Category: Okanagan

It is New Year’s Eve today, December 31, 2023.  Have you still not picked a sparkling BC wine to celebrate?  In case you have not, I have two sparkling wines from Blue Mountain Vineyard and Cellars.  One is their Gold Label Brut and the other is their Brut Rosé wine.  Both wines are listed as Recently Disgorged 2019. Let me…

These are probably my last two BC red wines for me to taste in 2023.  The wines come from the Church & State Wines.  I have their Church & State Wines Cabernet Franc 2019 and Syrah 2019. While the winery started on Vancouver Island, they do make wines from Okanagan-sourced grapes as well.  The Cabernet Franc comes from the terraces…

Musical notes We are used to seeing European wine labels with names of places, or other identification, other than the name of the grape varieties in the bottle. In North America and BC, we tend to have the name of the winery and the grape variety or varieties on the label.  But today, I have two BC wines that have…

I’ve been eagerly anticipating opening this bottle of BC’s TIME Family of Wines Chronos Syrah 2020 and had the chance to open it today to review. The quality starts with the cork, which is one long solid piece. All Chronos wines that I have tasted in the past have been top quality. Let me tell you about this wine. My…

I have two bigger red BC wines for you to consider for your holiday festivities: Hester Creek Estate Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 and their Merlot 2022.  Let me tell you about them.  Did you notice the difference in the labels?  The Cabernet Sauvignon label has extra info about the wine. This wine is from their Storied Series, so each label…

This year I had many terrific wines to taste and review.  Wines that I rate as 5 star I deem as needing nothing to add or subtract.  They are perfect as-is.  I had one wine that reached that status this year so instead of making a separate article for that wine, I am including it in this article.  My 4.5-5…

Holiday parties are well underway and you may also be wondering which sparkling wines to enjoy at home with family.  Here are two BC wines that you could consider.  One wine is made with the Charmat method (i.e. like prosecco) while the other is made with the Traditional Method, like Champagne.  Let me tell you about these sparkling wines. High…

If you enjoy sipping fortified wines, such as Port, over the holidays and through the cold winter, I have an option you may want to consider.  BC-made, Rara Avis, an organic, fortified haskap berry wine.  Produced at Kalala Organic Estate Winery for Saraya Natural Products Ltd.  Haskap berries are a group of berries that contain high levels of healthful nutrients,…

For the 2023 harvest, many winegrowers reported their earliest start on record due to a hot, sunny summer. What did Wines of British Columbia have to say? From Wines of British Columbia, “Going into the summer season BC wineries knew they were facing the challenge of a reduced wine grape crop. “A devastating extreme cold event in December 2022 impacted…

I have two red blends from BC’s Hester Creek Estate Winery.  Both show off ripe fruit flavours and are smooth and round, with fine-grained tannins, that I think would be easy to enjoy over the holidays with appetizers or main courses.  The two wines are the Hester Creek Estate Winery Cabernet Merlot 2022 and their Character Red 2022, a blend…