Category: Sustainability

Kevin Judd from the Greywacke winery in Marlborough, New Zealand, may not sound familiar to many readers, but Kevin is one of the pioneer winemakers in Marlborough.  He was born in England and raised in Australia where he studied winemaking. In 1983 he moved to New Zealand and was the founding winemaker at Cloudy Bay, which all New Zealand wine…

Have you heard of Rewild Wine?  A new brand to BC and to Canada from Australia. I recently received the Rewild Wine Cabernet Sauvignon 2022.  According to Rewild this wine is “Sustainably made with minimal intervention, Rewild varietals are a tribute to their home in the Southern Murray Darling and the grapes that grow there. Fresh, vibrant, and easy-drinking, each…

The wine industry, long dominated by traditional glass bottles, is undergoing a significant transformation. Driven by environmental concerns, cost-efficiency, and changing consumer preferences, alternative wine packaging is gaining traction. This shift is about changing the container and redefining how we perceive and consume wine.    In BC we also have to take into account the current requirements for BC wine…

Victoria Day has just passed in Canada and is known as our unofficial kick-off to summer.  For your summer wine enjoyment, you may lean toward white wines.  I have two white wines for you from Australia;  The Pewsey Vale Estate Eden Valley Riesling 2022 which is fermented in stainless steel and the Yalumba The Y Series Viognier 2022 which has…

Gambero Rosso is an Italian food and wine magazine and publishing group founded in 1986.  Last year a selection of people from Gambero Rosso reviewed 2,647 Italian wineries and a total of 25,231 wines, rating them from 1 to 3 glasses according to the quality of the wines. Through a series of blind tastings, 498 wines were awarded their top…

California is a leader in sustainable wine growing.  According to California Certified Sustainable, 38% of California winegrape acres that they monitor are sustainable, and 188 Certified Wineries produce 202 million cases of wine (80% of California wine).  That is remarkable and commendable.  I have two bottles of Certified Sustainable Pinot Noir wines from California to review for you:  Cambria Estate…

This seminar, Challenge of the Red Titans, was fun.  It was held Friday afternoon and we had spent the week preceding with serious discussions of Italian wines.  We deserved a dash of fun, but the seminar still provided us with valuable information about Italian red wines.  We learned a bit about how the big Italian blockbuster wineries are reshaping themselves…

Wineries change hands over time, but you do not often hear of a winery with a vineyard going from monks to lay people.  Monte del Frà is one of those wineries and we are lucky to have the winery attending VanWineFest 2024.  Their wines are in our market already, but you can get a chance to speak with a winery…

I have been watching and tasting Yalumba‘s organic tier of wines for a few years.  This year, I noticed “GEN” on the label. From the 2022 vintage, all Yalumba GEN wines will be Sustainable Winegrowing Australia (SWA) certified. Yalumba GEN is 100% certified organic (by Australian Certified Organic) meaning they use no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides in their vineyard…

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…