Putting Vancouver Island on the Map


Winemaker Susan Vandermolen  of  Beaufort Estate Winery  stand up and take a bow.
Your putting Vancouver Island on  the world map of outstanding wineries.

You managed to bring 27 medals home to the Comox Valley from the International Wine Challenge (IWC) in London, England, the All Canadian Wine Championships (ACWC), and the NorthWest Wine Summit (NWWS)!

 

Located 8km north of Courtenay the winery has a great view of Beaufort mountain range.
The wineries logo is the Moai statues of Easter Island. Owners Susan and Jeff Vandermolen sought out a local carver, Stan Skuse (X-Dream Sculptures) from Campbell River, and commissioned him to carve their Moai

The winery was licensed in 2007 and is the first in the Comox Valley. They produce about 2,000 cases on 3.2 hectares.

 

New Zealand Wine Tasting
A grand time was had at the recent New Zealand WIne tasting event held at VAncouver's Roundhouse.
Approxiamely 30 of New Zealands best wineries were there to present their wines.
From agents to princiaplas hospitality was at its finest.
We also ran into some friends from the wonderful wine.

I concentrated msotly on the Whites while Barabar enjoyed sampling the Reds.

Breifly here are some of the wineries that impressed us
Yealands Estate- Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc
Astrolabe Province Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc
Brancott B Letter Series Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc
Brancott Letter Series T Marlborough Pinot Noir
Stoneleigh Lattitude Pinot Noir
Villa Maria Cellar Pinot Noir Marborough 2010
Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2012
Kumeu River Wines Pinot Gris

A great future at many of the wineries was a business card faeturing their wines. If you like that wine simply pick up a business card with name of the wine and winery on it

Connecting with the Wineries

Connecting with the Wineries

With over seven hundred wineries in Canada It’s a difficult task keeping track of all the changes happening with the wineries. In recent years social media has made it easy to stay connected. But there are wineries that simply ignore me.

Perhaps with TV and radio stations now paying more attention to our wines and so many (too many bloggers) jumping on the band wagon a website than has  been supporting our wineries for twenty years is not that important.

Last week at the IslandWineries Annual Spring tasting I came across a winery that has never answered my e-mails or returned my phone calls that would be Domaine Rochette  in Saanich I questioned them about the lack of contact and received an accuse. They gave me a card with an e-mail address and promised they would respond. Sorry Domaine Rocette but that e-mail came bounching back three times I tried. I then looked up your website and used that e-mail connection. I have not heard from you.

There are others that do not answer. Most of the Quebec wineries do not respond. Maybe they prefer I e-mail then in French but sorry my junior high French I have long forgotten. But Ontario wineries like Fielding Estate Winery, Alvento, Angels Estate. Between the Lines   and Andrew Pellers Ltd are among the non responders.

There are even some wine associations that do not respond. Over the years the Nova Scotia Wine association use to be a good resource however today it is run by a new group who do not respond.

Back in BC where I live Bonaparte Bend, Chase and Warren, Desert Hills, Fairview Cellars, Young & Wyse Collection and Thornhaven Estate Winery are among those who never respond. If you place contact information on your website have the decency to respond please.

It is a times extremely frustrating especially when you meet some owners face to face and they promise to send the information you ask . But it never comes.  I  re ask and yet they do not respond. I still freely list the winery I still support them no one is left out  I seek out the information..  I do not get paid to do this

Andy Gebert of St Hubertus Winery said to me at the VQA Tasting event.  You and your website are a God Sent to Canadian wineries. Wineries should be bending over backwards thanking you.

If only Andy If only

Please see Letters

 

 

 

 

 

Virtual Wineries

When I think of a winery I envision rows and rows of grape vines. Driving down a country lane between the vines and coming upon a building ( commonly called the winery) where the wines are made.

Well take a reality check by true definition a winery does not need a vineyard. A winery is simply a place were wines are made. Wikepedia states A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company.

But what about a virtual Winery ! Virtual breweries are not new but Its the current buzz word for winemakers who use some else's facilities to make their own wine and place their own label on the wine. The winemaker may work independently of the winery where he/she makes their wine or they may actually be employed by the winery.

