All Things French

We have a friend who travels quite extensively in Europe, especially France. She loves all thing French including the wines. We have on numerous occasions attempted to persuade her to try Canadian wines, especially the BC ones. She will not!

One day we hosted a  tasting event at our home featuring BC wines and she was invited to join us. She arrived with a friend who was visiting with her from a Canadian Government at an Embassy in Europe. He declared himself an expert in wine and shared our friend's opinion that Canadian wines were not good on the world's standards. He loudly shared this opinion at our wine event. I thought to myself "for someone who did not like our wines you consumed a great deal."

Our friend left our event still convinced that French wines were simply the best. We planned a little trick to see if we could change her mind. We invited her to dine with us at a local 5-star restaurant. The owner also a friend of ours helped with the plan to change her mind.

We ordered her favourite French wine. The restaurant owner had emptied the bottle, refilled it with a BC wine and re-corked the bottle. She was impressed with our selection and raved about the wine.

At the end of the meal we told her about our trick and provided video to show her what we had done. She laughed it off saying the wine was French and you are just trying to fool me into thinking it was a BC wine.

We thought the battle was lost until one day we were invited for dinner at her home I accidently discovered a number of BC wines in the kitchen cabinet. Me thinks she is a closet BC wine drinker!

Kimberley's  Mini Bistro

It was a perfect summer evening for the first Pizza Night at Blackwood Lane Vineyards in the Fraser Valley (Langley). We and our friends Ken and Jane looked forward to trying the new ideas winery   Manager Kimberley had designed to compliment the quality wines of the winery.

We were greeted warmly by staff member Julie, whose bright smile and hospitality made us feel welcome.  The news that the winery was now open until 9:00 pm (Fridays only) has spread, and the turnout was larger than expected. All the staff was hands on, including owner Carlos in keeping up with the table service. We enjoyed the ambiance of the patio; sipping wine, chatting and watching the horses in the fields beyond.

We did a tasting of white and red wines before ordering pizzas, a ham and pineapple, as well as a margarita pizza with locally grown ingredients.  Kim, your skill as a pizza maker is outstanding, they were delicious.  We hope you will have them on the menu often.  Barb and Ken chose the Merlot while Jane and I ordered the Reisling to accompany the pizzas

Winemaker Carlos found time to join us, bringing out his newly released fortified wine, Portance Merlot. I have a feeling that it is going to be on Barbara's Christmas wish list, she loved it! 

The dessert of the evening was a delicious flour free chocolate cake Kim had prepared, it complimented the Portance Merlot perfectly.

Fine weather, great service by friendly staff, exemplary food and wine plus fabulous friends all made for a very pleasant evening in BC's Fraser Valley.  We highly recommend a Friday Night on the Patio!