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

 A pioneer, winemaker and winery owner.

As one of very few female winemakers in the Okanagan, at the time,Vera was incredibly influential and highly respected for producing exceptional wines. She and her husband Bohumir were instrumental to the wine industry in the Okanagan as the original owners, operators, and creators of Hillside Estate.Vera extended her skills for winemaking, consulting and management into, Quebec, Oregon and Michigan.

Klokocka, Bohumir (1935-1995) and Vera (1942-): The founders of Hillside Cellars, the Klokockas both worked for the Czech state airline (he as a mechanic, she as a ticket clerk) until they defected in 1968, coming to Canada that fall after several months as refugees in Austria. Skiing enthusiasts, they moved to the Okanagan to work at the Big White resort near Kelowna. Bohumir ultimately resumed his trade as a sheet metal worker in the Western Star truck plant in Kelowna.

In 1979 they purchased an orchard on Naramata Road and after converting it to grapes in 1984, Vera Klokocka taught herself to become a winemaker. After she had become a skilled amateur vintner Vera made wines home consumption at first but began to wonder if she could operate like the small wineries of Europe and sell her wines. She found that Kristina and Gunthur Lang had the same idea. The Krugers founders of Wild Goose Winery were also communicating with the Government to sell their wines. she emerged as a leader of the band of farm winemakers that successfully pressed the provincial government in 1989 to create the farmgate winery license for ambitious producers with vineyards too small for the estate winery category. (Others included Adolf Kruger and Gunther Lang.) 

Hillside Cellars was a sucess story untill Bohumir became ill.

The story continues as told by Vera Klkocka:

It was a very sad and hard time for our family. I, finally, sold the winery the following summer to John Fletcher and his business partner, John Hromyk. It was disappointing to have to do so, but my children were not interested in carrying on what my husband and I had started. It had been our dream to continue. In order to do that, I faced the fact that I would have to expand which meant borrowing money and employing people. I would have done that if my children had stayed. But, as that was not the situation, I elected to sell. I was just too tired after 2 years of my husband's illness to continue to run the winery alone.

My husband Bohumir passed away in December 1995 after suffering for two years with lung cancer.

After the sale of the winery, a friend of mine invited me to spend some time in Montreal and the Eastern Townships of Quebec. I needed some time for myself so I accepted the invitation and moved to the other end of Canada. I fell in love with the new environment and the French culture and, of course, the great city of Montreal. I made lots of friends. I, also, traveled back home to the Czech Republic and traveled throughout Europe. I, then, spent the winter in Florida. I just needed to heal myself.

In 1998 I bought a house in the Eastern Townships in Sutton. I loved to ski - so here I was close to the ski hill. But I, still, needed something to do, so I decided to buy a Pub in a nearby village just because Mordecai Ritchler used to go there every Tuesday! It was fun for a while but I had a business partner involved and the partnership wasn't working out. I, eventually, sold my share to him and started looking for something else to do. 

I met a young winemaker named Patrick in the village of Dunham. He was experimenting with apple ice wine. His product was fabulous. We became friends. I let him know that I was looking for a winemaking or consulting position. The following week I found a note in my door, inviting me to visit Domaine de Cote d'Ardois (1) which was a winery in Dunham. It was run by an amazing plastic surgeon - Dr. Jacques Papillon. This was in the fall of 1998. Cote d'Ardoise was double the size of Hillside and Dr. Papillon was in urgent need of a full-time winemaker!

During the summer of 1998, I also met with my future partner - John Fletcher. His business partnership with John Hromyk had fallen apart, and he intended to, permanently, join me in the Eastern Townships after finishing up his business in the Okanagan. In the meantime, he traveled back and forth. I debated the proposal from Cote D'Ardoise with John and we agreed to take the position, as a team, on a consulting basis. We started with the 1998 vintage and improved everything that we could. This resulted in our winning 5 medals in a Quebec tasting. Our reward was an additional "medal fee".

Our season at the winery started in late September and we worked until everything was bottled in April. During the summer, in the Townships, we started buying, fixing, and selling houses. It's hard to believe how much energy we had then...If that wasn't enough, we also consulted for Henrietta Anthony on a vineyard start-up at Chapelle St. Agnes.

In the spring of 2000 I was invited by the organizer of the Selection Mondial Des Vins Du Canada to judge the competition. I did so with pleasure. 

