Category: Pinot Gris

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to interview Ezra Cipes, CEO of Summerhill Pyramid Winery, located in Kelowna, BC.  One of the things Ezra told me about was a new line of BC VQA wines that they are producing called “Alive“, making both a red and a white wine.  The wine labels really look alive too with pictures…

When you talk with visitors to the Okanagan, most will say they want to visit Summerhill Winery and see their pyramid, where they partially age all their wines. Some may say they also want to visit because it uses biodynamic farming methods.  I sat down with Ezra Cipes, CEO of Summerhill, and son of the founder, Stephen Cipes, at a restaurant…

Probably many of us know little about Oregon wineries, unless we are a pinot lover.  It is a very nice place to visit, with many wineries or tasting rooms in the McMinnville area. For those of you that are geographically challenged, here is a Google Map of the area. View Larger Map French winemakers have recognized the suitability to grow…

Last night was a Media preview of the new food menu at the Establishment Lounge in Kitsilano, 3162 W. Broadway (at Trutch).  The Establishment Lounge food is created by Executive Chef Victor Bongo.  Chef Bongo is the author of a cookbook titled: “The Excellence of Chef Victor Bongo“, which was published in March of 2009 by Xlibris Corporation.  The international…

In my earlier post, Growing Wineries with Okanagan Crush Pad (OCP), I introduced you to the vineyard management, wine making skills, and the growing list of new wineries making use of OCP. In this second part of this article, I will introduce you to these new wineries, and provide you with a few tasting notes on the wines I sampled….

Okanagan Crush Pad (OCP) in Summerland, BC, has not yet been around for a year, but has already has an impressive list of up and coming wineries using their custom wine making services. On a recent Media trip to visit OCP, we were introduced to their winery clients, and learned more about OCP’s vineyard and wine making philosophies.  One of…

Pulling into Bill and Darlene Freding’s Ranch, in Oliver, BC, we were greeted by cowboys and cowgirls on horseback.  This would be the start of our cowboy welcome to one of the newest wineries in BC.  Bill and Dar, have been cattle ranching together since the late 1970’s in the Cariboo-Chilcotin.  Fast forward to 1998, they had purchased some land…

This past week was very busy with wine events, but one event that I made sure to attend was the Bloom Vancouver, BC VQA Spring Release Tasting.  This was a Trade only event, so people like media, restaurant owners, sommeliers, and other wine buyers for consumers were only in attendance.  With spring you get the current release of the white…

In Part 1 of my Review of the New Zealand Wine Fair 2012, I talked about New Zealand’s sustainability goals, and provided tasting notes on the New Zealand wine makers’ upcoming varietals to the rest of the world of Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, and Syrah. But there is also Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and more to try during this tasting. …

New Zealand is well known for its clean air, temperate climate, and dare I say, super natural environment?  New Zealand’s wine industry goal is to be 100% sustainable, organic, or biodynamic by 2012. I read that over 95% of their vineyards are operating under an independently audited sustainability programme and over 90% of their wine production is also under an…