Category: Sustainability

I’ve been tasting and writing about Chardonnay recently, so I thought I would change things up and write about some other wines.  I received several wines from Vancouver Island’s Blue Grouse Estate Winery and decided to start with their Rosé 2024 and their Pinot Gris 2024.  These are from estate grown grapes and select partner vineyards.  Vancouver Island is really…

My next set of Ontario Chardonnay wines to review comes from Cave Spring Vineyard.  This winery is one of the pioneers in the area, having been around for four decades.  They are certified by Sustainable Winegrowing Ontario and their wines are also vegan-friendly.  The two wines I received to review are Cave Spring Vineyard Chardonnay 2024 (coming from a selection…

We do not get many wines from Ontario in BC, but here is a new entry.  Henry of Pelham, located in the Niagara peninsula has been producing wine since 1984.  I have two wines for you today: Henry of Pelham Classic Pinot Grigio 2024 and Henry of Pelham Classic Baco Noir 2023.  Baco Noir may be unfamiliar to some of…

Keeping up with “Elbows Up”, I have two Australian white wines you may want to consider enjoying for the upcoming holiday season.  The wines are under screwcap, making for easy opening.  Both wines are listed as being certified sustainable winegrowing and are vegan-friendly.  Oxford Landing  Oxford Landing takes sustainability seriously.  They are certified by Sustainable Winegrowing Australia (SWA).  They ensure…

My last winery visit while I was staying in the Osoyoos area was the La Stella Winery.  I met with tasting room manager, Wade Martin, as he poured me their recent wine releases and discussed wines in general.  Their winery like other Okanagan wineries was affected by the 2024 winter blast.  Out of 70 acres of planted vines, they were…

This 2025, Chile’s Viña Santa Carolina is celebrating a history of tradition, passion for wine, and a heritage that is still alive today, 150 years after its creation.  Throughout its 150 years of existence, Viña Santa Carolina has changed owners only once, when it was acquired by the Larrain family, almost 100 years after its creation.  To celebrate this historic…

Here are more 2024 wines from BC Okanagan wineries that used some or all of their grapes from south of the border, due to the devastating 2024 winter wiping out almost all grapes in the Okanagan.  In this case, Blasted Church Vineyards brought Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc grapes from the Andrews Family Vineyard in WA state.  The grapes were grown…

I am continually amazed by the wines and the wineries that I have come across as part of my study of Cabernet Franc wines produced in the Niagara region of southern Ontario.  One of the wineries is Drea’s Wine Co. which produces small batch, single vineyard, low intervention wines.  Checking their website, I read, “Drea’s Small Batch Wines are crafted…

LangeTwins Family Winery and Vineyards, located in the heart of Lodi, California, is a family-owned winery dedicated to crafting sustainably grown, estate-driven wines that capture the essence of the region. With a deep commitment to land stewardship, the Lange family has been farming in Lodi for five generations, producing exceptional wines that reflect their rich heritage. Zinfandel, Lodi’s flagship grape,…

The second seminar I attended at VanWineFest 2025 was the “Three Rings of Sustainability“. Dr. Monique Bell (Professor of Marketing, Fresno State University) and Dr. Damien Wilson (Hamel Family Faculty Chair of Wine Business, Sonoma State University) lead a panel of principals as they explored the three rings of sustainability – environmental, social, and economic. We learned how sustainable wine…