Virtual wineries are a North American interpretation of the Old World French tradition of wine négociants. Négociants are merchant-vintners who purchase grapes or pre-made wine from growers and then blend, bottle and sell it under their own name. Some better-known virtual wineries in the New World would be from the United States: Underdog Wine's Big House, Fish Eye and Cupcake to name a few. A major New Zealand winery, Kim Crawford, got its start as a virtual winery.

In Ontario back in 1990s Deborah Paskus and Stephen Temkin were among the first winmakers to start their own label using rented facilities, producing their lavishly rich Temkin-Paskus Chardonnay Also Ontario we have Leaning Post Wines and Nyarai Cellars (Steve Byfield). Recently you have Twenty Twenty-Seven Cellars. Allan Jackson and Andrew von Teichman make wines from various Niagara vineyards for their Union virtual winery.In British Columbia we have Sawmill Creek and Ganton & Larsen Prospect Winery, Sola-Nero and Copper Moon Which are just Branding names used by some of the bigger wineries like Vincor and Andrew Pellers. Let us not forget Sandhill made a Calone Winery in Kelowna owned by Andrew Pellers. Another big name is Black Cloud. Black Cloud is the personal label of Bradley Cooper winemaker for Township7.

Carlton Winemakers Studio in Oregon claims to be the nation's first "green" cooperative winemaking facility. The studio, which is a partnership between Eric Hamacher, his wife, Luisa Ponzi of Ponzi Vineyards, along with Ned and Kirsten Lumpkin of Lumpkin Construction in Seattle and Lazy River Vineyard in Yamhill, promises to be an archetype for Oregon's wine industry.

The facility was built in 2002 by a team of visionary winemakers and vineyard owners. Their intent was to build a facility that could provide a location for artisan winemakers to produce quality wines without the prohibitive overhead associated with creating individual winemaking facilities. The result was that and much more. The studio was the first winery in Oregon to register with the US Green Building Council

August Cellars also in Oregon produces about 2500 cases per year and is an Alternating Proprietorship facility; home to six other wineries: Artisanal Wine Cellars, Crowely Wines, Barking Frog, Et Fille, Laura Volkman Cellars and Toluca Lane. The operation is similar to Carlton Studio

In British Columbia the Okanagan Crush Pad will be the Okanagan's home for other virtual wineries, offering a custom crush facility for small wineries that can benefit from shared resources. It began with the open of Haywire Winery owned by Christine Coletta, and her husband Steve Lornie.

The 7,750 square foot Okanagan Crush Pad Winery is located on a 10-acre property in Summerland, BC, known as Switchback Vineyard. The winery is located at the north-west corner of the property and is built partially underground. The facility is not open to the public, but is designed as a co working space for winemakers to work side by side to share ideas and to collaborate. The design aesthetic ‘less is more' is expressed in the state-of-the-art wine cellar with exceptional wine as the outcome. The look is clean, crisp, and modern.

So what is the bottom line here. Are the wines good. Of course they are! The number one factor is where do the grapes come from. The secret to making good wines is good grapes. The winemaker may add his or her special touches and by doing so they provided you with choices.
If your looking for a tour among the vines and a fantastic tasting bar Virtual wineries may not be the way to plan your trip.

BC Wine and Grape Industry

Fact Sheet

 

 

·       The BC Wine Industry’s $2.0 billion economic impact is a significant driver to the BC economy.  For every bottle of wine produced in the Province, there is $42 of economic impact generated.

 

·       More than 10,000 people have jobs in BC as a result of the wine and grape industry.

 

·       British Columbians enjoy more than 234 million glasses or 47 million bottles of British Columbia wine each year.

 

·       BC welcomes over 800,000 visitors every year through the wine economy, that is more than the province drew for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

 

·       The BC Wine Industry generates $476 million in tourism and tourism employment related economic impact.

 

·       More than $298 million in federal and provincial taxes and liquor board mark up is generated by the wine industry in BC each year.  In taxes alone, the BC Wine Industry contributes $222 million.

 

·       BC Wine Economy has 212 wineries and over 864 vineyards on more than 9,800 acres of land.

 

source  wines of British Columbia

Complications of Wine Language

Have you ever found yourself surround by friends or even strangers and been asked "how do you like the wine" Your mind searches for those wine terms, the wine language you read about in wine reviews.

