Looking Back

Looking back I can recall my adventure into the wonderful world of wine began in 1992. My wife and I were married in Lake Tahoe on our honeymoon we traveled to Yosemite National Park. After touring the park our plan was to head back on the same road we arrived on, however that did not happen. But luckily this road led us to the Napa Valley of California. Here is where we spend the remainder of our honeymoon. What an exciting time it was!

Prior to our stay in Napa we were not huge wine drinks. In fact we seldom had alcohol in the house. But boy those wines were good. Back home I began to teach myself to create a website. It was just a fun site no special topic. However one day we decided to buy some wine at the local store. Barbara came to me with a pamphlet about BC wineries. She said "Why don't you do a website on Wine".

My wife is a good influence I took her advise and began to build a site on a free hosting service, popular at the time. I called my site Wines of the World. Here, based on a book Wine by Andre Domaine I listed all the wine regions around the world. Canada was not listed in the book. 

Once that was done I started to list all the BC wineries in the Pamphlet. Little did I know it had a number of errors. For example it listed Sandra Oldfield as winemaker at Crowsnest. Sandra began and finished her Winemaking career at Tinhorn Creek. Thankfully the winery notified me of the error.

There were no websites to Google back then. I found two books to help me, one by Tony Adler and the other by John Schreiner. I realized just how little I knew about the Canadian wine Industry. There were more wineries and more wine regions all across Canada, there was work to be done.

This meant a change in my website. The Wines of the World was too big a subject to cover and we changed to Wines of Canada. I was amazed to find the domain name was available. Our tag line Wines of Canada Challenging the World.

There was only one other website covering Canada's wine industry. I was more of a chat room than an information site. It soon disappeared. I was the only website dedicated to our wines and wineries. This last for a few years before other regional sites popped up. In 1994 I was quite excited to get thirty hits a day. Today thats a disappointing number for just one hour.

In 94 we took our first trip to the Okanagan based mostly upon the wine route in a Pamphlet . Our first stop was Crownest Winery in the Similkameen Valley. We found the lane with a chain across it and the driveway covered in vegetation. It had been closed for sometime. The winery did re-open with new owners and are doing quite well.

Our next stop was St. Laszlo Vineyards Estate Winery our first experience with Fruit wines. Here we were warmly greeted by Joe Ritlop and enjoyed a wonderful tasting experience.

We were now off to Kelowna. Our first winery we visited in Kelowna was Mission Hill. It was perhaps the most talked about winery of the day. Although this was before its rebuild and architecture it is know for today. We took the tour. It was not the greatest experience too many people in a small space with a guide hired for the summer. I do not remember the tasting room experience. 

In 1994 Mission Hill Family Estate put the Okanagan Valley on the map by winning the International Wine & Spirit Competition in London for 'Best Chardonnay in the World' and at the time the Master of Wine Judges were in such disbelief they re-tasted all of the wines and Mission Hill won a second time. 

From Mission hill we went to Quails' Gate Estate Winery in Kelowna, in which had opened in 1989. We were impressed by the winery, the staff and the wines. 

The following day we visited Summerhill Pyramid Winery. The organic winery was opened in 1987. I do not recall if the restaurant was open on that trip. However we never miss having lunch at the winery on all our Okanagan trips.

From there we visited St Hubertus and Oak Bay Vineyards which originally planted in 1928 by J.W. Hughes during a time when good agricultural land was plentiful. Since 1984, the Gebert Family use sustainable farming practices on their 76 acre vineyard. By chance I came across Leo Gebert who gave me a tour of the winery and vineyards. Barbara was in the gift shop.

Finally we spend the evening at the Okanagan Wine Festival event in Kelowna. I remember it been crowed and the room been rather small. Here is where I first met John Schreiner who was there signing his book. It was also here we met the owners of Hainle estate winery. I was very excited about that since they were known for Ice Wine. The winery dates back to 1988 with the real story beginning in 1972, when the winery's original founder, Walter Hainle, produced North America's first icewine. 

They invited us to visit the winery which we did the next day on our way home. We had a most enjoyable time there.

So now we were home with new insights and new information. On that trip no one knew about Winesofcanada.com. But that would change by 2004 we were close to three million hits a year. By 2010 the blogger began to arrive.

We have been blessed to be Canada's number one wine website. It was a hobby perused mostly during the winter months. As we went from a handful of wineries to over 800 (counting Meaderies and Cideries) now its a daily task often without much reward.

