Category: vegan

As UB40’s lyrics go, “Red, red wineGoes to my head…” I opened two bottles of big bold red wines today from Chaberton Estate Winery.  A Syrah and a Cabernet Sauvignon from grapes in the Okanagan Valley.  They certainly made me happy.  These wines are vegan-friendly. They both come in at 14.7% alcohol, but don’t taste hot.  The alcohol is well-integrated…

Bordeaux blends are popular around the world.  Many wineries make Bordeaux blends in BC, but few have a winemaker from Bordeaux!  One such winery is French Door Estate Winery, a family-run winery founded in 2019 just south of Oliver, BC, on the Black Sage Bench.  They are extremely fortunate to have Pascal Madevon as its winemaker.  As I mentioned Pascal…

Can you name the native grapes of the Rhone Valley?  There are the north and south ends of the valley and different varieties.  The main varieties of the north end are Syrah, Viognier, Marsanne, and Roussanne. The northern Rhone is cooler and the valley has steep hillsides while in the southern Rhone, the climate is more Mediterranean and the terrain…

Chaberton Estate Winery, one of our long-time established wineries, is located in the Fraser Valley. That does limit the grape varieties they can grow there, but they also have access to grapes in the Okanagan so that they can produce big red wines which we love. I have two wines, the Chaberton Estate Winery Merlot 2017 and their Chaberton Estate…

With the hot summer weather, it was time for me to get out and enjoy it with a day trip to Chaberton Estate Winery in Langley where I met with GM Brian Ensor.  He gave me a guided tour, first bringing me out to the vineyards where the first vines I saw were their 40-year-old Bacchus grapes.  It is hard…

Do you like full-bodied red wines? I have 2 for you from Moon Curser Vineyards in Osoyoos. Their Malbec 2020 and Petit Verdot 2020. You don’t see much Petit Verdot in the Okanagan. Malbec is planted more widely but still tiny compared to Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. According to the 2019 BC Wine Grape Acerage Report, Malbec is in #7…

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…

Today we are going on a journey tasting Rhone grape varieties; Syrah for red grapes, and Roussanne and Marsanne for white grape varieties. You may have heard of Syrah. BC Syrah is quite well-known for its quality, but Roussanne and Marsanne may be new to you. These two white grapes are grown in the northern Rhone region and are typically…

Have you ever had a cider made from crab apples? I don’t think I have until today. I have two ciders from Creek & Gully Cider in Penticton. One is Just Crab 2021 and the other is Crabby Pear 2021 which is a blend of 50% Hyslop crab apple and 50% Bartlett pear. If you bite into crab apples you…

Rose wine with its fresh acidity and bright red fruit flavours works well with many food pairings. I decided to try pairing a bottle of Chateau La Coste 2021 Rosé from Provence, France, with a slow-smoked bbq pork shoulder I cooked using my BBQ. The pork shoulder was covered in a dry rub made with brown sugar, salt, pepper, smoked paprika,…