We, also, started consulting for Callahan Ridge winery in Oregon - where we, basically, repaired and improved neglected wines. We worked there for one week a month. Our efforts paid off as the winery received a couple of medals for the wines we fixed. In 2001, while working for Cote D'Ardoise, we also consulted at Blanc Coteaux winery (the young winemaker who got me the job at Cote D'Ardois). We continued consulting in Callahan Ridge. At the same time we wrote a business plan for Pinnacle Ice Cider which became one of the largest producers of Ice Apple Cider in Quebec.

In the fall of 2001 we got tired of the cold weather and, after finding a new winemaker for Dr. Papillon, John accepted a winemaking position at the Lakeridge Winery in Claremont Florida. Pardon our ignorance but we did not know they had wineries in Florida! We sold the house, stored our possessions, and moved to Florida. It was not the best move as the grapes were not real grapes (they use Muscadine grapes) half ripe, half green. John worked from 6 am until 10 pm every day. One day while unloading the press - he found a rattle snake in the press!

After one month of this life, John had lost 20 lbs and I rarely ever saw him, so I decided that is it! He quit the job and we spent a month driving through Florida with our beloved Volkswagen Westfalia named Daisy. (We are on our second one now).

It was the spring of 2002 when we returned to Quebec and stayed in a rented place for a while. We then went to Nova Scotia to investigate what to do next. We were offered a winemaking position in Habitant Winery in Canning, NS. but declined. 

We traveled across the country in search of our next place to live. We had decided not to stay in Quebec as it was not getting any easier to communicate in the French language and the separatism movement did not appeal to us. We checked a few places in Ontario but nothing appealed to us. We continued all the way back to BC and all the way to Vancouver Island. There, we were offered a winemaking position at Cherry Point but decided not to stay on the Island. We, finally, ended up in Penticton again and bought a lovely home at Farleigh Lake - on the way to Apex Mountain.

As soon as we established ourselves there, we were offered a consulting position at Chateau de Leelanau in Traverse City, Michigan. We accepted. We fell in love with the beauty of the area and continued to commute and consult there until the end of 2004. 

We, finally, got tired of commuting and John accepted a position as General Manager of Therapy Vineyards in Naramata. He did the startup for John McBean. 

During the summer of 2005 we received the sad news that one of the partners of Chateau de Leelanau had passed away. John was offered a full position as General Manager and Winemaker there, and we accepted. The winery was owned by Dr. Roberta Kurtz who was still working full time and unable to manage the winery at the same time.

Besides working at the winery, we had some wonderful times there. We met some very nice people and interesting characters there like Winemaker Larry Mauwby who produced a sparkling wine called "SEX". We, also, met Madonna's father Tony Cicconi and his wife Joanne. Of course, we had to buy a sailboat, as Lake Michigan is famous for sailing with it's Caribbean blue waters. 

In 2006 we bought a home in Nova Scotia but were still living in the USA. We combined our Canadian and US life until 2010 when we assisted Dr. Kurtz with selling her winery. We retired in the Annapolis Valley - Nova Scotia in 2010. After buying and selling a few properties here we settled in Canning - a village near Wolfville - the home of Acadia University. We are gardening and growing a few grapes and apple trees. We went to Ecuador last year and discovered South America and the "real food" that the poor people eat there. 

We are now debating what "poverty" really means. Every one there seems to be happy and healthy. So next project???? Try to free ourselves of anything processed, eat healthy, and maybe .... try to produce some really good Apple Ice Wine! 

 On a hot summers night in early July two couples friends from Belgium and England are sitting down for dinner at a Cafe in the city of Bordeaux France. They conduct their conversation in English. The conversation turns to the wine selection. The friends scroll down the wine list. It features, of course, wines from France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Greece, Chile, Spain, Hungrey and California.

One of the friends notices at the bottom an Icewine from Canada. He comments. " They have an icewine from Canada perhaps after dinner we could try it" Another speaks "wounder if they make other wines there or is it too cold"

At a nearby table another couple is enjoying their dinner. They smile at each other, the man speaks to his wife. " Canada does make some nice wines from two very lovely regions" His wife speaks; "One is the Okanagan I forgot the other." "Niagara"; he responds.