Today we are THE website representing Canada's wine industry. We like to take about the wines, the winery and people of the wineries. Since all provinces license cideries and meaderies along with wineries we list them too. It means we have our eyes on over 800 business. It is a huge task.

We are non profit our reward is the kind words received by our many visitors and people in the industry. See More

When our budget allows we visit the wineries. We tell the story of every visit on the website. Please see Robert's Report

We do wine reviews, only on wines we have enjoyed by the glass. Robert's Selections. We do a number of Feature articles too. Please visit our sitemap

Merry Christmas!

 Working Alone

Is it wrong to have only one employee working in your winery tasting room. I believe it is. There are times when an employee can be over whelmed by the number of customers that show up. This effects the ability to property service the customer to their expectation. It results in unhappy customers not to mention loss of sales. 

Unhappy customers tent to tell others destroying the reputation of the winery. You lose new customer, you lose the chance of a of a first time visitor ever returning.

It is also a safety concern. A person is working "alone" cannot be seen or heard by another person.

It is important to consider all situations carefully. Working alone includes all workers who may go for a period of time where they do not have direct contact with a co-worker or management. 

A robber is more likely to strike a location where they know employees works alone.

What creates a situation where employees work alone. Labour cost, management is trying to reduce the cost of doing business. But is it worth the risk.

Your risking loss of sales, unhappy customer, unhappy employee, injury to an employee and safety concern.

Friends came to visit us a few days ago who are frequent visitors to the Okanagan. They told us of a visit to two wineries. One a really good experience. The other, a major winery, was not a good experience, because there was only one person working and they were overwhelmed. having to deal with the inside tasting room and the outside patio tables. Guess which winery they will return to on their next trip and which one they will not. Which winery did they buy wine. Which one they did not buy wine!

Restaurant operators across Canada are struggling to find enough staff to run their operations. This labour crisis has been highly publicized by Canadian media as a “labour shortage.” One the concerns listed by restaurant workers, long hours on their feet, lack of washroom opportunities and working alone.

A successful winery requires a strong business plan and a team of innovative and passionate workers. The wineries that are successful are constantly finding new ways to connect with their customers and provide exceptional experiences for all their guests.

Selling directly to consumers is one way wineries make money. For wineries, this is often one of the best ways to make profits. When a consumer purchases a wine bottle directly at a winery, they typically pay the full retail price for it, and all the sales go straight to the winery.

In my career as a area manger for a fast food change One of the first things I did when promoted was informed the mangers that no one works alone. Those restaurants that where using one person on a shift all of them had increase sales with additional staff.

If you’re an employer, you must identify and eliminate, or if that is not possible minimize, hazards to anyone who is working alone. As part of this, you’re required to develop working alone policies and procedures, including a system to check the well-being of workers at predetermined intervals.

Your obligations related to working alone and preventing workplace violence are detailed in the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, under section 4.20.1, Working Alone or in Isolation and section 4.27, Violence in the Workplace.

 IL POSTO

Ladner's casual Italian eatery is a gem!

Close friends Ken and Jane who live in Ladner asked Barbara and I if we would like to join them for dinner at Il Posto. We could not say no; I was excited to experience this extremally popular restaurant; Barbara had been here previously but I had not.

Il Posto did not disappoint, it was a delightful experience from the start. We knew we were in good hands when Andrew, the manager cheerfully accommodated Ken's request for a table in the covered outdoor section of the restaurant. A short wait was involved, which we agreed to, and were seated at a counter overlooking the kitchen.

It was an interesting experience to watch the coordinated efforts of the busy kitchen team putting the meals together. We were all impressed with the food safety procedures they followed The experience was so enjoyable the wait time speed by, and Andrew was there to show us to our table.

We were given a very nice corner table overlooking the sidewalk. Our server Christie was a delight and very efficient. We were amazed to learn that she was not long out of the corporate world, one would have thought she had been a server for years! With a growing family she had decided a career change was in order.  She made us feel important, and cared that we enjoyed our dining experience.

The food was exceptional! Jane had lasagna. Ken and I enjoyed the chicken parmesan. Barbara went with the ricotta bruschetta to ensure she would have room for dessert. After sampling my chicken Barbara put it on her list to try for our next visit.

The dessert menu features the traditional family recipe tiramisu, New York style cheesecake, and of course, gelato. We all chose the tiramisu with kahlua, mascarpone, espresso and dark chocolate.. Oh so good.

Their drink menu is excellent; my interest, of course, was the wine menu. It features a number of very good British Columbia wines. The list included whites; Summerhill Cipes Brut, Mt Boucherie Pinot Gris, and Checkmate Fools Mate Chardonnay. For the reds; Rust Wine Co. Cabernet Franc, McWatter Meritage, and Nk'Mip Qwam Qwmt Syrah.

