Terravista Vineyards Figaro label portrays a dancing, glass art figurine—and captures the essence of these vibrant blends One of the more intriguing winners in this year’s Lieutenant Governor Awards line-up is the well crafted, southern Rhone inspired Road 13 Jackpot White 2011, which artfully blends Viognier, Roussanne and Marsanne (mainly from Similkameen) for [...]
Harper's Trail vineyard last January, Tim Pawsey photo A few years ago, we went on a back country drive near Ashcroft that followed a route past the Logan Lake mine— so huge that it can be seen from space. I remember looking at the barren but almost terraced slopes thinking that, once returned [...]
Sea Cider: a wide range of styles, Tim Pawsey photo My first encounter with real cider happened at a relatively youg age. Not long after my 16th birthday, in a misguided attempt to beat the summer heat, I downed an ice cold pint of draught Somerset scrumpy—which was probably around 8 percent ABV, [...]
Nova Scotia L'Acadie Brut: now you can bring it to BC by the case without paying the LDB markup, Tim Pawsey photo It’s fascinating to watch the rapidly unfolding machinations surrounding today’s announcement that BC will now allow its residents to bring in wine from other provinces free of the usual BC mark-up—as long as [...]
Winning wines, from one of the year's toughest contests: celebrating BC's best, Tim Pawsey photo This week’s announcement of winners of the Lieutenant Governor’s Awards for Excellence in British Columbia Wines marks ten years since the competition’s inception. Check out the Government House website and you can track the winners over that [...]
Smart decor, covered patio, Golden Mile vista. Works for me... TP photo Beyond test driving our Zagat equipped Acura, the main reason for last week’s Okanagan swing was to take in the Vinos and check out Black Hills snappy new tasting room—aka Black Hills Wine Experience Centre. Black Hills president Glenn Fawcett, [...]
I started my recent wine tour of the Okanagan Valley a little early, right in Vancouver, to be precise. This time I left behind my own car in favour of a swish, spacious and sporty, titanium 2013 Acura RDX Tech, courtesy of Acura Canada—just like the one in The Avengers! Aside from [...]
Grant Stanley: one of the Okanagan's best One of our favourite tastings of the year is an action packed hour or so spent with Quails Gate winemaker Grant Stanley. We’ll get to the wines shortly but much of my enthusiasm stems from the fact that Grant—aside from being a superb winemaker and one [...]
Okanagan Crush Pad continues to add to its burgeoning winery empire, last week welcoming a flock of chickens to the team. In true Crush Pad style, the dozen or so Rhode Island Reds (with more to come) are housed in what may well be the most impressive chicken coop we’ve seen in years, complete [...]
If wine is about place, chances are what’s in your glass (aside from—hopefully—tasting good) may also rekindle memories. My tasting last week with the folks from Vins de Provence did just that, as it transported me back several years to an unexpected four-day stopover in and around Aix-en-Provence, during which I was able [...]