Tag: chardonnay

What BC wine would you have with a sechetti (parachute) pasta stuffed with ground chicken and bacon, served in a creamy rosé sauce?  One option is a Rose wine, but another valid option would be a Chardonnay.  Today I had this pasta dish with a glass of Lillooet’s Fort Berens Estate Winery Chardonnay 2025.  Fort Beren’s wines are now certified…

I have been interviewing Ontario winery principals for many years about their harvest and the growing season.  Weather and growing conditions can vary widely from year to year.  For my Ontario Chardonnay Review I tried to get wines that were from one or two growing seasons.  Most of the wines I received came from 2023 and 2024, with a few…

Soil is one of the important factors influencing the aromas and flavours produced by wine grapes.  For my Ontario Chardonnay Review, I checked with the Government of Canada National Soil Database (NSDB) Soils of Ontario to determine the soil types associated with each of the Ontario wineries that provided their bottle(s) of Chardonnay.  Using the free, open source, computer mapping…

The last Chardonnay to review for my Ontario Chardonnay Review is a sparkling wine made by  Drea’s Wine Co. which produces small batch, single vineyard, low intervention wines.  Drea’s wines are certified by Sustainable Winegrowing Ontario.  I really enjoyed tasting Drea’s Cabernet Franc wines when I undertook my Ontario Cabernet Franc Review last year.  Let me tell you about the latest…

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I received four bottles of different Chardonnay produced by Ontario’s Henry of Pelham winery.  I previously tasted their more entry level wines: Henry of Pelham Family Estate Classic Chardonnay 2025 and Speck Brothers Family Tree “The Goat Lady” Chardonnay 2023.  These wines were under screwcap.  The next two wines that I just tasted…

The FIFA World Cup starts June 11, 2026, with Canada’s first game on June 12th against Bosnia and Herzegovina.  As we play and win games, which sparkling wine will you be drinking to celebrate our wins? Champagne Taittinger has been awarded the Official Champagne of the FIFA World Cup 2026.  Their special edition FIFA Brut Reserve Champagne is available across…

Ontario’s Dobbin Estate Winery does not talk a lot about itself.  It lets their wines do the talking.   Last year I tasted their Dobbin Estate Cabernet Blend 2020, which I rated as one of my top wines for 2025.  They are located on the highly acclaimed Twenty Mile Bench, and they note their calcium-rich soils are ideal for producing Chardonnay,…

Blue Grouse Estate Winery from Vancouver Island has changed hands a few times.  The latest owners are the second and third-generation Jackson family (California) members Katie Jackson, Julia Jackson, Chris Jackson, Hailey Jackson-Hartford Murray, and MacLean Hartford.  The family sees tremendous potential in Cowichan’s cool-climate maritime winegrowing region and plans to embolden the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines.  I have…

I received three vintages of Chardonnay from Ontario’s Wending Home Estate Vineyards & Winery as part of my Ontario Chardonnay Review.  I reviewed the 2020 and 2021 vintages previously (see article), and today I am reviewing their 2023 vintage.  Without further delay, here are my tasting notes for this wine. My Wine Tasting Note Wending Home Estate Vineyards & Winery…

Last year I was tasting through Ontario Cabernet Franc wines, and I adored the wines from Wending Home Estate Vineyards & Winery Estate Vineyard, so I had great expectations when I received Chardonnay wines to review as part of my Ontario Chardonnay Review study.  I was not disappointed.  These are excellent wines.  In case you wanted to know about the…