At a third table sits a couple from Canada. They live in Picton Ontario. Picton is an unincorporated community located in Prince Edward County in southeastern Ontario, roughly 160 km (99 mi) east of Toronto.

The couple from Canada are also wine enthusiast. They have respected the region they are visiting and are enjoying a wine from Bordeaux. They have compared the wine to many varieties of wines from PEC that they have frequently enjoyed back home. The man speaks loudly "I should tell them about winesofcanada.com" His wife smiles " or Intervin international wine awards or Decanter World Wine Awards they would be amazed by all the wineries in Canada winning awards."

The couple goes on to reflect on the wineries they visited in PEC this summer.

Prince Edward County has close to fifty wineries and is a major wine producing region in the country. Among the oldest wineries is Waupoos Estate Winery. Ed Neuser and Rita Kaimins opened their winery in 2001 the first all grape winery in the region. They named the winery after the local village.

Other notable wineries include the Grange of Prince Edward Estate Winery a family run business established in 2002 by Robert Granger and his daughter Caroline. With 60 acres of vineyards, a pastoral setting and a dramatic tasting room housed in a lovingly restored 1826 barn.

By Chadsey's Cairns Winery and Vineyard, named after Ira Chadsey 1828-1905, who was the rather idiosyncratic owner of our 215 acre farm. He was said to have believed that he would be reincarnated as a white horse. As a result, he built Cairns or stone monuments around the horse field behind the original home on the property marking it clearly enough that he would know he was home when he was transformed. Fourteen of the cairns still exist today. When we first arrived on the farm in 1995 we bought a light grey Arabian and she spooked a number of our older neighbours who were sure that Ira was back. 

Richard Johnston and his wife Vida Zalnieriunas, have grand plans for their 215-acre farm and are firm believers in the potential of the Prince Edward County wine industry. They began planting vines in 1999 with 3000 Riesling in the field next to the Applehouse Ira built in about 1850, which now houses their tasting room and store. 

Closson Chase began back in 1998 with seven hectares when Geoff Heinrick and Deborah Paskus studied the soil of Prince Edward County determining that outstanding Burgundian could do well.

After producing successful wines Seaton Mclean and his wife Sonja Smits who had purchase a country home in the area offered to back Deborah leading to the open of Closson Chase in 2004

This charming winery is housed in a heritage barn that has been restored and refurbished to accommodate a tasting room, a shop offering a connoisseur's selection of exclusive wine accessories, crystal and glassware as well as the processing facilities 

Karlo Estates Winery is the first Certified Vegan winery in the World. This vegan certification is a result of their belief in the benefits of a plant-based lifestyle on health and environmental welfare. Sherry Karlo is the owner.

Huff Estates Winery one of the larger wineries with a state-of-the-art facility. The doors officially opened on June 12, 2004. The winery is owned by Frank (Lanny) Huff.

Recently creating a buzz for his high quality wine is Dan Sullivan of Rosenhall Run.

Here are all of Prince Edward County Wineries

Major Wine Producing Regions 

Niagara Peninsula 

Prince Edward County

Lake Erie North Shore

South Georgian Bay Region

Okanagan 

Similkameen 

Naramata Bench

Vancouver Island

Fraser Valley/Lower Mainland

 

 

Soie d’Ivoire Chenin Blanc

Wines are always more special when they are a gift from a good friend. On thid occasion a bottle of La Lisse Soie d'Ivoire from the Haute Valley De L'Aude of Southern France.

From the south of France "soie d'ivoire" or "ivory silk," shows us just how versatile Chenin Blanc can be. Naturally high in acid, Chenin Blanc keeps its freshness even in warm temperatures

Chenin Blanc is a white or sparkling, dry or sweet wine produced from the grape variety of the same name. It’s typically redolent of fruit, vivid with mouthwatering acidity, or — in the best cases — both. The popularity of Chenin Blanc has been growing for years, especially among so-called New World producers who are finding exciting locations from South Africa to California to grow it and creative, often forward-thinking ways to make it, whether through inventive work with the lees, experimenting with aging vessels, and more. No matter what style you’re considering, Chenin Blanc wines offer the potential to appeal to a range of taste and texture preferences.

This is a wonderful wine featuring a silky lemony densey fruit filled long lasting delighful experience. The smooth finish is also exciting. 

