Tag: VQA

The holidays are a time when many of us get together with family or friends to enjoy a meal together; hopefully with a glass of wine.  Here are a few last-minute suggestions of wines you can pair with traditional dishes for the holidays.  Enjoy. Wine Pairings for Roast Turkey – Chardonnay: A lightly oaked Chardonnay complements the rich flavours of…

I have two BC wines for you today.  One is from Mayhem Wines in the Okanagan Valley and the other from the Robin Ridge Winery in the Similkameen Valley.  I thought these two wines may show off some fresh BC fruit flavours and go well with holiday get-togethers.  Let me tell you about them. My Wine Tasting Notes Mayhem Wines…

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…

When you visit Da Silva Vineyards & Winery on the Naramata Bench, it feels like you are transported to Portugal.  The tasting room is beautiful, with bone-white walls and chandeliers, giving off a European feel.  The wines are equally special.  Richard and Twylla da Silva own the winery, with Richard coming from a Portuguese background. The names of some of…

Today’s visit on my Naramata Bench trip gave me a bonus.  Besides tasting wine, I also enjoyed some cheese pairings.  Upper Bench Estate Winery & Creamery is the place to go as they make their own cheeses, which you can also buy.  Yes, I bought cheese to take home.  I spoke with Josh Edwards, their winemaker, before tasting the wines. …

Little Farm Winery is a small production winery located in the Similkameen Valley run by Rhys Pender MW and Alishan Driediger.  Their wines are low / no intervention from start to finish.  They use wild yeast, neutral barrel, lees ageing and little to no fining or filtering when the wines are bottled.  I received two bottles of their Chardonnay.  One…

During my week-long trip to Penticton, I took a one-day side trip to Kelowna to see the Farmer’s Market and to visit Spearhead Winery. I’ve been a fan of their Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines for many years. They recently received recognition as WineAlign 2024’s Best Performing Small Winery. I also appreciate the winemaking skill of Grant Stanley who was…

The first official Naramata Bench winery I visited on my weekend trip to the Okanagan was Bench 1775 Winery. This winery has gone through a few transformations.  I will let the winery tell you their story, in their own words, “Bench 1775 (formerly known as Paradise Ranch Wines Corp.) is one of the only two Okanagan Wineries producing icewine and…

The second winery on the Naramata Bench I visited was Howling Bluff Estate Winery.  This is a small family-run winery, starting with the land purchase in 2003, that specializes in Pinot Noir wines, although they also produce other quality wines. I met with co-owner and winemaker, Luke Smith, sitting at the tasting room patio, where we chatted about the latest…

The Fall release of BC VQA wines was in late September.  Due to skytrain issues getting to the venue, I did not have as much time to taste the new wine releases, so I concentrated on white wines.  There were also red wines, but not enough time to taste.  There are a few sparkling wines on this list, which you…