Tag: viognier

I knew nothing about Ontario’s Big Head Wines until it was suggested to me to visit by Talia Mendelsohn from the Bacchus Group Inc. in Toronto, but this winery in particular truly impressed me with their wines and their winemaking methods.  If you ever get a chance to visit the Niagara region, do not miss visiting Big Head Wines. The…

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…

In the late Fall, I interviewed a few BC winemakers about their 2022 harvest, but the wines were still fermenting in tanks, barrels or other vessels.  The winemakers sounded optimistic, thanks to the warm Fall weather.  But how would the wines taste?  This we explored with the following winemakers at the BC Vintage 2022 media preview: Laurent Fadanni, Whispering Horse…

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…

In my previous article, I posted The 2023 British Columbia Lieutenant Governor’s Wine Awards results. But that is just a list.  I was curious to dig deeper into the awards and find out which grape varieties were the most popular.  Here is a data analysis of the results from the Platinum, Gold, and Silver awards combined. We are a cool…

It has been four years since I last attended Taste Washington in Seattle.  COVID shut down the event, but now Taste Washington is back and maybe even better.  This is the event where you can taste the wide variety of wines made across Washington state, without having to drive yourself.  Winery focus seems to have changed.  During my tasting time,…

March 8 is officially International Women’s Day.  The Côtes du Rhône and Côtes du Rhône Villages AOCs in the south of France put out this press release to show what women are doing in all aspects of grape growing, wine production, and sales in their AOCs.  We too in BC have women working in our wine industry.  It is great…

This was the first Swirl Around BC trade tasting since the COVID lockdown where you could actually walk around tables, talk to winery principals and have them pour their wines for you.  Earlier in the day, I attended the Masterclass on Expressions of People, Place and Time.  It was quite informative and attendees were able to taste BC wines from…

As I was out in the Okanagan in September visiting a few wineries, I took a few pictures of different grape varieties. We all know the names of different grapes, but what do they look like? Did you know that ripe Pinot Gris skins are not yellow? As they mature they turn a pinkish brown and then purple colour. Below…

Canadian Thanksgiving is on Monday, October 10, 2022.  You may be making a list of ingredients to buy for your Thanksgiving dinner.  A traditional / historical dinner with turkey or ham, brussel sprouts, yam, and mashed potatoes with gravy.  Or you may go other ways with roast beef, salmon, Beyond Meat, or other meat substitutes.  I like to think of…