Category: chardonnay

Today starts my unveiling of Ontario Chardonnay; a terroir-driven exploration of elegance and expression.  Chardonnay has long been a cornerstone of Ontario’s viticultural identity, offering a compelling canvas for terroir to shine.  Ontario’s cool-climate Chardonnay reveals a spectrum of styles, from taut and mineral-driven to richly textured and barrel-aged.  Here is an unoaked and an unoaked Chardonnay from two different wineries:  Featherstone Estate Winery Unoaked…

Passport to Global Wines flight of wines The 47th Vancouver International Wine Festival seminar, “Passport to Global Wines,” was a strategic exploration of the global viticultural map through the lens of cultural identity. Moderators Christine Campbell, Lisa Giovanella, and James Nevison established a “Passport” metaphor as a vehicle to navigate international “ports of entry,” moving beyond the standard technical data…

Chartron et Trebuchet from Burgundy makes a wonderful crémant wine.  I’ve enjoyed this sparkling wine over many years.  At the Vancouver International Wine Festival 2026, I had a chance to interview Camilla De Vere Green from Chartron et Trebuchet in the International Festival Tasting Room to talk about the winery and their crémant.  Enjoy the video interview.

In my earlier article I wrote about two Chardonnay wines from Maison Joseph Drouhin. One coming from Macon-Villages comes from a large region in the south end of Burgundy and the other from their Drouhin-Vaudon Chablis, from the Valley of Vauvillien.  Today I have the other two Chardonnay to tell you about.  Both are estate Chablis, one being their Chablis…

Maison Joseph Drouhin from Burgundy makes several different expressions of Chardonnay.  I received four bottles of their various Chardonnay wines, and in this article I will review two for you.  According to the winery, their Macon-Villages 2022 comes from a large region in the south end of Burgundy, close to Pouilly-Fuissé, which has clay and chalk soils. The size of…

Winemaking in the past has been dominated by men around the world, but times are changing.  British Columbia is a great example.  If you’ve ever cracked open a bottle of BC wine, there is a high probability that it was made by a female winemaker and/or the winery is female owned. Estimates suggest about 20% of lead winemakers in the…

Chardonnay wines can vary in style and in intensity.  Many people avoid Chardonnay as they were exposed to heavily oaked versions in the past.  But there are many unoaked Chardonnay that you can enjoy.  I received this bottle from the south Okanagan’s Gold Hill Winery of their Charisma Un-Oaked Chardonnay 2022 to review for you.  It has four years of…

It is always a treat at a winemaker’s dinner to be able to talk with the winemaker who gives us some insight into how the wines we are drinking together were made and any challenges they encountered.  I recently attended a winemaker dinner at Provence Marinaside, featuring Jessica Otting from the Niagara region’s Tawse Winery, who gave us those insights. …

I have two Chardonnay from Lillooet’s Fort Berens Estate Winery.  One wine, made in 2023 comes from their estate grapes, while their 2024 Chardonnay grapes come from WA state, with the wine made in Lillooet.  Lillooet, as well as the Okanagan, was hit hard by the 2024 winter cold snap, killing many grape vines, necessitating the purchase of grapes from…

Here are my last two Interlude wines from Township 7 Vineyards & Winery.  In case you don’t remember, Interlude, is their wines, crafted in BC, but coming from grapes outside the province, due to our cold winter snap that killed most grape vines in the Okanagan.  The first wine, their Township 7 Vineyards & Winery Interlude Pinot Noir 2024, is…