Category: VQA

BC’s Noble Ridge Vineyard & Winery is located in the Okanagan Falls area, which I think has one of the best climates for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the province.  Recently I tasted their Noble Pinot Noir 2025, with grapes from their estate, Home Vineyard.  I also tasted their Reserve Meritage 2022, which comes with grapes along the Okanagan Valley. …

For the holiday season we all seem to enjoy a touch of sweetness, especially with cookies, cakes, and other indulgent desserts.  You could have these desserts with tea, but why not have them with a BC dessert wine?  Many of you have heard of ice wine, which Canada specializes in but tends to be intensely sweet and syrupy.  Too much…

Today’s two wines I label “Wine hands across the border,” as one wine has grapes from the Okanagan and the other bottle has grapes from Washington state.  The winery and wines are Hester Creek Estate Winery Trebbiano 2025 and Hester Creek Estate Winery Rosé Cabernet Franc 2024.  The Trebbiano is from Hester Creek’s estate vineyard on the Golden Mile Bench…

The Swirl Around BC Wine Expo was held this week for people in the wine trade to show off the latest vintages from BC wineries across the province.  I decided to start by tasting white wines only, and then as time and my back permitted, I would try a few red wines.  Most of the white wines are from our…

British Columbia’s wine industry continues to show just how much can be achieved in a relatively young wine region. The 2026 National Wine Awards of Canada provided a good reminder of that, with BC wineries earning an impressive 640 medals, representing 51% of all medals awarded at the competition. Beyond the medals, the results also point to the diversity of…

If someone asked if you would like to try an Espumante wine, would you know what they asked? Espumante is the Portuguese term for sparkling wine.  Typically made in the Charmat method, it is usually a fun, friendly, easy-to-sip, wine.  I received a bottle of the Okanagan’s Adega on 45th Espumante 2025 to review for you.  This wine is a…

BC’s Sandhill Wines is introducing Secco, a fresh, fruit-forward BC VQA sparkling wine made using the Charmat method, made from 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir.  I received a bottle to try.  It is a test release, so not widely available; it is just at a few private liquor stores. I thought I would let you read the winemaker’s notes…

For those of you looking for organic-certified BC wines, here are two from the Similkameen Valley’s Robin Ridge Winery.  It is a small, family-operated winery located in Keremeos.  They keep to minimal intervention in winemaking, using indigenous yeasts for fermentation.  The two wines I recently received to review are the Robin Ridge Winery Riesling 2022 and Robin Ridge Winery Gamay…

We are in the last few weeks of summer.  Children are in school and parents are enjoying some quiet time.  To celebrate the last days of summer and quiet time, I think some red wine is in order.  I tasted two bottles of red wine from Osoyoos’ Adega on 45th Estate Winery.  One is their Adega on 45th Estate Winery…

Did you know that Blue Grouse Estate Winery and Unsworth Vineyards in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island are owned by the Sonoma-based Jackson Family from California?  The acquisitions, in 2022 and 2020, respectively, allow the family to grow their global portfolio, which includes vineyards in California, Oregon, Washington, Italy, France, Chile, South Africa, and Australia.  They see tremendous potential…