 

Cider

Cider has a delightfully ancient and globe-trotting history. Its roots stretch back thousands of years, with the earliest known references dating to around 55 BCE, when Julius Caesar encountered the Celts in Britain fermenting crabapples into a cider-like drink.

The word “cider” itself likely comes from the Hebrew shekar, meaning a strong drink, and made its way into English via Old French. While apples were often too bitter to eat raw in ancient times, people discovered that pressing and fermenting the juice created a pleasantly boozy beverage.

Cider gained popularity across Europe, especially in regions like Normandy, Brittany, and the West Country of England, where apple orchards thrived. When European colonists arrived in North America, they brought cider-making traditions with them. Apples grew easily in the New World, and cider quickly became a staple drink—often safer than water and more accessible than beer.

Cider is an alcoholic beverage made mainly from the fermented juice of apples, though pears can also be used; in the UK, pear cider is known as perry. In the US and parts of Canada, the term cider almost exclusively refers to nonalcoholic apple juice (apple cider). The phrase hard cider is used to denote the fermented version. 

Real cider is fermented apple juice, pure and simple. Traditionally, it is made with bittersweet and bitter-sharp apples, which have the tannins and acidity required to make a quality product. While dessert apples, such as Granny Smith or MacIntosh, are used by large commercial cider makers, these common varieties often require the addition of modifiers such as concentrates and synthetic flavourings.

Common varieties include: Golden Delicious, Johngold, Macoun, Gala, Fuji, Braeburn, and Honeycrisp. Ontario McIntosh, Ida Red, Spy, Gala, Paula Red, and Russet are commonly used.

Defining the fruit (from National Association of Cidemakers)

Cider apple varieties are divided into four categories according to the relative proportion of acidity and tannin:

Sweet varieties are the blandest of the four categories, being low in both components. They are useful to blend with ciders from the more strongly flavoured varieties, which, by themselves, would be too extreme in taste and aroma to be palatable. Typical examples of sweet apples are Sweet Coppin, in use to a small extent, and Court Royal which was used extensively at one time but rarely used nowadays.

Bittersweet apples impart the characteristic flavour of English ciders; as the name implies, they are low in acid and high in tannin. The latter is responsible for two sensations on the palate - astringency and bitterness. In the bittersweet apple, there is a whole range of combinations of these two characteristics, varying from little astringency coupled with intense bitterness to very marked astringency coupled with mild bitterness. Typical bittersweets are Dabinett, Yarlington Mill and Tremlett’s Bitter.

Sharp varieties, so called because the predominant characteristic is that of acidity, are encountered less frequently today, possibly because culinary fruit, which has a similar flavour balance, can be substituted for this class. There are, however, recognized full sharp cider varieties, two of which are Crimson King and Brown’s Apple.

Bitter-sharp is the fourth class of cider apple. These are fairly high in acid and tannin, although the latter component does not show the wide range of flavours exhibited by the bittersweet. Stoke Red is a good example.

Cider apples were traditionally grown on ‘Standard’ trees in orchards grazed by livestock. About 40 trees would be planted per acre (100 per hectare).

Cider has a long and fascinating history in the UK. Although it had been assumed that cider was introduced after the Norman Conquest, it is now thought to have been here long before that.

Apple trees were growing in the UK well before the Romans came but it was they who introduced organised cultivation. It is likely that the wandering peoples, who travelled through the countries which we now know as Spain and Northern France, introduced their ‘shekar’ (a word of Hebrew origin for strong drink) to the early Britons. 

However, it is true to say that the Normans had the most positive effect on the history of cider making. Northern France was renowned for the volume and quality of its orchards and vineyards, as indeed was Southern England, but owing to climatic changes these areas became less suitable for the growing of grapes. Gradually cider began to replace wine.

In the UK and France, cider apples tended to be grown towards the western extremities because the climatic and soil conditions were most suitable. Under the influence of the Gulf Stream, the weather was relatively mild and the areas concerned had a fairly heavy annual rainfall. 

These combined factors of climate and history established the cider producing areas of England as we know them today.

After their conquest of England in 1066, the Normans introduced many changes - perhaps the drinking of cider was one of the best! The popularity of cider grew steadily; new varieties of apples were introduced, and cider began to figure in the tax records. 

