Tag: Naramata Bench

Here are my last two white aromatic BC wines for a while.  The clouds and rain have convinced me that the upcoming wines that I will taste should be red.  The two white wines I have for you are the Township 7 Provenance Series 7 Blanc 2022 and Provenance Series Pinot Gris 2022.  Both wines have grapes coming from the…

Beautiful and elegant are two words that I would use to describe the two Chardonnay wines that I received from Spearhead Winery in the Okanagan. Winemaker, Grant Stanley, has outdone himself with such excellent wines. One wine is from grapes from their Saddle Block estate vineyard, with a mix of Chardonnay clones 76, 95, and 548, and the other is…

In BC we relatively quickly learned that cooler climate grapes, like Riesling, did better in the north Okanagan, and warmer climate grapes, like Syrah, did better in the south Okanagan.  Similarly cooler climate grape varieties in the Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island.  And more.  But we have had a few decades now to further refine these generalized grape growing regions…

These are the first wines that I’ve opened since the Vancouver International Wine Festival 2022. Sometimes you need a short break from tasting wine after you taste a lot of wine. The two wines I tasted are from Singletree Winery.  They started off in the Fraser Valley but have expanded out into the Naramata Bench.  The two wines I tasted…

Aasha Wines from the Naramata Bench says that “Every bottle tells a story“. I am interested to taste their wines, learn more about their story, and tell you about it. Aasha Wines is a new winery for me. I had not heard of them until this month.  They sent me over their “3 Bottle Winter Mixed Case” to review; a…

I checked the 7-day weather forecast for Vancouver, and it is RAIN every day. So time for me to open a big red wine. In this case, I opened the Upper Bench Estate Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2017. It is 4 years old already and has many years left in it. This wine does have 5% Merlot in the blend to…

I have two organically farmed Pinot Gris from Roche Wines, both coming from their Kozier Organic Vineyard located north of their winery on the Naramata Bench. Their 2018 Tradition Pinot Gris comes under cork with a heavier glass bottle, while their 2020 Texture Pinot Gris has a lighter bottle and is under screwcap. I spoke with Dylan Roche about the…

Here I have two bigger red wines from Hillside Winery, located on the Naramata Bench. One is their Heritage Series Cabernet Franc 2017, while the other wine is their Merlot Malbec 2018. The former is under cork while the latter is screwcap. These are two good indications of whether these wines are ready to drink now or can benefit from…

BC has a favourable climate for aromatic white grapes, such as Gewurztraminer and Viognier. I received a sample of Hillside Winery‘s Heritage Series wines to review, with two of them being from these aromatic varieties.  Their Heritage series wines are meant to showcase the nuanced flavours and elegant styles of the Naramata Bench. I see a label refresh for the…

Would you like to help the BC Hospitality Foundation, who helps hospitality workers facing financial crisis due to a health condition?  Why not buy these two wines from Coolshanagh Wines on the north end of the Naramata Bench?  $10 per case of these wines sold from now till the end of May go to the BCHF.   Coolshanagh’s vineyard was…