Category: Gamay

From BC’s winemakers, the consensus seems to be that 2017 was a more normal growing season compared to the two previous seasons.  Although there were horrible wildfires, the fires occurred in early summer, not later in the summer when veraison occurs.  Smoke seems to be more problematic for grapes at veraison.  The smoke earlier in the summer filtered the sunshine…

40 Knots Vineyard & Estate Winery is a short sailing trip if you want from Vancouver to Comox on Vancouver Island.  Once there you can meet Layne Robert Craig and Brenda Hetman, a husband and wife couple, who have started this winery, and done so with very specific goals.  They want to craft wines following biodynamic farming methods.  They do…

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…

Where is Prince Edward County?  Is it somewhere on Prince Edward Island?  No, it’s in Ontario, between Toronto and Kingston, along Lake Ontario.  I would classify it as a peninsula, but it is not long and thin, rather it is more circular in shape.  And it’s a very cool climate area in Ontario; cooler than the Niagara region.  It’s so…

BC’s emerging wine regions is rather large and encompasses different climates and terroir.  From my tour to the region, the places that I visited I think can be divided into two sub-regions: the hot west, and the cooler northeast.  There is still an area to the southeast that I did not visit on this trip, so cannot comment on its…

At the i4C+ Celebration on July 21-23, 2017 there will be 59 cool climate chardonnay producers; 25 wineries from Ontario and 34 from around the world.  There will be 2 wineries from BC too.  And as I mentioned in my previous article on the i4C+ Celebration, while the focus is Chardonnay there will also be Pinot Noir, Gamay, Cab Franc,…

Finally, the sunny, warm weather is with us here in BC. Winter was dreadful, but now we can get out on the patio and enjoy some freshly vinified BC white wine. The 2016 harvest was very good in BC and produced wines with good flavour character and acidity. Recently I attended the Bloom BC VQA Spring Release Tasting and tasted…

The Naramata Bench, located to the north of Penticton on the east bank of Lake Okanagan, is home to many BC wineries.  It is a lovely drive along Naramata Road, where you can visit 24 wineries, and admire the views overlooking Lake Okanagan. If you are visiting the Okanagan you can easily spend one or more days visiting the wineries…

Buying French wine can be daunting.  The name of the grape is not seen on the bottle.  There could be the name of the village or vineyard on the bottle.  None of which probably helps many people here in Canada.  But with perseverance and a bit of knowledge you can learn a bit about a wine region, such as the…

Red, white, and rose wines, newly released from Okanagan Crush Pad reached my door for tasting.  Just in time for our spring and upcoming sunny summer weather.  The wines in question I received: Mike B Riesling Cabinett 2014 ($24.90) Haywire Gamay Noir Rose 2014 ($22.90) Haywire Pinot Noir 2013 ($24.90) Mike B Riesling Cabinett 2014 This wine is the result…