Chef Terry Pichor and his partner, Julie Marcopoulos, are the owners. Pichor is best known for his long-standing position as executive chef of the Relais & Châteaux property Sonora Resort. Prior to that, the chef worked at Four Seasons Vancouver and, more recently, helped open Vancouver Island’s Summit Restaurant at Villa Eyrie Resort, which was shortlisted for Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2017 by Air Canada's enRoute magazine.

Julie grew up in Tsawasseen where her Dad was the long-time owner of Mario's Restaurant.

We are looking forward to our next visit to IL Posto! Reservations are highly recommended!

 Hospitality Its the Attitude! 

When asked the question: Who is the most important person in your business. The answer is of course the customer. In most cases you are relying on the continuous support of the customer and the reference they may provide for your business. The easy part of building a successful business is to get the customer to enter your establishment the first time. The hardest part is to get them to return. If you are like the average company, up to 40% of your customers walk out the door and never come back. What's worse, the "average" business is totally oblivious to their actual churn rate—so they do nothing to correct the problem.

The number one reason people fail to return to a business is related to attitude. The attitude of indifference from the individual(s) who they encounter. To repeat that the number one reason for lost customers is the attitude. A poor attitude, poor service, disinterest service is the number one reason a customer does not return. When someone is happy with the services provide by a company the chances of them telling someone are less than 10% if they are unhappy the chances of them telling someone are over 80% the changes of them telling multiple people over 65%.

So if you ask your employees who the most important person in the company is; the answer is me. Me referring to each individual employee. Me because it is each personal individual attitude that determines the success of the business. 

Since I spent over 25 years in the hospitality business including writing a super host training program and at one time owned two restaurants I am very critical of the standards of service I receive in any business. I have had a few bad experiences as a customer dealing with improperly trained employees and management people. I'll never eat again at Boston Pizza.

There are other ways besides direct contact with a poor attitude that can also result in a business losing customers. Included here; not respond to inquiries either by phone, email or letters,or keep customers, investors, media and stakeholders updated. Today your online presence is also a key factor. Respect those who support your business.

The Wineries:

It is not often that I experience a bad or unsatisfying visit to a winery. But it does happen.

I can recall waiting twenty minutes for the winery to open after the stated time on the door.

I've been told I can't offer you more than four tasting because its against the law. It is not.

(I spit sometimes). I've been told a wine listed on their tasting menu will not be tasted because we don't want to open a new bottle. I've even been subjected to a lecture on how good German wines are. What your working for a BC winery not Germany. O yes we have been ignored too and on a couple of occasions found the winery door open but no one around. 

Perhaps what irritates me the most is when your tasting room host is paying attention to you until some else comes in, be it a regular or a friends and suddenly your forgotten about. The host must have the ability to include everyone. 

At one respected winery restaurant our waitress seemed to disappear after the main meal was served. When she finally returned she said "Oh I forgot about you" 

I do not request any special treatment when visiting a winery. In fact I prefer just to walk in and see how good or indifferent their hospitality is on a first time visit. 

Where I have more of a concern for lack of hospitality and a poor attitude is at major wine tasting events. Here you often find bored sales agents and hired day staff. Often these people know little about the wines and wineries they are representing and far too often their cell phone rates ahead of you. You been the person the winery wants at their table and should be impressing; why else is the winery there! 

I think its import that the winery selects the right people to be representing them, skilled at greeting and acknowledging people. Skilled at pouring wines, skilled at communications and have a knowledge of the wines and winery they are representing. Do not leave it up to the hotel, the event organizers or your marketing company. It up to you to protect the interest of your business.

 White Spot Guildford

White Spot is a classic among family restaurants in British Columbia. Nat Bailey opened Canada's first  drive-in Restaurant  in 1928, located in the Marpole neighbourhood of Vancouver. It would become known as the Granville House. A "Car Hop would deliver food directly to your car.

More restaurants would follow with car hop service and "dinning in". By the 1990s  the drive ins were rapidly disappearing as the newer and renovated restaurants advanced into indoor seating.

White Spot was sold in 1968 to General Foods. In 1982 Shato Holdings, a lower mainland Company under Peter Toigo bought the chain.

The Gilford location in Surrey is one of the older restaurants still remaining with a  Drive Inn. Barbara and  I visited the location last week. Sadly our visit could be descripted as a mixed bag of the Good and the Ugly

The Building been old and needing a good renovation.

