Tag: Gewurztraminer

We are back to estate grown BC grapes for the 2025 vintage.  It was a great year for our wine grapes, producing a bumper crop for all vineyards.  I have two white wines from Okanagan’s Hester Creek Estate Winery; their Hester Creek Estate Winery Character White 2025, a white blend containing Gewürztraminer, Viognier, and Pinot Gris, and Hester Creek Estate…

Have you heard about the Fraser Valley‘s latest winery opening?  I attended the soft opening of Chapter Estates Winery, located in the Langley area.  They have a vineyard at the winery, plus a restaurant so you can enjoy wine and food.  A great way to have a weekday or weekend escape.  Here is some background information about the winery, my…

Alsatian wines are a vibrant expression of terroir, tradition, and typicity, where the label is a map to aromatic precision and regional pride.  Nestled between the Vosges Mountains and the Rhine River in northeastern France, Alsace is a region where geology and climate intersect to produce some of the world’s most expressive, aromatic white wines. The area is protected by…

If you visit Osoyoos and stay at the Spirit Ridge Resort or visit the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre, you will drive past Adega on 45th Estate Winery.  The winery and tasting room is at the top of a hill slope and gives you a wonderful view of Osoyoos.  The winery was recently taken over by Gate 22 Winery, which has…

I’ve been tasting a shipment of wines from Bordertown Vineyards & Estate Winery at home in Vancouver, but since I was in Osoyoos, I thought I would visit the winery and taste a few of the wines that were not sent to me.  I tried two white wines and two red wines.  Let me tell you about them. My Wine…

Sunny springtime weather will soon be upon us.  Daffodils are already blooming, as well as cherry blossoms in the Vancouver lower mainland.  So it is time to think about enjoying white wines on your patio or a restaurant patio.  I have two terrific white wines from the Okanagan’s Township 7 Winery for you.  I have the Township 7 Benchmark Series…

While I was Grinch-like in awarding 5 stars to only three wines I tasted in 2024, I was more Oprah-like with the 4.5-5 -star wines.  Plus, there are many quality wines, so it should not be a surprise.  This year there were 13 BC wines, 18 Italian wines, 4 French wines, 2 Californian wines, and 4 wines from New Zealand…

Nestled on the picturesque Naramata Bench in the Okanagan Valley, Ruby Blues Winery offers a charming blend of exceptional wines and stunning vineyard views. In 2007 Prudence and Beat Mahrer started Ruby Blues Winery, after selling Red Rooster Winery.  Their goal is to keep the winery small and sell locally. I recently received two bottles of wine from Ruby Blues…

Hillside Winery on the Naramata Bench was the last winery on my wine-tasting tour.  The founders of the winery were Vera and Bohumir Klokcka who had emigrated from Czechoslovakia in 1979, buying the property but did not plant the first grape vines till 1984.  Although no longer owners, I’m told that winemaker, Kathy Malone, still talks with Vera, who is…

My last winery visit in Okanagan Falls, before getting back to my visit to the Naramata Bench, is Blasted Church Vineyards. They have very colourful and expressive labels, with a religious bent or Renaissance theme to them, as the winery is located on Parson’s Road.   All their wines are unfined and unfiltered, so some wines may have a dull appearance…