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From the desk of John Schreiner:
California is keeping its wines on Canadian tables
This spring’s California wine tour is, remarkably, the 30th annual tour to major Canadian cities by a throng of California producers.
The wines I discovered at Taste BC 2010
The British Columbia wine industry never gets dull. As usual, there were producers at this year’s Taste BC (a tasting organized by Liberty Wine Merchants) that were new to most of those attending.
Ladies who shoot their lunch, and other wines
Bob Downing, the owner of Downing Estate Vineyard, is just about the last Australian winemaker I ever expected to see showing his wines in Vancouver.
The irrepressible Jane Ferrari and the wines of Yalumba
In a 1985 book, James Halliday, the leading Australian wine writer, showed concern that Yalumba would be eaten up by the tide of corporate takeover.
Zinfandel
Zinfandel producer Camille Seghesio, a principal in California’s Seghesio Family Vineyards, has a clever phrase about the origin of the grape, considering that her grandfather came from Italy.
The many tastes of Italy
For those who have not been to Italy recently, this year’s Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival – where Italy was the theme region – was full of surprises.
Stag's Hollow raises its profile
This year, I have seen more individual Okanagan wineries host tastings in Vancouver than in previous years.
Perhaps it is the economy. With wine tourism a bit soft, restaurant orders slow and internet wine sales down, wineries have to work harder. If the mountain won’t come to Mohammed, as the old saying has it, then Mohammed has to go to the mountain.
Gallo veteran does another Canadian show-and-tell
Carmen Castorina is something of a rare figure in the American wine industry.
Travels in wine country: Argentina comes to our doorstep
The venerable Bodegas Santa Ana was on my itinerary during a tour of Argentine wineries last spring but in the crush of subsequent events, I never wrote the profile.
Italy sets out to impress us with its top wines
The most outstanding of Italian wine producers are members of an organization called Istituto Del Vino Italiano Di Qualita – a Grandi Marchi.
Portuguese wines get a sales push
Currently, British Columbia’s Liquor Distribution Branch has 122 Portugal wines on its list. If the current push by the Portuguese producers succeeds, there soon will be more.
Australia wines are getting a new image
A recent report in the British newspaper, The Telegraph, noted that Australian wine exports “collapsed” last year – the first drop in 15 years.
New wineries to discover: Beaumont Family Estate Winery
Beaumont is the latest Okanagan winery to position itself as a producer of organic wines exclusively, a niche of rising importance.
Yes, there is a Port for any storm
Here is a bit of wisdom from Rupert Symington, the joint managing director of the Symington family’s Port empire: “In times like these, you will find a lot of comfort in a glass of vintage Port at the end of the day.”
New wineries to discover: Clos du Soleil
The first in an occasional series on British Columbia's newest wineries
There is a very good chance that you will be challenged to find the first releases from this new Similkameen winery because less than 100 cases has been released of each of the winery’s two wines.
Chile's Aurelio Montes impresses Vancouver
In a recent whirlwind of tastings, Aurelio Montes, the superstar of Chilean winemaking,
raised his profile in the Vancouver wine market.
Travels in wine country - Riesling Renaissance
Flanked by vineyard-draped slopes, the ruins of Schloss Ehrenfels still
tower over the narrowest neck on the Rhine, just downstream from the
wine community of Rüdesheim.
Travels in Argentina: Trapiche Winery
Nearly 150 years old, Trapiche is another of those great Argentine producers
that has moved
from family ownership to corporate ownership.
Nine British Columbia wineries garner 10 Lieutenant Governor's
Awards of Excellence in the 2008 Competition
The Lieutenant Governor's Awards of Excellence in British Columbia might just be
the toughest wine competition in B.C..
Travels in Argentine Wine Country: Bodegas Pascual Toso
There is hardly a meal in Argentina that does not begin with an empanada,
a savoury pastry usually filled with spicy ground meat.
Joie's 2007 wines were the first made in the new winery
While getting ready to build a winery of their own, winemakers Heidi Noble and
Michael Dinn made the first three vintages of Joie's wine at nearby wineries in the
Pentiction area.
Travels in Argentine Wine Country: Trivento Bodegas y Viñedos
This winery’s name translates loosely as “three winds” – a name inspired
by the different winds that sweep across the vineyards of Mendoza
throughout the year and are part of the viticultural cycle.