"I like the rich fruity black cherry and smokieness in the nose and the even bitter finish." Is this the description that flashes through your mind. You want to say. "It's Good I like it." Well go ahead, say it! Wine tasting does not have to be complicated. You do not have to extend the boundaries of the English language to describe the wine.

I have never understood "bright black fruit with anise dill and leather notes." Bright is a term that describes light not taste, anise dill I understand, anise can be described as having a licorice flavour, leather denotes hmmmm okay. What if someone described the wine " with a touch of olive and saddle leather" Would you know if it was good or bad. Is a wine supposed to have a leather flavour?
What about tobacco? Descriptive term, used by some, to describe a flavor component resembling the taste of raw tobacco leaf in the finish of certain red wines. Seems to mainly apply to Cabernet Sauvignons from Bordeaux, France or the Napa region of California. " Cigarbox " is a common term often used as a near synonym especially if a cedar-wood note in the aroma is detected. (Non-smokers may have trouble with this word and its implication).

Perhaps I'm just a simple guy who likes his wine and prefers to say.. I like this wine. Its good. Most enjoyable. an easy drinking wine with fruity flavours

Don't be intimidated by the language of wine. Simply describe the wine as it tastes to you. Allow your senses to react to the wine. Wine is to be enjoyed. The wine language is unique but you do not have to know it or refer to it in order to enjoy the wine tasting experience.

The following article from the Wines of Michigan * website

The Simple Pleasures of Wine by Joe Borello
The topic of wine is fascinating and often times emotional. It is a simple agricultural product, yet many have a tendency to shroud it in mystery and complexity. It is important to realize that wine has been placed on dining tables for centuries as a natural beverage that serves as a pleasing and logical companion to food.

Few other products offer as much diverse subject matter as wine. Interests range from cultivating personal vineyards, visiting the actual property of a winery, collecting wine labels, building a wine collection of fine wines, to simply taste-testing different wine styles with friends.
Wine also combines instinctively with an interest in food. Many professional and amateur chefs are wine hobbyists because good cuisine demands wine both as an intricate seasoning ingredient and as a basic component of the dining table. Keep in mind that like food, it is important to create a point of reference for what you may like in wine. As time goes by and your tasting experience grows you will notice subtle differences in your preferences, It is helpful to seek information from others, but don't be intimidated by their opinions.

Although many hours could be spent studying the finer points of wine, it is best enjoyed as an uncomplicated subject. So, what is the best way to enjoy and learn about wine and food? The experts tell us there is no substitute for personal tasting experiences. Through taste comes the acquisition of knowledge. What better way to acquire knowledge then by visiting local wineries or gathering with a group of friends for a wine and food tasting? As you taste and compare wines you will find that not all are pleasing to you. Wine, like food, is made in many different styles to satisfy different tastes. It is up to the individual to choose the wines that best suit a personal palate and pocketbook. In North America we are fortunate to have over 900 winery tasting room facilities in which to experience a variety of tastes and styles of wine. Many of these wineries have educational tours and videos of the facilities and the winemaking process. Knowledgeable winery representatives then guide visitors through enchanting tasting tours of nature's fruit of the vine.


*this article was edited to fit our website. Permission to use the article was obtained from Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council.

Icewine
Do I love Icewine! Yes I do !

My experience with Canada's amazing drop of golden liquid began in the 1990s.
We recieved a sample of wines from one of Ontarios Niagara-On-The-Lake wineries.
Included was a bottle a Vidal Icewine. At that time we had never tasted this precious wine.

Sadley we did not enjoy the wine. It was too thick and tasted like syrup.  For the next ten plus years my wife and I avoided the product. Since icewine is rather expensive its not a wine to buy for a second change.

We did not try icewine again untill 2004, the year we traveled to Ontario and the Niagara wine region
It was at the home of Icewine  Inniskillian that we were offered the opportunity by Deb Pratt to tatse their icewine. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. It was so good.

Ever since then I have been a true fan of Icewine and have enjoyed many icewines from various wineries across Canada..Our website has six pages on Icewine.  These pages are our most visited.
They are also perhaps the most quoted pages on various websites, blogs and news articles around the world

Visit us www.winesofcanada.com