Time is Everything


One day with my wife's encouragement I decided to start a website, the subject being the wines and wineries of Canada.. A rather easy task I thought (the pamphlet at the local government liquor store listed 25 wineries) not too difficult to accomplish.

First step learn to build a website, second step purchase a domain name and website hosting. It was a learn as I go process that did not take too much of my time, about three days consisting of twenty to twenty five hours, after all there were only 25 wineries according to the pamphlet.

Including wineries in British Columbia and Ontario the website would consist three pages, the Home Page, British Columbia page and an Ontario page. It would be just a matter of time before I would be done and the site up and running.. but then I decided to do some indepth research into Canada's wineries. Information on the internet was very limited, the year was 1992.

I came across a book called "Vintage Canada" by Tony Aspler in 1993, oh my gosh there were wineries in Quebec and Nova Scotia, there were wineries in regions of Ontario other than the popular Niagara Penninsula. There was so much more to the wines of Canada I was now in a race against time to catch up and make my website current. Robert Orben said "Time flies. It's up to you to be the navigator" and so the years passed and the website grew larger and larger.

New pages were added regularly I had the time to deal with it all; The nineties came and went, a new millennium had begun Canada's wine industry grew, her wines became more popular. Her icewines became world renowned and time became my enemy.
The number of wineries increased soon I was boasting about the five hundred wineries based in Canada. The website had over a million visitors in 2009 and had grown to over 150 pages. In 2010 the list of new winery licenses was amazing; We were going to surpass 700 wineries.

Rapid changes were taking place. New brands were added, wineries changed their names, and were opening in regions where no one thought grapes could grow, virtual wineries opened. Wine companies were forming, buying out smaller wineries. Restaurants and guestrooms were being added it was all happening so fast!

I thought about this yesterday as I realized I had spent over six hours communicating with just one winery; one owner. I do not regret this time. The website is my passion I just don't know how I am going to find the time to remain Canada's number one wine website supporting not only the wines of Canada but the tourism industry as well.

Time is money... www.winesofcanada is taking my time but unfortunatly not providing the money. It's an old cliche that we all know and understand, but to what extent do you really apply it in your life. Time is our most precious resource, because it is the only one that is truly scarce.

As the wine industry grows  .. I would appreciate some time from the wineries of Canada. I would like them to take the time and provide information about their winery, give me the information and I will tell the world.
I have had marketing and hospitality managers from the big wineries telling me they don't have time to answer my questions. My response is get off facebook, get off twitter and take time to answer the questionaire I send to each winery. I'm promoting your winery for free and it would give me time to make sure your information is current. There is always someone with the time to point out to me that certain things they deem important are missing.

Why did we start a second website www.winesofwoi.com simple we live within a few blocks of the border and have a cabin in the US. We have had the operortunity to taste many Washington wines. We first discovered the wonderful world of wines on our honeymoon when by chance we ended up in Napa Valley....the rest as they say is history.

Wine Chat

Are you a supporter, consumer and strong wine enthusiast. Are you passionate about your British Columbia Wines. Do you tweet. If so you may wish to follow #bcwinechat on Twitter. Celebrated winemaker and CEO Sandra Oldfield at Tinhorn Creek Winery in the Okanagan leads this twitter wine session. The sessions take place every Wednesday night at 8pm.
Each Wednesday there is a pre determined topic for you to discuss. The topic usually broaden out during the discussion but that part of the fun. It is very intriguing to see what the winery owners and winemakers feel about the wines they produce and the regions they are.
One interesting topic was " How to bring in more tourist to the BC wineries. With limited exporting due to government regulations BC's numerous wineries depend upon visitors. Especially the smaller run family winery that has little or no exposure in the Government run liquor store.
Not only do winery owners , winemakers, and other winery employees tweet at #BCwinecaht, so do writers, restaurant owners, hotel owners, B&B owners, consumers and so many more.

This chat is meant to be inclusive. To participate:
you do NOT need be from British Columbia. Viewpoints from all corners of the earth are gladly welcome…and needed!

you do NOT need to grow or make wine

you do NOT need to sell wine

you do NOT need to drink BC wine (although it won't hurt!)

you DO need to be respectful of others opinions that differ from you own


for more info visit http://bcwinechat.com/

Welcome to the Wonders of Wine hosted by Barbara and Bob Bell owners of www.winesofcanada.com and www.winesofwoi.com.  You will find us on facebook and twitter. Our two facebook pages are Wines of Canada and Wines of WOI. On twitter @winesofcanada and @wondersofwine.

We began our adventure with wine in 1992 (my gosh that was twenty years ago) as we spent part of our honeymoon in Napa Valley, California.  We began the Wines of Canada website the same year with just 28 wineries today we list over 700 wineries in Canada. We have yet to count all the wineries in Washington Oregon and Idaho.

Why did we also build the website winesofwoi.com? We live six blocks from the US  and frequently visit Washington State. As the Washington Appellation extends into Oregon and Idaho we added them :}.

We are proud to help promote the wines and wineries from these regions. We enjoy the experience of tasting wines from all corners of our amazing world. We are more than happy to hear about your experience in the wonderful world of wines.

Please like our facebook pages and follow us on twitter. We hope you will follow our blog and visit the websites often.