Category: Okanagan

Last week the BC wineries who are part of the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) presented their latest releases of red, white, and sparkling wines.  74 wineries had tables and each poured around 4 wines on average.  So 296 new releases hit our market, with some wines available at BC liquor stores, while others only available a private wine shops, or…

The first indigenous-run winery in BC is Nk’Mip Cellars in Osoyoos, and it has been that way for several years, until recently. Robert Louie served as the Chief of the Westbank First Nation until 2016, but in 2011, he and his wife Bernice met wine maker Jason Parkes and together they started BC’s second indigenous winery: Indigenous World Winery.  The…

2016 was a very good year for BC grapes.  The growing season started early, became hot in Spring, cooled down in July, warmed up again in August and cooled a bit in September.  A bit of a roller coaster in temperature and rain, but overall warm and cool I think when it was needed.  In the Okanagan with the cool…

Summer is still going strong here in BC, so still lots of time to get out onto your patio and enjoy some refreshing white wines.  Here are some white wines, plus a bonus wine, that I received from TIME Estate Winery, in the Okanagan. My Tasting Notes TIME Estate Winery Chardonnay 2014 ($25) – A deeper golden lemon in colour,…

Life is a journey, and for Sandra Oldfield, CEO and owner of Tinhorn Creek Vineyards in Oliver, BC that applies perfectly for her new flagship wine, “The Creek”, as well as the process to reach this point. Sandra’s journey has been an evolution.  They didn’t know everything when they started.  Their flagship wine, The Creek, is named for Tinhorn Creek next…

It is almost the end of summer, but the sun is still shining and we should get out onto the patio and enjoy fresh wine.  I received a box of wines to try from Evolve Cellars in Summerland, and inside there were two bottles of bubble, three white aromatics, a rose, and a silky red.  Okanagan white wines show off…

As promised I have enclosed my tasting notes for the wines I sampled at the three International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration seminars.  Many of these Chardonnay come from Ontario, but there are also wines from BC, California, Chile, France and more.  My notes are not as detailed as notes I make from my structured tastings at home, but should give…

This was the second seminar in our three seminars on Day 1 of the International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration.  This seminar’s goals according to the organizers are to answer the following, “Winegrowers love Chardonnay for its versatility. 10 winemakers will defend the stylistic decisions they make with each vintage, from homages to Old World classic styles to innovative interpretations that stretch the…

In my previous article, I divided BC’s emerging wine regions into a warmer and a cooler side.  In this article I would like to concentrate on the cooler side, which for me covers the Salmon Arm and Lake Country areas to the north of the Okanagan Valley.  Lake Country is warmer than Salmon Arm, which is to the north of…

Everyone knows about the Okanagan Valley as a wine region, and some may also know about the Similkameen which is on the southwestern edge of the Okanagan, but what about BC’s emerging wine regions, covering the Kootenays, Lillooet and Thompson Shuswap?  I had a chance to go on a trip hosted by the Wines of BC to visit Lillooet and…