Looking Back

Looking back I can recall my adventure into the wonderful world of wine began in 1992. My wife and I were married in Lake Tahoe on our honeymoon we traveled to Yosemite National Park. After touring the park our plan was to head back on the same road we arrived on, however that did not happen. But luckily this road led us to the Napa Valley of California. Here is where we spend the remainder of our honeymoon. What an exciting time it was!

Prior to our stay in Napa we were not huge wine drinks. In fact we seldom had alcohol in the house. But boy those wines were good. Back home I began to teach myself to create a website. It was just a fun site no special topic. However one day we decided to buy some wine at the local store. Barbara came to me with a pamphlet about BC wineries. She said "Why don't you do a website on Wine".

My wife is a good influence I took her advise and began to build a site on a free hosting service, popular at the time. I called my site Wines of the World. Here, based on a book Wine by Andre Domaine I listed all the wine regions around the world. Canada was not listed in the book. 

Once that was done I started to list all the BC wineries in the Pamphlet. Little did I know it had a number of errors. For example it listed Sandra Oldfield as winemaker at Crowsnest. Sandra began and finished her Winemaking career at Tinhorn Creek. Thankfully the winery notified me of the error.

There were no websites to Google back then. I found two books to help me, one by Tony Adler and the other by John Schreiner. I realized just how little I knew about the Canadian wine Industry. There were more wineries and more wine regions all across Canada, there was work to be done

This meant a change in my website. The Wines of the World was too big a subject to cover and we changed to Wines of Canada. I was amazed to find the domaine name was available. Our tag line Wines of Canada Challenging the World.

There was only one other website covering Canada's wine industry. I was more of a chat room than an information site. It soon disappeared. I was the only website dedicated to our wines and wineries. This last for a few years before other regional sites popped up. In 1994 I was quite excited to get thirty hits a day. Today thats a disappointing number for just one hour. 

In 94 we took our first trip to the Okanagan based mostly upon the wine route in a Pamphlet . Our first stop was Crownest Winery in the Similkameen Valley. We found the lane with a chain across it and the driveway covered in vegetation. It had been closed for sometime. The winery did re-open with new owners and are doing quite well.

Our next stop was St. Laszlo Vineyards Estate Winery our first experience with Fruit wines. Here we were warmly greeted by Joe Ritlop and enjoyed a wonderful tasting experience.

We were now off to Kelowna. Our first winery we visited in Kelowna was Mission Hill. It was perhaps the most talked about winery of the day. Although this was before its rebuild and architecture it is know for today. We took the tour. It was not the greatest experience too many people in a small space with a guide hired for the summer. I do not remember the tasting room experience. 

In 1994 Mission Hill Family Estate put the Okanagan Valley on the map by winning the International Wine & Spirit Competition in London for 'Best Chardonnay in the World' and at the time the Master of Wine Judges were in such disbelief they re-tasted all of the wines and Mission Hill won a second time. 

From Mission hill we went to Quails' Gate Estate Winery in Kelowna, in which had opened in 1989. We were impressed by the winery, the staff and the wines. 

The following day we visited Summerhill Pyramid Winery. The organic winery was opened in 1987. I do not recall if the restaurant was open on that trip. However we never miss having lunch at the winery on all our Okanagan trips.

From there we visited St Hubertus and Oak Bay Vineyards which originally planted in 1928 by J.W. Hughes during a time when good agricultural land was plentiful. Since 1984, the Gebert Family use sustainable farming practices on their 76 acre vineyard. By chance I came across Leo Gebert who gave me a tour of the winery and vineyards. Barbara was in the gift shop.

Finally we spend the evening at the Okanagan Wine Festval event in Kelowna. I remember it been crowed and the room been rather small. Here is where I first met John Schreiner who was there signing his book. It was also here we met the owners of Hainle estate winery. I was very excited about that since they were known for Ice Wine. The winery dates back to 1988 with the real story beginning in 1972, when the winery's original founder, Walter Hainle, produced North America's first icewine. 

They invited us to visit the winery which we did the next day on our way home. We had a most enjoyable time there.

So now we were home with new insights and new information. On that trip no one knew about Winesofcanada.com. But that would change by 2004 we were close to three million hits a year. By 2010 the blogger began to arrive.

We have been blessed to be Canada's number one wine website. It was a hobby perused mostly during the winter months. As we went from a handful of wineries to over 800 (counting Meaderies and Cideries) now its a daily task often without much reward.

