BC VQA Fall Tastings

 

Once again the BC VQA put on another great event at the Vancouver Convention Centre.   I counted 76 wineries participating in the event.
There was a few retailers providing some nice tasting treats including the Whistler Glacier Spring Water and Daniel La Chocolate Belge. The Dairy Farmers of Canada also had a nice offering of cheeses and Crackers.

 

It was of course impossible for us to taste every ones wines.  I tried to visit those wineries I did not get to in the Spring event. I also made an effort to chat with the owners and or winemakers that were able to make the event.  There was John Skinner of Painted Rock and their amazing wines , Carlos Lee of Blackwood Lane with his 2007 The Reference.
and The View’s Jennifer Molgat featuring a really nice Gewurztraminer.

I had a nice long chat with Andy Gebert of St Hubertus  and Oak Bay Estates winery. He was quite complimentary about our website. Calling us a  “God Sent”. Thank you Andy
I thought his Oak Bat Pinot Noir 2010 was a very impress wine and as was his St Hubertus Goddess 2010

I also chatted with Stag’s Hallow’s  Dwight Smart and Larry Gerelus. What a year they are having.  A must buy wine would be their Simply Noir 2011.   I spent a few  minutes with Judy Kingston of Serendipity enjoying her Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.  Meanwhile Barbara was engaged in a conversation with Harry McWatters. His Chardonnay was excellent.

Lillooet’s first winery owner Rolf de Bruin was there. His Meritage 2010 and Cabernet Fanc 2010 were outstanding. I enjoyed my visit to Little Straw Vineyards table. They present a nice Pinot Noir 2008.

Kelowna’s House of Roses was founded in 1983 by Vern Rose. Today I met his son in-law Wouter van der Hall. A very nice gentleman who had a knack for describing their wines.
Try their Hot Flash and their Port style wine most enjoyable.

As I mentioned so many wineries, great wines wonderful people and so little time.. brief I will mention Stoneboat’s Pinot Noir 2009, Black’ Hill’s Syrah 2010, Prospect Winery Regatta Red 2009 , Hester Creek Reserve Merlot 2009, Osoyoos Larose Le Grand Vin 2008, Nk Mip Cellars QwAM QwMT Syrah 2008 . Okay that enough see Facebook, Twitter and most importantly the website for more.

If I could only mention one winery who was represent only by their agents.. Osoyoos LaRose would take home the hospitality award. They were informative and made me laugh.

 

I have a very simple comment
Actually it a question

When Canadian writes write about our wines are their following recommendations always foreign wines ???

Support Canada's wineries

Prince Edward County

A small Island ( 1,048.3 km² (404.8 sq miles) sitting in the north east corner of Lake Ontario. Prince Edward County is a mecca for artists, nature lovers and anyone looking for a getaway … for a weekend break or for life. Renowned for its sailing, fishing and giant sand dunes, The County also offers live theatre, artists studios and galleries, unique regional cuisine and a flourishing wine region

Like the Niagara region they are both on Lake Ontario. The Niagara region is in the south west cornor. PEC is the north east side. Close to Kingston Ontario

Here we find one of Canada's hottest wine regions. One that just a few short years ago was unknown. Prince Edward County was designated as the fourth and newest Designated Viticultural Area (DVA) in Ontario in 2007.

The first wine grapes were planted in the mid-nineteenth century and achieved some notoriety when Dorland Nixon was awarded a gold medal for his wine at the 1876 Philadelphia Exposition. The modern era began when Phil Matheson planted an experimental vineyard with vinifera grapes in the 1980s while Ed Neuser and Rita Kaimins established the first commercial vinifera vineyard for their Waupoos Estates Winery in 1993 . They were granted the second winery licence in the County (after Grant Howes and the County Cider Company in 1996 and opened their winery in 2001. During the first decade of the twenty-first century, new wineries have emerged at a furious pace, with approximately 30 in operation in 2010. Even more important the wines are achieving world class.

Waupoos Estate Winery is perhaps the best known winery and most awarded. It was named after the local village was the first grape winery to open in the region in 2001 by Ed Neuser and Rita Kaimins. The winery sits majestically perched on a gently sloping hillside overlooking Lake Ontario in beautiful Prince Edward County. Surrounded by orchards and perfectly manicured vineyards, the Winery offers an array of wines at the Tasting room, shopping in the Boutique and Dining in the full service Gazebo Restaurant.