Travels in Argentine wine country: Bodegas Valentin Bianchi
One surprise in Mendoza, the capital of Argentina’s wine region, is
how many Italian restaurants there are, and how authentic the cuisine is.
Remembering Fraser Valley wine pioneer Claude Violet
The British Columbia wine industry has lost Claude Violet, the founder
(with his wife Inge) of Langley’s Domaine de Chaberton Estate Winery,
the first winery in the Fraser Valley.
Tenuta Dell' Ornellaia at 20, more or less
When the wine is Italian and the winemaker is German, there has to be a story.
Travels in Argentine Wine Country: Bodegas O. Fournier
Built on a hilltop with a view of the Andes, the O. Fournier winery looks like a vast
landing pad for visitors from outer space.
David Mirassou discovers Canada
At 38, David Mirassou, the sixth generation of California’s oldest wine-growing
family, visited Canada for the first time last month to raise the
profile of Mirassou Winery.
Travels in Argentina wine country: Finca Flichman
How do they do it? Finca Flichman’s wines in British Columbia include a tasty
Malbec that sells for only $10.
Travels in Argentina wine country: Bodega Norton
The highway through the Andes from Mendoza, Argentina's wine capital, to
Santiago in Chile is a marvel of engineering as well as an exceptionally scenic drive.
The many tastes of Italy
For those who have not been to Italy recently, this year's Vancouver Playhouse
International Wine Festival - where Italy was the theme region - was full of surprises.
Wines that are fit for kings
I finally have the answer when asked what wine I would take to that proverbial
desert island: the mahogany case that houses the Primum Familaie Vini
Collection of fine wines.
Light Wine or is it déjà-vu all over again?
A Spanish winery, Bodegas Casa de la Ermita, is trumpeting that it has spent
2.5 million Euros to develop a light wine that goes easy on the calories.
A Cognac as elegant as Carla Bruni
One of the best ways of dealing with envy is focussing on what you have
rather than what someone else has.
Deep Creek Estate breaks the sound barrier
Walter Huber has become the first Okanagan vintner to put out a price list for
his Peachland winery, Deep Creek Wine Estates, that is liberally
peppered with wines over $100.
Brilliant packaging propels the sales of Voga wines
Last year, British wine writer Jancis Robinson delivered a furious rant on her
website against synthetic corks.
When do wine consumers get to benefit from the strong dollar?
Pity the people who run Chapters/Indigo, among other Canadian retailers.
Ever since the Canadian dollar began to soar, everyone has been beating on
them to get their prices down on imported products.
The Torres Family: winemakers in two hemispheres
A jet-lagged Miguel Torres Jr. breezed through Vancouver recently for just a
single day, but to host an extraordinary tasting of the wines his family makes in
Spain, in Chile and in California.
Le Gavroche’s Manuel Ferreira will run Tinhorn Creek’s new restaurant
Tinhorn Creek winemaker Sandra Oldfield has launched all of the four vintages of
her flagship Oldfield’s Collection Merlot with hot-ticket winemaker dinners at
Vancouver’s Le Gavroche restaurant.
Now, the relationship between Tinhorn Creek and La Gavroche owner
Manual Ferreira is deepening.
The longevity of Peter Lehmann’s “everyday drinking” Shiraz
Australian winemaker Peter Lehmann has been making Shiraz in the Barossa Valley
for the best part of three decades.
Penfolds wine collectors get the white glove treatment
A high quality wine cork should last an average of 20 or 25 years before it needs
to be replaced.
Glenterra Vineyards: a gem in the Cowichan Valley
West Vancouver’s storied Park Royal Hotel, which was demolished a couple
of years ago, lives on at the Glenterra winery on Cobble Hill Road
in the Cowichan Valley.
Are B.C. wine prices getting too high?
During a recent radio phone-in show where I fielded wine questions, three
callers within a 20-minute period complained about the rising price
of British Columbia wines.
Barbara Philip becomes Canada's first Master of Wine
Vancouver sommelier and wine educator Barbara Philip has become the
second Canadian, and the first Canadian woman, to become a Master of Wine.
Australia wineries are returning for another Canadian tour
The huge success of Australian wine in export markets comes with an
Achilles’ heel: because so much of the volume depends upon [yellow tail]® and
clones, there is a perception that Australian wine is boring.
