Tag: Bench 1775

Last week I attended the Swirl Around BC wines event seminar, which was followed by wine tastings from a variety of BC wineries.  I decided to check on sparkling, rosé, and white wines leading up to the Holiday season.  Here are a few wines I thought were quite good and you may enjoy.  Remember with the winter cold snap affecting…

To start off the Vancouver International Wine Festival, I attended this masterclass which featured 11 British Columbia wines from across the province, “Defining the Root of BC Terroir“.  Our panellists, the winemakers at the wineries, discussed the unique growing conditions of their vineyard and terroir of the area. There was also some discussion on what BC winegrowers are doing in…

The Canada Day long weekend celebration is this weekend.  Picnics and bbq and generally getting together with friends and family will happen.  Enjoying this scene with Canadian wine would make it even better in my opinion.  Below is a list of Canadian wines I tasted over the past year that I think would be fun to have this long weekend. …

Valentine’s Day is a special day to spend with your significant other.  A bottle of sparkling wine to sip together is a great way to cap, or start, the evening together.  Below are 6 different sparkling wines that I tried over the last 12 months, from BC and overseas, that I think are exceptional.  Enjoy these wines on their own,…

Bench 1775 Winery is located in on 1775 Naramata Road, on the Naramata Bench.  They believe that great wines start in the vineyard, so all of their vineyard sites were analyzed in detail before being planted with clones and rootstocks best adapted to their soils and site climate. Val Tait, the viticulturist, wine maker and GM of Bench 1775, tries to…

My journey is complete. After many emails, printing of tasting note sheets, receiving deliveries of BC Pinot Noir, writing tasting notes, locating BC Pinot Noir vineyards, correlating BC Pinot Noir wines with soil and with latitude using a GIS, and making a cool interactive BC Pinot Noir map is complete. But maybe it is also the start of a new…

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness This spring, I took my first step in my journey with the thought that maybe the different soil types in BC affect the aromas and flavours of Pinot Noir grapes.  How to…

Progress is well underway in the BC Pinot Noir Review, although you may not see things happening.  Working diligently, I have been tasting and writing detailed notes on the BC Pinot Noirs you see below, and many more to come.  In addition, I am tasting many of these wines with Sam Hauck, @Sam_WineTeacher on Twitter, who belongs to the BC Guild…

Since I published my initial article, How Does BC Pinot Noir Express Terroir?, I have been receiving bottles of BC Pinot Noir from the 2013 and 2014 vintages, with a few from 2012.  The wineries who has graciously provided me with their wines for this study are: Thornhaven Estates Sperling Vineyards Burrowing Owl Niche Wine Co. Volcanic Hills Seven Directions…

BC wines are continuing to make strides around the world.  Last year BC wineries won more than 2000 medals in national and international competition according to the BC Wine Institute.  BC has over 208 wineries today.  We grow over 75 different grape varieties!  Merlot is the most planted grape in BC, and Pinot Gris is the most planted white grape…