Tag: Nk’Mip Cellars

Did you know that Nk’Mip Cellars is North America’s first Indigenous-owned winery?  An enterprise of the Osoyoos Indian Band, the winery’s core identity is linked to the land, its Syilx heritage, and a mission to express its culture through internationally award-winning wines. The winery’s mission is to express its cultural identity and history in every aspect of its operation and…

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…

I received an email from an agency with wine suggestions for Valentine’s Day. I picked three from their list that are from BC and available through BC Liquor Stores. The wine descriptions below come from the agency. ~~~ The Inniskillin Okanagan Pinot Noir is perfect for a classy candlelight dinner for two. This is a silky medium-bodied red with cherry…

We all like to receive awards.  Knowing that we are good, or the best at something.  Fastest runner at the 100-yard dash, smartest in math, etc. when we are in school.  Then industry awards when we go to work.  There are many wine awards around the world, but for Canadian wineries, being recognized by a local agency, like WineAlign, means…

I tasted through many years this year through Trade tastings with agents and BC VQA wineries, the Vancouver International Wine Festival, visits to wineries, and personal purchases.  I rate all the wines I taste from 1 to 5 stars.  Fortunately, the quality of many wines is quite good, giving them at least a 3 out of 5-star rating.  At the…

Do you know that the Okanagan Valley gets 2 hours more sunlight per day than Napa Valley during the July and August growing season and that the Okanagan is warmer and more arid than Napa?  We should be able to get great ripe fruit, but as well as the Okanagan being a desert climate, we also get cool evenings allowing…

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…