Category: VQA

British Columbia wineries continue to define distinct grape-growing regions, known as a sub-geographical indication (sub-GI).  This week we received this announcement that our next sub-GI has been successfully accepted by the BC government.  It is on Vancouver Island; the Cowichan Valley.  Read about this new sub-GI and Blue Grouse Estate Winery that worked on getting this designation. Congratulations! ~~~ [DUNCAN,…

The first two wines from 50th Parallel Estates Winery for me to taste are aromatic whites that you would find in the Alsace region of France, but of course these wines are located in Lake Country.  The two wines I am tasting are their Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer 2019. Where is Lake Country? You may not be familiar with the…

I love Pinot Noir and was very excited to try the latest Pinot Noir from Okanagan Crush Pad. The grapes for this Pinot Noir, from Okanagan Crush Pad’s Haywire wine, come from the Secrest Mountain Vineyard in Oliver, BC. The grapes were fermented with native yeasts in large concrete wine tanks. Each lot of wine was aged separately and bottled…

Are you seeing the forest or the trees? An airliner or a bird’s eye view? General or more specific? That is what I wondered as I tasted these two bottles of Pinot Gris by Okanagan Crush Pad’s Haywire Wines from Summerland, BC. that were sent to me to review. The first wine, Haywire Pinot Gris 2019, has grapes sourced from…

Singletree Winery is one of our local Fraser Valley wineries that you may not have heard of, but have been around since 2010.  I’ve been writing about them for a few years now.  The winery and main vineyard are in the Abbotsford area, but in 2018 they also acquired vineyard land in the Naramata Bench which allows them to expand…

Crowsnest Vineyards is located near Cawston in the Similkameen Valley in south-central BC.  This valley is cooler-climate with the valley running east-west and a breeze that passes through it to help give the valley it’s character.  I was surprised that I had not tried their wines before or knew much about them, and regret it.  The winery was established in…

What were you doing in 2000?  If it was just before January 1, you were probably worrying about all our computers and anything running with a computer chip and code stops running when the clocks turned to “00”.  Luckily we all survived.  This was a rare event. Another rare event is vintage Champagne; that is Champagne made with a year…

My third Dine Out Vancouver dinner was with good friends at Provence Marinaside in Yaletown.  Provence offers a $45 food menu plus $25 wine pairing, and it is totally worth it.  The food from Provence is top quality and a large portion.  I was very full and very happy at the end of my meal. We were treated with a glass…

Icewine from Canada is famous around the world. While we did not invent Icewine, we are recognized as a world leader in Icewine production.  It is amazing that you are able to get juice out of frozen grapes and the resulting nectar in your glass. Test your BC Icewine knowledge with these 4 questions.  No googling! If you like quizzes,…

Copper Chimney Indian Grill & Bar has been serving up tasty Indian food in downtown Vancouver for several years.  I have had the pleasure of eating at Copper Chimney before and was recently invited to a food and wine pairing event.  This event though was extra special as the dishes being served are dishes that Chef has created for their…