Category: merlot

How many people know someone that has been affected by heart problems?  My guess is 100% of you.  The heart is a very important muscle in the body and one that needs special care. To this effect the wine, Colby Red, was produced to support charities promoting heart health. Colby Red came about due to the sickness of Colby Groom. …

Chile, eventhough it has been making wine since the 1500’s, still holds surprises.  One more recent surprise was that some of the Merlot grapes that they thought they were growing was actually the Bordeaux variety, Carmenere; a grape that was long forgotten in Bordeaux as it was too difficult to ripen.  Carmenere and Merlot look very similar but ripen differently. …

I first posted this article 2 years ago, and the styles of wines that I described then, still hold for your turkey or ham Thanksgiving dinner this year.  The wine vintages from the wineries below will have changed, but these are all quality wines from quality wineries here in BC, and you should feel comfortable purchasing them at your local…

Breast cancer I hazard to guess has touched every Canadian family in some way or another.  In my family my mother had breast cancer, which was thankfully cured.  I have lost a sister-in-law to breast cancer, and I have a friend who has been treated and is currently in remission, and I hope on the road to being declared cancer-free…

Upper Bench Winery & Creamery is located just outside of downtown Penticton, leading the way into the Naramata Bench.  The winery is still fairly new, I believe 2012 was their 3rd vintage, their wine maker, Gavin Miller, has been around for several years in the Okanagan making wines for Poplar Grove and Painted Rock, before striking out on his own. …

Although James Dean did not to the best of my knowledge make it to the Penedes region in Spain, it was through his association with Jean Leon, that we have the Jean Leon winery, as I discussed in Part 1.  If you missed Part 1, I highly recommend reading Part 1 before continuing with Part 2, as it gives you…

LaStella Winery, located in the South Okanagan, tries to bring Italian style to the wines they produce.  They do this in part through the use of Italian grapes, such as Sangiovese, and through using the production methods undertaken in Italy.  Besides their love of Italy, and bringing it here to BC, they also look to the environment trying to produce…

Did you hear last year that Painted Rock’s flagship Red Icon wine was listed in a Beijing restaurant at 5,280 RMB, the equivalent of CAD$900?  Quite a statement for a small, but high quality BC winery.  The latest red wine releases for Painted Rock just came out, and I was invited to sample them.  I wondered how the 2011 vintage…

A daunting task, picking my favourite wines from a total of 1750 wines being poured at the Vancouver International Wine Festival.  Thankfully I was able to visit the Acura International Festival Tasting Room 4 times as Media, splitting time between France and the rest of the world.  I have already covered my favourite French wines in a separate article.  In…

Since Bartier Scholefield started producing their wines in 2011, in the Okanagan, BC, I have been fortunate to try them and write about them for you.  They have been keeping to their “Wine As Narrative“, telling us a story about the terroir, from where it was produced.  Their wines are produced as much without wine maker intervention, so that you…