Category: VQA

Canadian Thanksgiving is going to be very different this year for many of us who are accustomed to getting together with our parents, brothers and sister, and maybe aunts and uncles for dinner.  It will be smaller, and may be just you, but you can still enjoy your turkey, ham, or vegan Thanksgiving meal with a glass or two of…

Here are two big red wines for you from Church & State Wines, a Meritage and a Syrah. The Syrah grapes are grown in the Coyote Bowl vineyard in the Oliver-Osoyoos wine region in the Okanagan Valley. The Coyote Bowl Vineyard had originally been three contiguous 10-acre orchards, situated along a large gravel bowl on the Black Sage Bench. Cabernet…

It’s Fall now.  We can’t hide from it, so time to embrace it with red wines.  I’m tasting Church & State Wines, Cabernet Franc and Merlot 2017, with the grapes coming from the Okanagan Valley.  2017 had a hot summer with smoke from forest fires starting in July.  Fortunately the smoke did not affect the grapes as it was early…

Why 2 Reviews of 4 Wines? I received a shipment of wines from Gold Hill Winery in Oliver, BC, over the summer and I’ve been tasting them two wines at a time and writing my tasting notes for you.  Twice during my tasting, one of the two bottles had a defect, so the wine was not review-able.  When you are…

Here are two more white Rhone Valley grape varieties that are made by Church & State Wines.  The Viognier and Roussanne grapes come from their Coyote Bowl and Bella vineyards in the south Okanagan.  The soils in these vineyards consist of sand and gravel.  How do these soil types affect wine’s aromas and flavours?  Sand gives fruitiness, elegance, less colour,…

Do you like Rosé Wine Jelly?  How about adding some pink peppercorns in?  Maybe put on a cracker with a slice of brie and enjoy with a glass of rosé wine?  And to top it off, help relieve family poverty!  You can do that by buying this Rosé Wine Jelly made in the Okanagan.  Here is the press release and…

Today I’m tasting two white grape varieties from Alsace and from the Rhone Valley, but grown in BC!  Church & State Wines grows both Pinot Gris (Alsace) and Marsanne (Rhone) grapes.  And have done them very well.  Church & State Wines originated on Vancouver Island near Victoria, and later added a second winery in Oliver in the south Okanagan.  The…

I have been telling all my readers about the quality of wines coming from Kamloops.  The 2020 All Canadian Wine Championships just announced their winners, and Kamloops wineries have brought in more medals.  Here is the press release from the Kamloops Winery Association.  If you check through my latest articles, you will find many of these wines with my reviews…

Chardonnay and Riesling are noble variety grapes from France, most notably from Burgundy, and from Germany respectively.  There has always been a rivalry between people that like one or the other better.  Chardonnay comes in a variety of styles from oaked or unoaked and different array of fruit flavours from citrus to stone fruits to tropical fruits depends on how…

My last 2 wines from 50th Parallel Estate Winery in Lake Country are from the Pinot Noir grape.  The first is their 2017 Pinot Noir and the other is their Blanc de Noir Methode Traditionnelle 2017 sparkling wine.  With the COVID situation keeping us all at home, why not use some of your stored vacation money that you would have…