The staff, however was terrific. They were friendly and full of smiles. They responded quickly and efficiently to a few requests we made.

In todays world restaurants of that size would be required to have more than one restroom. This location had one for women and one for men. The men's was small, slowing visible signs of aging and could have been cleaner.

Barbara had the Classic Hamburger, one of the items that helped make White Spot famous. I had the traditional breakfast. Without saying too much I would give it a D plus. 

The White Spot offers the Jackson -Triggs  table wines which are actually very good!

I did not see any cars in the Drive-inn section.

Time to build a new Guilford White Spot!!

White Spot Tsawwassen:

Barbara and I dropped by for a quick lunch.  WE ordered a Clubhouse Sandwich to be shared. The food was good the original entry greeting was good.  The restaurant did have a few failing points.

The washroom for men was dirty and had a cracked toilet seat. The cutlery was nor properly clean . I gave the dirty knife to a server who just grabbed the knive. She did not return with a new one.

AS to the service. The young lady was quite stiff. Her approach did not add to the enjoyment of the meal. No extra plate was provide to share the sandwich. There was no contact by the server asking if all was well or did we enjoy our meal.

I have no choice but to give a F to White Spot! 

 The Golden Mile 

Unique and oh-so-beautiful, British Columbia's Golden Mile is an area located in the Southern Okanagan region. Today, the Golden Mile is known for its wines. The land is dotted by wineries and covered with vineyards. The Golden Mile sub-region lies south of Oliver on an east-facing bench backed by gentle mountains. 

The sub-region begins just south of Oliver at Fairview and extends southward to the3502 Fruitvale Way where Gold Hills winery is located. It is said that the Golden Mile was given its name because of its location, geography and resulting temperatures and ideal growing conditions. The Golden Mile is located off the Valley floor in the upper bench. This is particularly important when there is a fall frost as it is less likely to reach, and therefore damage, plants in the area. This makes it ideal for ground cropping as the positioning allows for additional warmth from the rocks, which benefits the crops and lengthens the growing season 

The temperature in the Golden Mile can be six to eight degrees warmer than what is found along Highway 97 at the bottom of the valley. This was critical in the early years for the area wineries because of frost. Vines cannot be exposed to early or severe frost – the leaves turn brown, photosynthesis and ripening stop, and the plan is easily wounded and even killed. Past years have seen a distinct temperature shift and the lower-lying areas along Highway 97 are significantly warmer than in past decades. But traditionally, grape crops needed to count on a longer, warmer season through mid to late October for crops to properly ripen. This can be relied upon in the Golden Mile. 

The first commercial vineyard was planted in 1969 by Joe Bisnardo, who currently owns Divino Estate Winery on Vancouver Island

Early Development History ** 

The rich history of the area dates back to 1918 when the Southern Okanagan Lands Project was established following the passage of the Soldiers Land Act. Up until that point most of the activity in the region centred on an area four kilometers west of Oliver called Fairview. This old gold mine community dating back to the 1880s was created to work on the Stemwinder, Smuggler, Joe Dandy, Strathyne, Susie, Tinhorn and Wide West claims. 

The Soldiers Land Act was spearheaded under Liberal Party Premier John Oliver and his Minister of Lands, T. D. (Duff) Pattullo. Known as “Honest John,” Oliver was a simple man of considerable integrity. He governed BC through difficult times, including the readjustments after World War I and the economic depression of the early 1920s. 

The “Act” was a priority for Honest John as it permitted the British Columbia government to purchase 22,000 acres of land from the Southern Okanagan Land Company for use as a soldier settlement to accommodate returning veterans from WWI. The settlement scheme included the establishment of a town site (appropriately named “Oliver”); the subdivision and sale or lease of lots in the region, and the construction of an open-canal gravity irrigation system, completed in 1927, stretching from a dam at the outlet of Vaseux Lake to the Canada/USA border. 

To get the canal from the east side of the Valley to the benches on the west – known today as the Golden Mile – a 1,940 foot (591 m) long, six-and-a-half-foot (2 m) diameter wood-stave pipe was constructed that ran directly beneath the centre of Oliver. This water main, combined with the arrival of electricity from the West Kootenay Power and Light Company in 1922, meant that canal and river waters could be pumped up onto the Valley's benches. The 23-mile (37 km) long canal turned what was previously cattle ranging land into a lush ground crop and fruit-growing region that dwarfed what was occurring elsewhere in the province. The importance of this canal and irrigation system to the transformation of this region cannot be overstated. 

