Tag: pinot blanc

The ship has sailed and I am halfway through this trip on the Rhine River with Avalon Waterways.  I saw many steeply sloped vineyards yesterday south of Koblenz as well as a few castles perched on hillsides. Today we passed by Heidelberg.  Here are my tasting notes for a few more wines I enjoyed during my dinners.  I have been…

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…

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…

With recent wins at the IWSC in London, the All Canadian Wine Championships, and WineAlign National Awards, Evolve Sparkling House is turning heads as Canada’s top sparkling producer. Located at the same latitude as the famed Champagne region in France, the Okanagan Valley provides ideal conditions with long sunny days balanced by cool nights, that yield grapes perfect for sparkling…

TIME Family of Wines has evolved since 2020 when Ron and Shelley Mayert became the owners.  Evolve Sparkling House is one of the labels under the TIME Family of Wines umbrella. Their aim is to ensure growth of the established business and reputation which has been carried by the McWatters family for decades. I received three sparkling and one still…

Recently VinsAlsace visited Vancouver and brought a range of their Alsatian wines from sparkling, light-bodied and dry wines to full-body, thicker, rich-flavoured wines. They wanted to let us know in this Trade tasting that the variation in the rocks and soil brings different personalities to their wines.  The soils are quite varied with granite, limestone, marl-limestone, clay-marl, marl-limestone-sandstone, sandstone, volcanic,…

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…

2023 was a tough year for Okanagan wineries.  Not because of forest fires, but because of the cold winter weather that killed between 34 – 56% of the vineyard vines.  The growing season was quite warm and resulted in general with faster grape maturation and harvest.  A quick harvest due to summer heat typically means that the grapes are not…

Crémant is a category of sparkling wines in France made using the same traditional method as Champagne but produced outside the Champagne region. This delightful bubbly offers a high-quality, often more affordable alternative to its famous counterpart while showcasing the unique characteristics of various French wine regions. Like Champagne, Crémant can also be white or rosé in colour. What is…

Did you know that Monday, August 7, 2023, is BC Day? On this day, which I assume will be wonderfully sunny, would be great to celebrate with a bottle(s) of BC wine. I have two sparkling wines from Hester Creek Estate Winery that are great on the patio with nibbles as I tried it out myself. I have their Hester…