Tag: cabernet franc

Definition of Impossible: Tasting all the great wines at Taste Washington.  With 232 wineries attending, according to my count, and 4 hours to taste, it is a daunting task.  I tried to divide my time about 40% tasting white wines, and 60% of the time tasting red wines, hoping that I would find some gems, which I did.  Below is…

Harper’s Trail winery in Kamloops, BC has been blazing a trail in this new wine grape growing region of BC.  With any new region, the vineyard manager and the wine maker have to learn about their soil, which grape varieties grow best in their soil,  the variety of oak barrels that enhance their wines just right, etc.  I received a…

Two curious red wines passed by my lips recently.  One, the Curious Beasts Blood Red Wine 2011 and the other the California Square Three Red Blend 2012.  Rarely do I see a bottle wrapped in paper or other material, other than some Riojas from Spain.  The Curious Beasts Blood Red wine comes in a very Halloween thought-provoking blood red and…

Breast cancer I hazard to guess has touched every Canadian family in some way or another.  In my family my mother had breast cancer, which was thankfully cured.  I have lost a sister-in-law to breast cancer, and I have a friend who has been treated and is currently in remission, and I hope on the road to being declared cancer-free…

Did you hear last year that Painted Rock’s flagship Red Icon wine was listed in a Beijing restaurant at 5,280 RMB, the equivalent of CAD$900?  Quite a statement for a small, but high quality BC winery.  The latest red wine releases for Painted Rock just came out, and I was invited to sample them.  I wondered how the 2011 vintage…

For those of you who have not heard of the Harper’s Trail winery, they made news across BC as they started the first winery in the Kamloops area.  Not knowing if the vines would last the winter, they tried and were successful.  The weather in Kamloops for the summer and fall is sunny and warm; perfect conditions for grape growing. …

Burgundy and Bordeaux; two famous wine regions in France with different grapes, red and white.  Back here in BC, you can grow the grapes from both regions and produce wine.  Burgundy is famous for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, while Bordeaux for their blends, which may contain Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Carmenere.  SpierHead Winery recently sent…

Leavenworth, Washington, located just east of Stevens Pass, a mere 4 hrs from the BC/WA border is well known for their Oktoberfest activities, which happen over 3 weekends every October.  This past weekend, I went to try the beer, brats and pretzels for Oktoberfest, but I also wanted to try the wines produced by the wineries in the area.  (My…

This is the second year of the Wine Campus at Okanagan Crush Pad.  The wine campus is a program to foster the education of professionals in the wine industry. Okanagan Crush Pad makes an annual donation of $5,000 to the BC Hospitality Foundation (BCHF) which goes toward a scholarship for students enrolled in a recognized and accredited wine program with…

Bartier Scholefield‘s slogan is “Wine is Narrative“, which I agree it is, at least maybe for boutique wineries, sourcing grapes from a small region.  In my previous article, BC Has a Wine Story, I talked about the story that wine tells through the terroir that the vines were planted and the grapes ripened. Bartier Scholefield’s story comes from the Summerland…