January 23/2017

Wine, Music and Pizza

Saturday evening is the time for music, pizza, and wine at Fraser Valley's Blackwood Lane. We have been in the summer for pizza on the patio, but last Saturday was our first winter visit to the enclosed veranda, which has been converted to a cozy dining room. 

The limited food service is run under the direction of tasting room manager Kimberly Gislason who does double duty as the chef. It is aptly named Kimberly's Mini Bistro, and the food is five-star! We were not disappointed after venturing out to take in the January special of purchasing a bottle of wine which came with a free pizza.

Wines at Blackwood Lane are high on the list of being excellent.  We ordered a bottle of the 2012 Rebel, a Syrah, a complex wine with an array of flavours.

The background music was provided by Fanny and Gary. Fanny sang as well as played the harp and a flute, Gary accompanied her on guitar.  

The hospitality at the winery is always welcoming. Winemaker and owner Carlos Lee was kept busy going from table to table making sure everyone was happy. Carlos also provided a tasting of his latest project; a sparkling Sea Buckthorn wine. It certainly has potential just needs a little time.

The efficient staff saw to our comfort with outstanding service.

The Bristo is open from 6-9 pm on Saturday's, go a little early and visit the tasting bar. I recommend you try the Alliance and Reference. If you are lucky, Kimberley will have some of her homemade chocolate for sale.

Vineland Estate- Ontario

Questions

Part of every morning is spent on answering e-mail questions send to us at bell@winesofcanada.com or bobbell@winesofcanada.com.  Here are three of the most common questions.

1. I found a bottle of Brights President wine that my grandparents had been given twenty years ago....

Answer: Finding older bottles of wine from Brights and other companies such as London winery is actually quite common. The wine is mostly not suited for drinking. Also, I have never found anyone interests in collecting them.

London Winery was sold to Vincor ( who sold to Constellation Brands)  back in 1996. The brand is long gone. Brights is a different story. They too became part of Vincor. In 1993 they joined with Cartier and Inniskillian to form Vincor. The Brights label can still be found in eastern Canada. But is slowly been removed.

2. Where can I buy Icewine in my hometown?

Answer: In Canada, that is an easy answer. The provinces control the sale of all alcohol products and have government run stores. In the USA  you have to deal with import and export laws for the federal and sate laws. We do not track what states allow Canadian icewine nor what retailers may carry icewine. A rather big task.

The same is true of Europe. Canada does have a trade agreement with Europe and Britain. We just do not track the dealers.

China and Japan have Canadian Icewine. Icewine has a very big market in China. Some Canadian wineries have even opened stores in China.

3. Can you tell us what wineries we should visit?

Answer: A difficult question as we hate to feature one winery over another. We will suggest those that support us through advertising. We also invite people to look at our feature pages such as Best Wineries to Visit in 2017.