Category: VQA

You probably are well aware of Blue Mountain Vineyard and Cellars sparkling wines, but they also produce several still ones.  I’m tasting their Estate Cuvee Pinot Noir 2019 and it is quite an elegant wine that can easily age another 3-4 years before you open it and enjoy it with a bit more bottle age. My Wine Tasting Notes Blue…

The Andrew Peller beverage company over the past few years brought in five BC wineries into their portfolio.  Andrew Peller also owns wineries in the Niagara region in southern Ontario.  For Cornucopia 2021, I and a COVID safely separated group of other people had a sit-down tasting of wines from the five BC wineries, plus a talk about each winery…

This is likely the most unique wine made in BC; Mayhem Wines Fortified Gewurztraminer 2018.  Gewurztraminer is generally a grape that typically offers lychee, citrus, sweet spices and more; overall a very flavourful grape.  Mayhem Wines took their grapes and fermented them down to 19 brix before being fortified with 93% alcohol. This wine was then put to barrel and…

Here are two delicious vegan wines.  I recently tasted the Winemaker’s CUT latest Bohemian Blanc 2019 and Bohemian Rouge 2019 wines.  I’ve tasted many Winemaker’s CUT wines and always have to compliment them on their winemaking skills.  These two wines would be great for the holiday season.  I can see them working well with various dishes.  I did try them…

Red Tail Vineyards Pinot Noir 2018 (ON $24 for 2019 vintage) I’ve raved about Ontario Pinot before, and well, I’m here to tell you I probably won’t ever stop. And the latest Ontario Pinot that I devoured was Red Tail Vineyards Pinot Noir 2018. This was a smooth traditional tasting cool-climate Pinot that was light-bodied with a medium finish. It…

I received three wines from TIME Family of Wines over the summer, but holiday travel and other busyness kept me away from tasting these wines until now. Two are white and one is a rosé wine. I tasted the: Evolve Cellars Spontaneity 2020 (50% Pinot Gris, 30% Sauvignon Blanc, and 20% Ortega) Chronos Rosé 2020 (made from Syrah grapes) McWatters…

Grange of Prince Edward Chardonnay Sur Lie 2019 (Sold Out at Winery) The other day, I opened up a bottle I’ve had since earlier this summer – Grange of Prince Edward Chardonnay Sur Lie 2019.  So what’s Sur Lie mean? “Sur Lie” means that the wine has been kept in contact with the dead yeast cells and is not racked…

I checked the 7-day weather forecast for Vancouver, and it is RAIN every day. So time for me to open a big red wine. In this case, I opened the Upper Bench Estate Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2017. It is 4 years old already and has many years left in it. This wine does have 5% Merlot in the blend to…

On my way back to Vancouver from my trip around the interior of BC, I stopped by Monte Creek Ranch Winery, just east of Kamloops to get an updated tasting of some of their wines.  Wines do change in the bottle over time.  They have a nice tasting room that looks northward.  Across the highway, you can see some of…

Speck Bros. Bianco Secco Lazzara ($17.95 at LCBO) Last weekend I opened Spec Bros’ Bianco Secco Lazzara as a little pick-me-up. And today I wanted to share my tasting notes on this bubbly made from Riesling with supporting roles coming from Gewürztraminer and Chardonnay. Green apples, pears, lemon rind, white blossoms, hay, and a touch of sweetness dominated the nose….