Tag: VQA

It was truly a sad day in the BC wine community yesterday, July 23, 2019, when we were all shocked by the sudden passing of Harry McWatters.  A pioneer who helped lead the wine for quality BC wine.  I met with Harry casually during the Vancouver International Wine Festivals, where he was always busy, but always smiling.  I had a…

Riesling, Pinot Gris and Viognier were prominent in this BC VQA Spring wine release tasting.  It is not surprising as white wine releases are more common in the Spring while more red wines are released in the Fall.  Viognier though I think made a bigger showing this year than in past years, and showed well.  Lots of fruit flavour and…

As BC is large with a cooler coastal climate and a hotter, drier interior, our yearly vintages can cover a range from marginal to exceptional.  Luckily we have been closer to the exceptional end of the vintage spectrum these last years.  How was the 2018 vintage?  I attended a media preview of the 2018 vintage and had 4 winemakers from…

It is the Easter weekend for many people around the world, and besides the religious celebrations, enjoying meals with family and friends is also a big part.  The BC VQA Spring wine release kicked off this week, but the wines may not yet be at your local bottle shop or BC Liquor Store.  Here are 5 BC VQA wines that…

I did not know much about Gold Hill Winery other than tasting their wines on occasion at various events in Vancouver. I received some of their wines to taste and write about, so I delved into their website to find out more about them. From their website, Gold Hill Winery opened in 2009 by brothers Sant and Gurbachan Gill, are originally…

  TIME Winery has had some changes over the past year.  The biggest is their new winery located in downtown Penticton, where you can taste and buy their wines, but as well enjoy some food at their restaurant.  Congratulations to Harry McWatters for opening his new winery and restaurant space.  Another new news item that is going to affect this…

BC VQA wines are released twice a year; once in the Fall and then in the Spring.  The Fall wines tend to show more white wines, as well as Pinot Noir, while the Spring event has more red wines.  This tasting I was able to taste many fine white wines as well as some surprising reds.  The Okanagan Valley is…

Creston, BC is probably not what you first think of when someone mentions a grape growing and wine-producing region in BC. But it is. And it has a long history of orchard fruit production.  I found this out on my recent trip to the interior.  I knew that the Baillie-Grohman Estate Winery is located in Creston, and I know they produce very good…

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…

If you are familiar with BC wines at all, you should know of Sandra Oldfield and the winery she helped start with her husband Kenn Oldfield and friends Barb and Bob Shaunessy, called Tinhorn Creek in Oliver in 1993 and first vintage in 1994. This year, 24 years later, life changed for Sandra and Kenn when Tinhorn Creek was sold…