Retrunking Vines: Solvero’s Path to Recovery

As you might already be aware, the Okanagan Valley has faced two devastating winters back-to-back, and these severe cold snaps have wreaked havoc in the vineyards. A lot of vines sustained damage, some irreversible, and wineries have had to make very tough decisions about how they will move ahead. Solvero Wines, located in Garnet Valley,…

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Noble Ridge: Sparkling Wines Anytime

Any time is the right time for some bubbly and, with Autumn just days away, I am toasting the last days of summer with this trio of sparkling wines from Noble Ridge. 2019 “The Pink One” Sparkling $34.99 Made from 100% Pinot Noir, this wine had four hours of skin contact in order to achieve…

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International Rosé Day 2024

Did you know that there are three Rosé Day celebrations during the year? The first Rosé Day seems to have been established in 2005 by the good folks behind the blog Winegeek. They picked August 14th as the day to celebrate, as it is halfway to Valentine’s Day. Next, National Rosé Day was officially registered in 2014…

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Fort Berens Alluvium Series

Summer is less than a month away and if you are looking for some summer wines to have on repeat these two will fit the bill nicely. Fort Berens Estate Winery recently released their Alluvium Series wines. Fort Berens is located in Lillooet, BC and their vineyards are positioned on unique benches formed by alluvial…

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Phantom Creek Estates

April is BC Wine Month and, as some grape vines are bursting into life around the province, we are waiting to find out the exact toll that the extreme cold took on vineyards in British Columbia this past winter. I think it is safe to say that each and every winery in BC will in…

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Road 13 Vineyards: John Oliver Collection

Last March, Road 13 Vineyards introduced a new line of premium wines, called the John Oliver Collection, honouring BC’s 19th premier, John Oliver. John Oliver was born in England in 1856 and he immigrated to Ontario with his family in 1870. Seven years later the Oliver family moved to a farm in Delta, BC, where…

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Rara Avis: Fortified Haskap Wine

This week’s wine is made from haskap berries; have you heard of these before? Haskap berries were named by the indigenous Ainu people of northern Japan, and the name means many fruits on branches. Haskap berries are actually an edible, blue honeysuckle and they remind me of small, oddly-shaped Italian prune plums. The plant itself…

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High Note Estate Winery

New year, new wines! I am starting the year off with current releases from a winery that opened just last year. High Note Estate Winery is located in Naramata, BC and it was the third winery to open under the umbrella of Montalvino Wineries Inc. Although they have now secured a permanent winemaker, Caroline Schaller,…

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Fort Berens Estate Winery

Is there a place that you would love to live, far away from your current life as you know it? For me, that place is the countryside in the United Kingdom. The logistics of it though – leaving family and friends, finding a new job, getting a visa, the selling and buying of property, heck,…

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Gérard Bertrand: Côte des Roses

This week’s wines are from Gérard Bertrand, well known for their wines from the south of France. A professional rugby player, Gérard Bertrand participated in his first harvest when he was just ten years old and this is not surprising given that winemaking has been a part of his family for over a century. In…

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