The Black Prince Winery was conceived by John Sambrook (General Manager of the Opimian Society) in 2000, who wanted to establish a winery in this lovely, picturesque area of Prince Edward County. This region has the viticultural landscape to produce first-rate wines with the vineyards located on a fertile, sandy loam ridge The Black Prince was an Edward (Edward County), eldest son of Edward III. Terence van Rooyen is their wine consultant winning numerous awards including Chardonnay du Monde for their '08 Chardonnay Terroir Elite VQA

Closson Chase is a quality-driven producer that has helped spearhead the birth of the Prince Edward County wine industry. Since 1999, it has been committed to creating distinctive wines that rival the world’s finest. Set in Hillier, Ontario, the estate is over 30 acres of south facing, limestone-rich soil under vine; planted high density to the classic Burgundian-varietals of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with small yields, French-inspired vinification and careful barreling in 100% French oak. 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.Deborah Paskus has been called by some the Master of Chardonnay.

The Grange of Prince Edward Estate Winery is a family run business established in 2002 by Robert Granger and his daughter Caroline. The building that houses the winery is actually a barn that was built in 1826. Caroline Granger President & CEO has set a high standard for viticulture and wine production. Her passion to produce authentic, handcrafted wines using traditional vinification methods, modern processing facilities and 60 acres of thriving vineyards have resulted in the award-winning wines of Trumpour's Mill and Grange of Prince Edward single vineyard wines.

These are just afew of the wineries placing PEC on the world wine map. Please read our feature on Rosehall Run http://www.winesofcanada.com/featured_winery_rosehall.html

and see the complete list here http://www.winesofcanada.com/ontario_pec.html

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Wines from Benjamin Bridge, Château des Charmes, Coyote's Run, Creekside Estate, Flatrock Cellars, Inniskillin Wines, Mission Hill Family Estate, Nk'Mip Cellars, Osoyoos Larose, Pelee Island Winery, Poplar Grove, Quail's Gate, St. Hubertus, Summerhill Pyramid Winery, Tawse Winery and Tinhorn Creek Vineyards were chosen to promote and celebrate Canada during the Games.

BENJAMIN BRIDGE SPARKLING HEADS TO LONDON'S 2012 OLYMPICS

July 24, 2012 (Gaspereau Valley, Nova Scotia) – Benjamin Bridge is delighted to announce that its 2008 Benjamin Bridge Méthode Classique Rosé was selected as one of two Canadian sparkling wines to promote and celebrate Canada's best at the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

Canada's High Commissioner in London England will be hosting Olympic receptions and dinners throughout the Summer Games to showcase the best of Canada. About 20 wines, and only two sparkling wines, were selected by Janet Dorozynski, Ph.D., Global Practice Lead with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade who oversees a program which assists Canadian Embassies to serve and promote Canadian wine, and works with companies to develop export market strategies. She explained:

"London is an important market for Canadian wine and is particularly important in terms of exposure to world-renowned authorities in the global wine industry like Jancis Robinson, Master of Wine, and Tom Stevenson, the world's leading authority on Champagne...We want to showcase our very best, and Benjamin Bridge is clearly one of our very best...to promote investment in Canada."

Founder and co-owner of the winery, Gerry McConnell, said:

"We're excited and honoured to be selected as one of only two sparkling wines from Canada to be served during the Olympics...it's truly a testament to the quality of the wines we've been producing at Benjamin Bridge since we began just a little over ten years ago. And the exposure this brings for not only Benjamin Bridge but also the emerging reputation for Nova Scotia wines overall...is terrific."

Benjamin Bridge completed the bottling of its 2011 vintage sparkling wines last week. McConnell said: "Of the 16,000 bottles we cellared last week, all of which were produced from 100% vinifera grapes, about half are sparkling rosé and of exceptional quality according to Raphaël..." Raphaël Brisbois, former chef de cave for the legendary Piper Heidsieck, who together with lead wine consultant, Peter J. Gamble, and resident winemaker, Jean-Benoit Deslauriers are responsible for crafting Benjamin Bridge's nationally acclaimed Méthode Classique sparklings.

A very limited supply of the 2008 Benjamin Bridge Méthode Classique Rosé remains available for sale at private wine stores and select NSLC stores.

