Category: Syrah

Vanessa Vineyard, located in the Similkameen Valley, may not be a well-known winery to many, but it should.  Winemaker, Howard Soon, joined Vanessa in 2017 after retiring from Sandhill Wines.  He has won over 100 awards for the wines he has crafted and has received the Order of Canada.  Recently there was the 2025 Top 50 BC Wine awards and…

If you visit Osoyoos and stay at the Spirit Ridge Resort or visit the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre, you will drive past Adega on 45th Estate Winery.  The winery and tasting room is at the top of a hill slope and gives you a wonderful view of Osoyoos.  The winery was recently taken over by Gate 22 Winery, which has…

Did you know that Nk’Mip Cellars is North America’s first Indigenous-owned winery?  An enterprise of the Osoyoos Indian Band, the winery’s core identity is linked to the land, its Syilx heritage, and a mission to express its culture through internationally award-winning wines. The winery’s mission is to express its cultural identity and history in every aspect of its operation and…

Moon Curser Vineyards in the south Okanagan, Osoyoos specifically, is well-known for their big red wines.  I recently visited the winery and tried four red wines and one white wine.  Moon Curser was unfortunately affected by the 2024 winter cold snap, so lost some of their vines.  As such, they brought in some grapes from Washington state to help make…

This week we had a trade event featuring the latest BC white wines, many from 2024, as well as some red wines.  In 2024 we had a terrible winter freeze that killed most of the grape vines in the interior of BC, so BC wineries were given permission from the BC government to source grapes from outside BC.  Many winemakers…

With our summer days dwindling as the evening sun sets sooner, I decided to open a bottle of BC’s Bordertown Vineyards & Estate Winery Syrah 2020 that I received and to try it with a grilled sirloin steak.  The pairing was excellent as is the Syrah.  Let me tell you about the wine and the pairing. My Wine Tasting Notes…

I recently was invited to taste a flight of wines from Sicily and have them paired with a variety of Italian street foods.  The venue was Bar Corso on Commercial Drive.  The setting was casual with the wines poured in a leisurely manner and the Italian appies coming by quickly, giving us a good chance to try all the wines…

In my last article on the IVSA trade tasting of wine, beer, and spirits, I concentrated on sparkling wines, but at the end of the tasting, I did take some time to taste a few red wines, and I was pleasantly surprised by all of them, so I am listing them here for you. My Red Wine Picks Ceci Antico…

TIME Family of Wines has evolved since 2020 when Ron and Shelley Mayert became the owners.  Evolve Sparkling House is one of the labels under the TIME Family of Wines umbrella. Their aim is to ensure growth of the established business and reputation which has been carried by the McWatters family for decades. I received three sparkling and one still…

2022 was an epic year for making wine, according to BC’s Hester Creek Estate Winery.  The year started out challenging with a late cold start, summer temperatures were not too high, low rainfall during the summer, but then lead to a long, warm end to extend the growing season, allowing the grapes to fully mature.  Many wineries noted that their…