Category: bc

If you have never tried wines from Upper Bench Winery & Creamery from the Naramata Bench you should. They are a small, family-run winery, owning 7 acres of vineyards, is naturally farmed, and takes a minimalist approach to winemaking; using indigenous yeast where possible.  I have been tasting their wines for the past few years and I always enjoy the…

BC’s father daughter team of Harry McWatters and Christa-Lee McWatters-Bond have collaborated to produce two lines of wine lately; Evolve Cellars and McWatters Collection.  For me Evolve Cellar’s wines are meant to be young and fresh and easy to drink, while McWatters Collection has more structured wines that you can put in your cellar for many years and enjoy. I…

The holiday season is coming up quickly and if you are wondering what to do for your office or party with friends, how about have a wine tasting?  Sounds fun, but how do I pick the wines?  Well, I’ve taken care of that for you, with a sample of wines that you can purchase through the BC Liquor Stores.  I’ve…

Does it bother you when you are visiting a winery in another province, enjoy their wines, and ask them to ship you a case back to your home, and they can’t?  Provincial politics gets in the way and prevents the free flow of our wine between our borders.  Sometimes it is easier to get wines from other parts of the…

Cooking with local, healthy, sustainable ingredients should be a goal we all aspire.  Knowing where our food comes from and how it was harvested can help us make sustainable food choices.  For Chef Ned Bell, it has been a journey to learn about sustainability, first from the land to the plate, and now from what is in our oceans to…

With all the calamities around us lately, it is an appropriate time to give thanks for what we have, and to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends in Canada.  Whether you enjoy a traditional turkey with stuffing gravy, potatoes, brussel sprouts, and pumpkin pie for dessert, or a ham, or a vegan main dish, there should be a BC wine to…

Last week the BC wineries who are part of the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) presented their latest releases of red, white, and sparkling wines.  74 wineries had tables and each poured around 4 wines on average.  So 296 new releases hit our market, with some wines available at BC liquor stores, while others only available a private wine shops, or…

The first indigenous-run winery in BC is Nk’Mip Cellars in Osoyoos, and it has been that way for several years, until recently. Robert Louie served as the Chief of the Westbank First Nation until 2016, but in 2011, he and his wife Bernice met wine maker Jason Parkes and together they started BC’s second indigenous winery: Indigenous World Winery.  The…

2016 was a very good year for BC grapes.  The growing season started early, became hot in Spring, cooled down in July, warmed up again in August and cooled a bit in September.  A bit of a roller coaster in temperature and rain, but overall warm and cool I think when it was needed.  In the Okanagan with the cool…

Summer is still going strong here in BC, so still lots of time to get out onto your patio and enjoy some refreshing white wines.  Here are some white wines, plus a bonus wine, that I received from TIME Estate Winery, in the Okanagan. My Tasting Notes TIME Estate Winery Chardonnay 2014 ($25) – A deeper golden lemon in colour,…