Today we thought that we would let our website visitors speak for us

Shelly says it all:
The Wines of Canada website was a delight to discover! Listing all the Wine Regions across Canada, it offers insight into wine terms, Grapes, Wine standards, Ice Wines, Mead Wines, the history of wine in Canada dating back to prohibition, Early Pioneers and "the beginning." An In-depth Tourism section; Where to Dine, Stay, and play Golf! It offers an FAQ section, Wine 101, Wine and your Health, Cooking with Wine, Enjoying Wine and Cheese and Wine. Types of Wine from Organic, Kosher, Fruit, Meads (Honey Wine), Sparkling, Icewine and more. Read about the Scoring System for Wines and what the numbers mean! Check out the Winemaking Calendar! WOC has renowned writers; John Schreiner, Fred Couch, and Robert Bell the developer of WOC. If that isn't enough, Wines of Canada website includes Wine Towns, Winery links, Maps, Tourism links, Awards, a list of cellared wines, constellation wines, a gallery and yes, a Sitemap! Has anyone tried Gimli Goose Sparkling Wine? I just had to "slide" that in. What is truly refreshing about WOC? It is not sponsored by the Gov of Canada, or any wineries or wine associations. Page sponsoring is available and I would strongly suggest it as it will increase your sales. It is a demanding task maintaining the WOC website with over 500 wineries, it is timely and costly. I have written this to bring this to the attention for all my " wine loving" friends and a big thank you to Robert Bell. Happy wine tasting! 

Author and researcher  Robert Murray wrote
Wines of Canada is a great site to promote provincial wines to the world and to acknowledge special individuals connected to the wine industry.


Chris Hawes winemaker Bear River Winery Nova Scotia
"Your site is the "go to" spot for Canadian Winery information.
You have done a great job promoting wineries coast to coast."
Midge Wyse
Burrowing Owl Estate Winery
Your web site gets better all the time and thanks for sending new updates and reminding us to have a look. I must really commend your efforts to identify the different viticultural areas (Black Sage, Golden Mile etc.) and you have done a great job of including everyone. I'm also very impressed with your updates on sub regions and your descriptions of the corresponding terroir.

WinesOfCanada.com - Bob Bell's Wines of Canada is a unique information source for almost all Canadian wineries, including the lesser known gems in Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. It also has lots of stories about his "wine country" trips and articles of interest related to the Canadian wine industry.
I-wine Review

I'm a freelance writer, writing an article on organic wines for a popular magazine. I found your website to be very informative and accessible, more so than any other website I have found regarding organic winemaking in Canada .
Kate Zimmerman

Hi Bob,
Your web site is really lovely, I still can't get that you are allowing free advertizing, for these companies that are making a bomb, and you are assisting them, with your unique way of showing THIER PRODUCTS. YOU WILL HAVE TO EXPLAIN THAT TO ME AT
With great respect for all your work,
Regards Jean xxx

what do you thin visit us at www.winesofcanada.com
Almost twenty years ago we began boasting about Canada's wines and our winemakers keep proving us correct.

Its the Attitude that Counts

It is easier to get a customer to enter your store the first time, than it is to get them to return
The number one reasons customer fail to return is not the companies product. Its the attitude of the  individual dealing with the customer. Yes the number one reason people fail to purchase or fail to return is a poor attitude display by the person they dealt with.

Recently my wife and  I drove a friend to the airport for 6 Am. We decided to visit a once popular restaurant for breakfast.  Upon parking in fron of the resturant we were suprised how few cars were in the parking lot.  Upon entering the  dinning room it did not take long to realize why.

There was no restaurant person in sight. We waited about four minutes before calling out.
Three times I called before a sleepy waitress appeared she spoke not a word as she walked slowly towards us.  Upon reaching us she said "two"  then lead us to a booth. Not  a smile or a pleasant word, just a bored I don't want to be here look. I want to leave.

The next day we found ourself been taken out for lunch and having a simliar experience in a very popular  restuarant chain.  This time it was a member of the management team.  Thankfully the waitress was bright and cheerful.
We have on too many occasions experience the I don't give a dam that your here attitude from staff at wineries. So many wineries depend upon the tourist business and sells generated by having a tasting room. Better make sure the person tending your business has an attitude that will impress the customer. One that invites them to return.