Today we are THE website representing Canad's wine industry. We like to take about the wines, the winery and people of the wineries. Since all provinces license cideries and meaderies along with wineries we list them too. It means we have our eyes on over 800 business. It is a huge task.

We are non profit our reward is the kind words received by our many visitors and people in the industry. See More

When our budget allows we vist the wineries. We tell the story of every visit on the website. Please see Robert's Report

We do wine reviews, only on wines we have enjoyed by the glass. Robert's Selections. We do a number of Feature articles too. Please visit our sitemap

 Hospitality Its the Attitude! 

When asked the question: Who is the most important person in your business. The answer is of course the customer. In most cases you are relaying on the continuous support of the customer and the reference they may provide for your business. The easy part of building a successful business is to get the customer to enter your establishment the first time. The hardest part is to get them to return. If you are like the average company, up to 40% of your customers walk out the door and never come back. What's worse, the "average" business is totally oblivious to their actual churn rate—so they do nothing to correct the problem 

The number one reason people fail to return to a business is related to attitude. The attitude of indifference from the individual(s) who they encounter. To repeat that the number one reason for lost customers is the attitude. A poor attitude, poor service, disinterest service is the number one reason a customer does not return. When someone is happy with the services provide by a company the chances of them telling someone are less than 10% if they are unhappy the chances of them telling someone are over 80% the changes of them telling multiple people over 65% 

So if you ask your employees who the most important person in the company is; the answer is me. Me referring to each individual employee. Me because it is each personal individual attitude that determines the success of the business. 

Since I spent over 25 years in the hospitality business including writing a super host training program and at one time owned two restaurants I am very critical of the standards of service I receive in any business. I have had a few bad experiences as a customer dealing with improperly trained employees and management people. I'll never eat again at Boston Pizza.

There are other ways besides direct contact with a poor attitude that can also result in a business losing customers. Included here; not respond to inquiries either by phone, email or letters,or keep customers, investors, media and stakeholders updated. Today your online presence is also a key factor. Respect those who support your business.

The Wineries:

It is not often that I experience a bad or unsatisfying visit to a winery. But it does happen.

I can recall waiting twenty minutes for the winery to open after the stated time on the door.

Ive been told I can't offer you more than four tasting because its against the law. It is not.

(I spit sometimes). Ive been told a wine listed on their tasting menu will not be tasted because we don't want to open a new bottle. Ive even been subjected to a lecture on how good German wines are. What your working for a BC winery not Germany. O yes we have been ignored too and on a couple of occasions found the winery door open but no one around. 

Perhaps what irritates me the most is when your tasting room host is paying attention to you until some else comes in, be it a regular or a friends and suddenly your forgotten about. The host must have the ability to include everyone. 

At one respected winery restaurant our waitress seemed to disappear after the main meal was served. When she finally returned she said "Oh I forgot about you" 

I do not request any special treatment when visiting a winery. In fact I prefer just to walk in and see how good or indifferent their hospitality is on a first time visit. 

Where I have more of a concern for lack of hospitality and a poor attitude is at major wine tasting events. Here you often find bored sales agents and hired day staff. Often these people know little about the wines and wineries they are representing and far too often their cell phone rates ahead of you. You been the person the winery wants at their table and should be impressing; why else is the winery there! 

I think its import that the winery selects the right people to be representing them, skilled at greeting and acknowledging people. Skilled at pouring wines, skilled at communications and have a knowledge of the wines and winery they are representing. Do not leave it up to the hotel, the event organizers or your marketing company. It up to you to protect the interest of your business.

Robert's Report 

 

Cucumber and Wine

The cucumber is a member of the Cucurbitaceae family. Other members of the family include squash and different kinds of melon, including bitter melon. Cucumbers provide various nutrients but are low in calories, fat, cholesterol, and sodium.

People in India have grown cucumbers a Trusted Source for food and medicinal purposes since ancient times, and they have long been part of the Mediterranean diet. They also contain a plethora of health benefits. You can achieve a balanced and well-rounded diet by consuming a cucumber, and they have nutritional benefits that can improve your health. You may not have known that cucumbers are in fact fruit. They contain almost no calories. Cucumbers have all possible advantages and virtually no downsides.

Cucumbers have been shown to be able to aid the liver in cleaning up the blood, helping with detoxification of the system. Cucumbers also have a high-water content, which further aids the liver and encourages urination. Cucumber-based beverages are a popular way to make the most of its detoxifying properties.

Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

Cucumbers contain high levels of bitter-tasting nutrients known as cucurbitacin. According to in the International Journal of Health Services, cucurbitacins may help prevent cancer by stopping cancer cells from reproducing.

The American Heart Association (AHA) note that fiber can help manage cholesterol and prevent related cardiovascular problems.

Diverticular disease is a painful inflammation of the colon that sometimes requires hospitalization. Studies have shown mixed results on the benefits of fiber to prevent flare-ups (called diverticulitis)However, research does support the intake of fiber from fruits and vegetables, like cucumbers, to lower the likelihood of diverticulitis-related hospitalizations. Specifically, getting an additional 8.5 grams per day of fiber from fruits and vegetables was associated with a 30% risk reduction. 

Cucumbers are a non-starchy vegetable, which is one of the best categories of food for managing diabetes. The American Diabetes Association recommends three to five servings of non-starchy vegetables per day,8 but that's just a minimum. Well, it has been stated by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) that moderate consumption of wine by diabetics is safe. Furthermore, it has been studied and confirmed that a limited intake of wine is healthy and can even benefit diabetes patients.

When hunger strikes, having more non-starchy vegetables can help satisfy appetite without raising blood sugar levels. The fiber and water content of fresh cucumbers makes them an ideal choice for glycemic control.

Cucumbers are neutral in flavor with an almost delicate melon character with a hint of bitterness. They work with most wines since they do not compete with flavor. 

The Best Wines with Cucumber:

Pinot Gris

Pinot Grigo

Riesling

Albarino

Alvarinho 

These wines go best with a natural Cucumber. Adding vinagar or salad dressing will change the wines. In the Cucumber Salad recipe, the strongest flavors are the jalapeno, onion, and lime juice. A wine with a hint of sweetness and good acidity would work best. Gewurztraminer and Riesling are good pairings.

Hummus and Cucumbers try a medium bodies rosé wine or an aromatic, fresh white like Albariño or Assyrtiko. prefer reds Pair with herbaceous reds like Sangiovese or Barbera

You can of course make numerous cocktails with Cucumbers

Cucumber is one of the most hydrating foods

The Amazing Cucumber*

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Rub a cucumber slice along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won't leave streaks and won't harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

©2025 Robert A Bell 

 

Morrison Cafe

There is a small gem of the Restaurant in the Ocean Park region of South Surrey. Morrison Cafe. It may be small but has a large size menu featuring all of your favourite dishes. Morrison features a breakfast menu, lunch and Dinner Menu. 

The breakfast menu features Triple Berry Belgian Waffles, Apple Crumble Pie French Toast and your classic Eggs Benny.

The lunch menu has soups and salads featuring an Avocado Bacon Chicken Caesar Salad. From there you can go with the classic Grilled Cheese to a west coast salmon burger. Oh! and you most try their milkshakes.

Barbara and I came in to the restaurant in the late afternoon. We were warmly greeted and sat at a table f our choice. I was pleased to see on the menu my favourite their "almost Famous Meats Beef Dip". I had already scheduled a Beef Dip for the next day so I went with their "3 Tier Ultimate Clubhouse" Barbara selected their "Signature Chicken Wings" Sadly the wine menu was lacking. So we passed !

The wings, according to Barbara, were scrupulous! She usually offers me one or two but not this time.

My club was made to perfection. Lots of turkey. The sandwich was cut in fours with thin rye bread. 

Morrison has a second location in White Rock at the Five Corners intersection.

We will return!

 Hospitality Its the Attitude! 

When asked the question: Who is the most important person in your business. The answer is of course the customer. In most cases you are relaying on the continuous support of the customer and the reference they may provide for your business. The easy part of building a successful business is to get the customer to enter your establishment the first time. The hardest part is to get them to return. If you are like the average company, up to 40% of your customers walk out the door and never come back. What's worse, the "average" business is totally oblivious to their actual churn rate—so they do nothing to correct the problem.

The number one reason people fail to return to a business is related to attitude. The attitude of indifference from the individual(s) who they encounter. To repeat that the number one reason for lost customers is  attitude. A poor attitude, poor service, disinterest service is the number one reason a customer does not return. When someone is happy with the services provide by a company the chances of them telling someone are less than 10% if they are unhappy the chances of them telling someone are over 80% the changes of them telling multiple people over 65% 

So if you ask your employees who the most important person in the company is; the answer is me. Me referring to each individual employee. "Me" because it is each personal individual attitude that determines the success of the business. 