It became the drink of the people, and production spread rapidly. By 1300, there were references to cider production in the counties now known as Buckinghamshire, Devonshire, Essex, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Kent, Norfolk, Somerset, Suffolk, Surrey and Sussex and in most other counties as far north as Yorkshire. 

Cider was produced in substantial quantities on farms; every farm would have a few cider apple trees as well as cooking and dessert apple trees in the orchard, and it became customary in the 18th Century to pay part of a farm labourer’s wage in cider. A typical allowance on a farm would be 3 - 4 pints per day. Labourers were rated by the amount they drank; one comment was that a 2 gallon a day man was worth the extra he drank! In the western counties of England in particular, a farm worker could receive perhaps one-fifth of his wage in cider. In the latter part of the 19th Century, a campaign to stop payment in the form of alcoholic beverages brought about the addition of a clause to the Truck Act of 1887 which prohibited the payment of wages in this way.

In Canada the history of cider could be traced back to explores like Captain Cook and the Hudson Bay Company. Cider was used to help prevent Scurvy. It may have been the British that first brought Cider to Canada but production flourished in Quebec.

The honour of planting the first apple tree in the history of Quebec goes to Louis Hébert, apothecary from Paris and New France's first settler. He did so around 1617 on the site where Quebec City was founded in 1608. A good number of the first French settlers to the colony were Normans who brought over the apple cider craft. Sizable orchards developed in the region of New France, particularly on Île d'Orléans.

 All Canadian Wine Awards

Surprises

Yes, in my mind there were a few surprises at the All Canadian Wine Awards for 2025. The organization added International Blends awards but that was expected. One of the biggest surprises was the number of medals won by New Brunswick and Quebec.

British Columbia walked away with the most medals which is no surprise since they have done that the last few years. BC has the second most wineries to Ontario who collected the second most medals. The big surprise was 4 Double Gold 5 Gold 2 silver and 2 Bronze won by New Brunswick. Perhaps the province outside of the Prairies with the least number of wineries..

Quebec won 1 trophy and 12 Double Gold. They also collected 10 Gold,9 silver and 7 Bronze. Miel Nature inc. (QC) won Best Mead of the Year for their Pomme et Miel. La Cantina won two Gold in the Rosés Dry Category.

Remember, not all wineries enter these award competitions. Of those that did there were some surprising winners. Another surprise was how few awards were won by the older, prestigious wineries.

Happy Knight Wines NB Won double Gold for their Cranberry Rosé a surprise maybe but then their consultant is the highly respected Dominic Rivard. 

Magnetic Hill Winery , Moncton NB, won Double Gold for their Single White Hybrids The OC Osceola by the Sea 2024. A double surprise the won another Double Gold for their Terroir Generator New World Cali Style - Single Red Hybrids. Did I mention their third medal another Double Gold for their Soft Fruit off Dry Bay of Fundy and in the same category a silver for their Evangeline Blanc.

Coming out of Nova Scotia, a small Winery named for the town it is in Bear River Vineyards won Double Gold for White Hybrid Blends.

How about the new Solvero Wines winning Best White Wine of the Year for their 2022 Chardonnay; surprise or not, after all their winemaker is the highly respected Alison Moyes.

How about Keint-he Winery Best Rose Wine of the Year. They also won a silver for their Portage Pinot Noir.

Maan Farms Estate Winery took home the best Fruit Wine Trophy for their Strawberry Dessert Wine.

A winery I have heard very little about Villa Romana Estate Winery Inc in Ontario won a silver for the Cenerentolo 2022 Sparking Wine.

I was not expecting Moraine Estate Winery on the Naramata Bench to take the Double Gold for Shiraz /over $35.

I cannot say I was surprised that Baillie-Grohman won a double Gold for their Gewürztraminer , I would say it was about time they received recognition for their "fine" cellar of wines.

One winery that keeps surprising us is Alderlea Vineyards near Duncan on Vancouver Island. The husband and wife team of Zac Brown and Julie Powell keep producing outstanding wines. Winning a Double Gold for their 2024 Pinot Gris and more additional medals.

The Biggest Surprise Loose Wire Winery a New Brunswick-based winery that’s starting to make waves—especially after winning a Double Gold at the 2025 All Canadian Wine Championships for their 2024 Orange Pet Nat. They also won a Bronze for their Appassimento Style Experssimento. A winery I did not know about to just a few weeks ago and I have zero information about them!!

 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