I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve written about John Schreiner’s ‘latest’ book. But over the years there have been more than a few. I have to chuckle as I still recall John’s ‘retirement’ party, when he wrapped up his career with the Financial Post. Since then we’ve become friends and colleagues, often judging on the same panels and travelling together on more than a few occasions.
Nobody is as thorough as John, who has always brought the discipline of being an ‘old school’ reporter to the world of wine tasting. Back in the day (six months ago) when we could still go to tastings, you would find him making meticulous notes on every wine. Hopefully those days will return in the not too distant future. We can dream …
Now comes The Okanagan Wine Tour Guide
It’s Updated & Expanded—in reference to the fact that the last comprehensive tome was published six years ago. However, I should point out that this time around it’s not solely Schreiner’s book . He has collaborated with wine instructor, author and podcaster Luke Whittall—who recently wrote his own book about BC wine. In fact John does say that this book is indeed his ‘final wine book.’ Nonetheless, I do have it on good authority that he’s working on his memoirs.
Nobody else has covered the BC industry as much as John Schreiner. “I visited my first BC winery in 1974—Andres at Port Moody,” he says. “I started visiting the Okanagan the following year, mostly going to Calona and Casabello. I was never in Mission Hill before 1981 because the winery was staggering from one receivership to another…”
“It was rare to get a decent red wine in the 1980s,” he recalls. For example, “At one competition, we gave a gold medal to a Foch made by Calona. We did not know the wine was unstable because the backroom crew kept opening bottles to find a few not re-fermenting. Subsequently, the gold medal wines were served at a dinner for the Queen. There was fizzy Foch all over the place.”
Okanagan & Beyond
The first thing that strikes you about The Okanagan Wine Tour Guide is it’s a tad heftier. My hunch is it’s the plumpest Schreiner paperback so far. (But it will still fit in your glove box). There’s good reason, as this book—his 16th on BC wine—delivers more than ‘just’ the Okanagan. Specifically, it actually includes all the interior BC wineries, from the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys, to the Thompson Valley, Shuswap, Kootenays—and Lillooet.
Consequently, assembled here are no less than 240 wineries (up from around 180 in the last edition). Throughout, as always, the material is current and detail driven. In light of this I’m guessing one of the biggest challenges was to keep the length down for each entry. In other words, Jackson Triggs Okanagan/Sunrock gets the same space as Harper’s Trail or Lariana Cellars.
Wine Tours by Region
Thompson Valley
As the title suggests, the book unfolds in a logical manner, so that you may organize your tour by region. That’s critical, as anyone who’s tried to organize a tour of the Okanagan or elsewhere knows. The winery profiles are comprehensive and factual. But they also manage to convey the personal connections that define the wine industry. As a result, most of the images are of people rather than place. To wrap it up, the authors share their favourite tastes—good info to have before making your visit. Every winery mentioned (except for the eight ‘virtual’ entries) is also shown on the map for each region, on the inside covers.
In conclusion, there’s no time like the present to head off to the Okanagan, making the most of these still-warm days before the snow flies. And there’s arguably no better companion to take along than Messrs. Schreiner and Whittall’s ‘latest.’
The Okanagan Wine Tour Guide, Updated & Expanded, by John Scheiner & Luke Whittall, Touchwood Editions, $25.
P.S. For a quick rundown on some cool or convenient places to stay, check out my latest for Wines of British Columbia! #BCGrapeHarvest
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