On May 24, 1923, the first train arrived in Oliver. A few months later, the first cantaloupes were sold, and the response was so overwhelming that 44 carloads were put on the market the next season. The region thrived until the 1930s when activities slowed down because of the hard economic times. In 1935 and 1936, a small boom occurred in mining with the reopening of the Morning Star at Fairview and in the lumber industry with the opening of a small sawmill. 

With water added to the region's bounty of sunshine, Oliver grew in population between 1926 and 1936, from 500 to 1800, and became a prosperous community centred on agricultural abundance. Ultimately the canal irrigation system that was constructed between 1918 and 1927 was handed over to the citizens of Oliver and Osoyoos in 1990. 

According to archived records, the first lot in the new development was sold to D. P. Simpson on March 4, 1921, followed by F. W. Nesbitt and C. Leighton. George Mabee, John Burns and Guy P. Bagnall bought the first lots south of town. These men all planted orchards the same year. They formed the Oliver Produce Association with H. Earle, the first president, and joined the Oliver Cooperative Association in 1923. 

Another reason for the name Golden Mile comes from the 19th century gold and silver mines. Tinhorn Creek is named after Tin Horn Creek Quartz a mining company that once owned the land. 

At one time, there was a winery named Golden Mile Cellars. The winery was designed to look like a castle. Peter and Helga Serwo purchased the winery site in 1985. The Serwos were responsible for a good chunk of the early Golden Mile plantings including the original Tinhorn Creek site. Pam and Mick Luckhurst purchased in the land and winery in 2003. In 2008, they decided the name Golden belonged to the sub-region and all the winemakers of the Golden Mile. They renamed their winery Road 13 Vineyard. Establishing the phrase "its all about the dirt" 

Bill Eggert former owner and winemaker who established Fairview Cellars in 1993 at the Golden Mile's northern tip, says that wines made on the Golden Mile are often more complex than those grown on the sandy eastern side of the Valley. The Golden Mile has a good quantity of gravel in the soil, allowing drainage and a good percentage of clay for retaining nutrients.* 

A detailed description of the Golden Mile wineries can be found on the Okanagan Oliver page. 

In 2014 the Golden Mile became the first sub-Designated Viticultural Area (or sub-Geographical Indication) of the Okanagan Valley DVA. It does not include all of the wineries around Oliver.

 Bell Peppers and Hummus

A really good snack for your happy hours is Hummus and Peppers, green red or yellow. I prefer the baby peppers. They all go well with wine.

Most  food and wine writers avoid the subject as the pepper's flavours change with the colour. They also change with cooking and how they are prepared. 

A vegetal green pepper  is best suited to a fruity sweet wine. I have a host of white wines I like with the green or red peppers. They are Pinot Grigio, Bacchus or a Verdejo Pinot Grigio, Bacchus or a verdejo.

Adding hummus changes everything smooth creamy hummus pairs well with a creamy white wine that has undergone malolactic fermentation   You could go with a Chardonnay or a white Rhône blend. Classic hummus also pairs nicely with a medium-bodied rosé or light fruity red like Pinot Noir or Beaujolais. But remember their are so many flavours of hummus you have to select wisely.

Barbara prefers a red wine. There are so many that work well with both red and green peppers. Try a Grenache or a Gamay. For those of you who like Zinfandel its works well with both peppers and the hummus.

What about Chardonnay , to me it goes with plain Hummus, but not straight peppers. 

When roasting peppers we go with Pinot Grigio .

When using a Sun Dried Tomato hummus and peppers go with does black cherry wines such as Pinot noir Also try a Cab Sauvignon. A friend of our loves pepper and hummus with Malbac

If you are adding a spicy hummus try a Riesling! 

If you’ve been wondering why youthful wines from particular grapes taste really fruit-driven and others have a wide array of savory flavors, the answer may be methoxypyrazine. A group of these savory flavors (which includes “bell pepper”) come from a from a specific aroma compound called methoxypyrazine (often called “pyrazines” for short). The compound is found in higher proportions in the “Bordeaux-family” grapes: Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec.

If you can experiment to find the wine that best suites you..

Humans can distinguish more than 1 trillion scents, according to new research. The findings show that our sense of smell is far more discriminating than previously thought.

“The message here is that we have more sensitivity in our sense of smell than for which we give ourselves credit. We just don’t pay attention to it and don’t use it in everyday life,” Dr. Keller says.

One  study claims that there is an approximate 30 percent difference between any two people's sense of smell. So what pepper and wine combination one may enjoy someone else will not.