Category: ortega

Did you know that Blue Grouse Estate Winery and Unsworth Vineyards in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island are owned by the Sonoma-based Jackson Family from California?  The acquisitions, in 2022 and 2020, respectively, allow the family to grow their global portfolio, which includes vineyards in California, Oregon, Washington, Italy, France, Chile, South Africa, and Australia.  They see tremendous potential…

Here are two BC wines for your summer enjoyment. Carpe diem as we are already into August! The two wines are from Blue Grouse Estate Winery in Duncan, BC on Vancouver Island. I tasted their Blue Grouse Estate Winery Ortega 2021 and their Blue Grouse Estate Winery Quill Rosé 2021. The Rosé is made from 100% Gamay Noir grapes. Both…

Beaufort Vineyard & Estate Winery is a small family-run winery (by Sylie Senay and Rolland Tanguay and their son, Alex Guertin) in Courtney – Comox on Vancouver Island.  I had not heard of the winery, but as I was nearby I thought I would check-in. The winery is certified organic and also follows regenerative and sustainable agriculture.  They grow 10…

I received three wines from TIME Family of Wines over the summer, but holiday travel and other busyness kept me away from tasting these wines until now. Two are white and one is a rosé wine. I tasted the: Evolve Cellars Spontaneity 2020 (50% Pinot Gris, 30% Sauvignon Blanc, and 20% Ortega) Chronos Rosé 2020 (made from Syrah grapes) McWatters…

April showers bring spring flowers, but it also brings a new menu at Provence Marinaside with a new set of wines for pairing; this time from Sea Star Vineyards.  Here is the press release from Provence Marinaside. ~~~ (Vancouver, BC) – April is BC Wine Month and what better way to celebrate than by the return of  Provence Marinaside‘s monthly Wine Menu Series starting April…

While we may want to go big on Valentine’s Day this year for our significant other, COVID still lurks and most of us are not yet vaccinated.  Maybe you would consider ordering dishes from your favourite restaurant and enjoying it at home with some tasty BC wines?   Various foods, for their texture, scent, colour, shape and/or taste has an effect…

I have two possibly new white grape varieties to introduce you to today. I am tasting 2 wines from Enrico Winery located on southern Vancouver Island. One is their Coronet Reserve Petite Milo 2017 and the other is their Tempest Ortega 2019. Of the two grapes, you probably have heard of and tried Ortega as it is grown on Vancouver…

Have you ever heard of the Ortega grape? Did you know that Ortega is a cross between Siegerrebe and Müller-Thurgau?  And did you know that you can try Ortega wine from Blue Grouse Estate Winery from Duncan, BC?  Vancouver Island is a very cool climate region and as such many of the wineries produce wines from aromatic white grapes such…

In honour of Victoria Day, you may want to enjoy a bottle of wine made in Victoria (BC) or in the defined Victoria region.  There are 14 wineries in or around Victoria, BC.  Do you know which wineries?  They are: Deep Cove Winery Church & State Wines Rocky Creek Winery Devine Distillery & Winery Averill Creek Unsworth Vineyards Blue Grouse…

I keep mentioning about wineries on Vancouver Island as they give you a different profile of wine compared to what we are more familiar with coming from the Okanagan.  You are not going to find a big Cabernet Sauvignon produced on Vancouver Island, at least under the current cool climate.  Aromatic white wines and Pinot Noir are the stars on…