Prospect Winery emerges from Mission Hill
The most storied Chardonnay from the Okanagan was Mission Hill's 1992,
first made here by winemaker John Simes.
Chile's Caliterra's new wines are aimed at the pricing sweet spot
In the next few months, the Chilean producer, Caliterra, will launch a new
line of wines designed to move it upmarket.
Lessons learned by revisiting the 1997 Oculus
While working on the review of the 2004 Oculus, Mission Hill’s flagship
Bordeaux red, I discovered a bottle of the 1997 Oculus in my cellar
and decided to share it with dinner guests.
Mission Hill rolls out Occulus 2004
The flagship red from Mission Hill, the 2004 Oculus, is being released on
September 1 at $70 a bottle, making it the highest priced icon wine currently
from any Okanagan winery.
The Lieutenant Governor's top ten B.C. wines in 2006
Iona Campagnolo will complete her term as British Columbia’s Lieutenant
Governor next month, having served with great distinction and having done a
great deal to burnish the reputation of British Columbia.
James Mariani, Castello Banfi
Castello Banfi: how an American family created an Italian star
In the 1970s, when Baby Duck became Canada’s best-selling wine,
Americans were guzzling a comparable Italian sweet fizzy red called Lambrusco.
Osoyoos Larose's Grand Vin gets a little sister
The winemaking tradition of Bordeaux’s chateaus was turned on its head
when Osoyoos Larose launched its first wine in 2001.
Quails’ Gate releases a killer rosé and four good summer white wines
Last fall, Quails’ Gate winemaker Grant Stanley found himself confronted
with several tons of Gamay Noir grapes from a new vineyard that
Quails’ Gate had taken control over.
Seven Stones is the newest Similkameen Winery
The Similkameen Valley has become a more compelling wine tour destination
this spring with the opening during the May long weekend of the Seven Stones Winery.
That brings the number of wineries to six, with a seventh due to open next year.
The third release from Joie Wines is an exciting quintette
In their first two vintages, Heidi Noble and Michael Dinn of Joie Wines released
just two whites and one rosé – and won acclaim for them all.
Blasted Church adds a second winemaker as it plans for growth
Once the victim of incredibly bad luck with its winemakers,
Blasted Church Vineyards made itself bullet proof this spring by adding
a second winemaker to the team in the cellar.
Canada’s first Carmenère is released in British Columbia
The Okanagan’s Black Hills Estate Winery created a sensation this spring by
releasing, very quietly, the first varietal red wine made from the Carmenère grape.
Vincor goes for the gold rings
Vincor Canada has scored a sponsorship deal with the Vancouver Olympic
Organizing committee that will enable it to show off its wines not only at the
2010 winter Olympics but also at the summer games in Beijing in 2008
and in London in 2012.
Here's a Merlot for all seasons
It has been reported that roast beef, not turkey, is the preferred holiday
cuisine for many people.
If you are in the beef crowd, I have a red wine from the Napa Valley for you,
one that tastes like a special holiday wine but at a reasonable price.
An Icewine Vintage for the record books
The sharp blast of cold weather across British Columbia this week has
delivered what will surely be one of this province’s greatest icewine vintages.
So you want to drink Malbec for a change?
In the British Columbia wine market, sales of Argentinean wines
are suddenly on a tear.
Jackson-Triggs Winemaker Bruce Nicholson returns to Ontario
after 20 years in British Columbia
In a decision that sent shockwaves through British Columbia’s wine industry,
Bruce Nicholson this week announced that he is becoming the senior winemaker
at Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Inniskillin winery.
Andrés Wines has a VQA empire in British Columbia
and soon, a new name
Founded in British Columbia in 1961, Andrés Wines now is a national
wine company and is Canada’s largest domestically-owned wine producer now that Vincor is American-owned.
Next month, the company will ask its shareholders to approve a name change
to Andrew Peller Ltd. He was the founder of the company now run by his grandson.
He named it Andrés 45 years ago for two reasons: it was close to his given name of
Andras in its Hungarian original; and he thought the name’s French sommelier
ring was good marketing.
Currently, there are 16 wineries operating along or just off the Naramata Road,
an average of one winery for each kilometre from Penticton to Naramata.
At least six others are under development.
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