Category: Naramata Bench

Here I have two bigger red wines from Hillside Winery, located on the Naramata Bench. One is their Heritage Series Cabernet Franc 2017, while the other wine is their Merlot Malbec 2018. The former is under cork while the latter is screwcap. These are two good indications of whether these wines are ready to drink now or can benefit from…

BC has a favourable climate for aromatic white grapes, such as Gewurztraminer and Viognier. I received a sample of Hillside Winery‘s Heritage Series wines to review, with two of them being from these aromatic varieties.  Their Heritage series wines are meant to showcase the nuanced flavours and elegant styles of the Naramata Bench. I see a label refresh for the…

Would you like to help the BC Hospitality Foundation, who helps hospitality workers facing financial crisis due to a health condition?  Why not buy these two wines from Coolshanagh Wines on the north end of the Naramata Bench?  $10 per case of these wines sold from now till the end of May go to the BCHF.   Coolshanagh’s vineyard was…

I have been enjoying tasting and writing about Winemaker’s CUT Estate Winery‘s wines since they first released their wines. Owners Michal and Martina Mosny undertake sustainable farming, hand harvest their grapes, adhere to zero pesticides, low sulphur use, and let the wines develop naturally to express the characteristics indicative of their Deadman Lake Vineyard.  Big news is that Winemaker’s CUT Estate Winery…

I attended online Part II of the BC Virtual 2019 Vintage Preview which welcomed winemakers from the Similkameen Valley, South Okanagan Valley (Golden Mile Bench) and BC’s new Sub-GI, Naramata Bench.  It was interesting to hear the differences and similarities between the cooler regions in BC and the warmer regions.  We again had Barbara Philip, MW as our moderator, and…

As BC is large with a cooler coastal climate and a hotter, drier interior, our yearly vintages can cover a range from marginal to exceptional.  Luckily we have been closer to the exceptional end of the vintage spectrum these last years.  How was the 2018 vintage?  I attended a media preview of the 2018 vintage and had 4 winemakers from…

Have you tried wines from Singletree Winery?  They are a local, Abbotsford, BC winery that produces wines from their own grapes in the Fraser Valley, but they now have another vineyard located on the Naramata Bench.  This is also the time of the year that BC wineries release the latest vintages of their white wines.  Below is a press release…

As I mentioned in my previous article on my top rated white, sparkling, and fortified wines for 2017, there were so many excellent wines that I tasted this year.  As I review the red wines that I’ve listed below, there are many wines from Italy, in part due to the many visits by Italian wineries to Vancouver this year.  From…

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…