Since I spent over 25 years in the hospitality business including writing a super host training program and at one time owned two restaurants I am very critical of the standards of service I receive in any business. I have had a few bad experiences as a customer dealing with improperly trained employees and management people. I'll never eat again at Boston Pizza.

There are other ways besides direct contact with a poor attitude that can also result in a business losing customers. Included here; not respond to inquiries either by phone, email or letters,or keep customers, investors, media and stakeholders updated. Today your online presence is also a key factor. Respect those who support your business.

The Wineries:

It is not often that I experience a bad or unsatisfying visit to a winery. But it does happen.

I can recall waiting twenty minutes for the winery to open after the stated time on the door.

Ive been told I can't offer you more than four tasting because its against the law. It is not.

(I spit sometimes). Ive been told a wine listed on their tasting menu will not be tasted because we don't want to open a new bottle. Ive even been subjected to a lecture on how good German wines are. What your working for a BC winery not Germany. O yes we have been ignored too and on a couple of occasions found the winery door open but no one around. 

Perhaps what irritates me the most is when your tasting room host is paying attention to you until some else comes in, be it a regular or a friends and suddenly your forgotten about. The host must have the ability to include everyone. 

At one respected winery restaurant our waitress seemed to disappear after the main meal was served. When she finally returned she said "Oh I forgot about you" 

I do not request any special treatment when visiting a winery. In fact I prefer just to walk in and see how good or indifferent their hospitality is on a first time visit. 

Where I have more of a concern for lack of hospitality and a poor attitude is at major wine tasting events. Here you often find bored sales agents and hired day staff. Often these people know little about the wines and wineries they are representing and far too often their cell phone rates ahead of you. You are the person the winery wants at their table and should be impressive; why else is the winery there! 

I think its import that the winery selects the right people to be representing them, skilled at greeting and acknowledging people. Skilled at pouring wines, skilled at communications and have a knowledge of the wines and winery they are representing. Do not leave it up to the hotel, the event organizers or your marketing company. It up to you to protect the interest of your business.

 Wines from Unkown Countries

 

March 17 2025, we celebrated. Our celebration was for Barbara’s recovery from a health scare, St. Patrick’s Day, and Ken’s birthday.

We also included our annual wine event, Wines from an Unknown Country.  Each couple was asked to bring a wine from a country whose wines we seldom see in British Columbia, Canada.

Our first wine was from Island of Crete. Crete is the fifth largest Island in the Mediterranean part of Greece. The Island has played a major role in the history of Greek winemaking

The wine is Boutari 2022 Kretikos Vidiano- Vilana, a very nice white wine. One of Greece’s most successful export wine.

Next came a wine from one of the world underrated Countries Georgia. Tetri Kindzmarauli is made from the saperavi grape grown in the controlled appellation of Kindzmarauli. The regional winemaking is almost universal and is based on the ancient method. Its a slow fermentation at a low temperature that ends without all of the sugar being fermented.

 Our third selection came from Chile. Perhaps a better known wine region than Georgia and Crete . A baron Philippe De Rothschild. From the Valle Centre a very impressive wine. One where the flavours of the Carmenere shone through.

Our final selection was from South Africa: a Secret Cellar 2022 Shiraz Grenache. Most of South Africa's wine regions are situated on the coastline of The Cape where they take advantage of the cooling influence of The Southern Ocean. Cabernet Sauvignon is the most widely planted black grape variety.

We found all the wines to be excellent. Wines we would all be happy to buy again

 Dining at Morgan Creek Golf Club

With my wife in the hospital, our good friends Petter and June invited me out for dinner at Morgan Creek Golf Club. They suggested the golf course because it was halfway between their home in Tsawwassen and  mine in White Rock. I think the advantage was mine. 

The restaurant features a well-rounded menu and a Wine Bar. We selected the restaurant. The menu details a number of Seafood dishes, and on Sunday, the special was Prime Rib and Yorkshire Pudding.

June selected the Prime Rib which according to her was amazing. Peter and I selected the Beef dip. Beef dip is one of my favourites, and I had my mind made up before I arrived.

The waiter was friendly and provided excellent service. I asked about a Pinot Gris for my wine. The server made several suggestions, but only one BC wine, which I selected.

He said, “ I appreciate your sentiments. “Perhaps he was referring to the recent movement to support Canada. Of course, I have been a promoter of BC wines for over 30 years with a little website, Wines of Canada.