sunny weather, sipping a more fruity, lower-alcohol, drink is probably high on your list.  Fortunately, I received a bottle of ORCHARD + FIELD, from Garnet Valley Ranch in the Okanagan.  This drink is a blend of organically grown heritage apples and berries (there is no full description of the blend) at Garnet Valley Ranch to make this…

2022 was an epic year for making wine, according to BC’s Hester Creek Estate Winery.  The year started out challenging with a late cold start, summer temperatures were not too high, low rainfall during the summer, but then lead to a long, warm end to extend the growing season, allowing the grapes to fully mature.  Many wineries noted that their…

Some people watch their calories in the food they eat and the beverages they drink.  Some low-calorie wines are in the Canadian market.  I received three low-cal wines from Svelte Wines, a label from Arterra Wines Canada, coming from Niagara Falls, ON and Oliver, BC.  On the labels, it notes that these non-vintage wines come from a blend of foreign…

My last stop on my weekend trip to Lillooet and Kamloops was Monte Creek Winery.  I’ve followed along, tasted their wines, and wrote about them since they opened.  And as luck would have it, on this visit, they were celebrating their 10-year anniversary of opening the tasting room.  People have changed over time, and they planted an additional vineyard, Lion’s…

Now that you have some background about the BC winery situation for 2025 from part one of Brent Gushowaty’s article, here is the second part of the article I have for you by Brent when you are at a BC winery’s tasting room. Your Tasting Room Manners – Before You Arrive Group Think For most wineries, large groups arriving unannounced…

Have you started touring BC wine country this summer?  I have a two part article about touring BC wine country in 2025, written by Brent Gushowaty.  In part one, he covers: The impact of the 2023/24 freeze Introduction of 2024 “replacement wines” Evolving winery business models and tasting innovations Part Two will focus on the practical aspects for the casual…

For many years, I’ve known Privato Winery in Kamloops for their premium Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines.  But times change as original family-owned winery owners bow out, and the winery is either taken over by their children, sold to someone outside the family, or the winery is shut down.  For Privato, the winery has been transitioned over to their children,…

2017 was the last time I visited Fort Berens Estate Winery in Lillooet, along with other wine writers.  The winery was still young, but the quality of their wines were notable.  Almost every year since 2018, I interviewed their current winemaker to find out about their grape harvest.  And every year, I tell people how they should try Fort Berens’…

Today, I paired my third dish from Sous Chef by Cardinal™ with a red and a white wine.  The dish was the Marsala Braised Chicken with seasoned long grained rice.  The white wine was the Township 7 Vineyards & Winery Interlude Chardonnay 2024, and the red wine was the Dobbin Estate Cabernet Blend 2020 (85% Cabernet Franc and 15% Merlot)…

Food and wine pairings can be exciting, with each dish and wine bringing out aspects of the other.  I will be taking on four different food and wine pairings, with this pairing of Township 7 Vineyards & Winery Interlude wines with a Chicken Tikka Masala from Canadian, Cardinal Meats. Sous Chef by Cardinal™ entrées, were created by Executive Chef, Caleb…