The History of Wine: British Columbia
Over the next few blogs, I am going to take you on a journey to one of my favourite wine producing regions: British Columbia, Canada. I will kick off my tribute to BC wines by discussing its history. British Columbia was producing wine as early as the late 1850’s, when a monk named father Pandosy set up the first white settlement in the Mission area of Kelowna. He saw the potential for producing wine for the holy sacrament and send word to Vatican to have vines sent to him....
Read MoreBest BC Wineries of 2012
Annually, leading wine experts across Canada group together for the Wine Access Canadian Wine Awards, which judge the best in Canadian wines. Based upon the December 2012 publication of Wine Access, below you will find the winning wineries that hail from BC. I definitely encourage you to pick up a December 2012 copy of Wine Access, as it will go into more detail on the winning wineries. Thornhaven Estates Winery – Summerland, BC – Thornhaven is open throughout the...
Read MoreBest BC Wines of 2012
Wine Access, a publication that discusses wines that are available in the Canadian market, recently published a list of the winners from the Canadian Wine Awards. Below, I share with you the winning wines from BC. The Best Canadian Red Wines of 2012 The BC Choices: BC managed to snag four out of the five awards in this category and all of them where Syrah based wines. As a suggestion, if you can find one of all the wines mentioned below, do a taste off with your friends and...
Read MoreSyrah vs Shiraz: Know the Difference
We can thank James Busby, originally from Scotland, for the Australian Shiraz. Back in 1831, Busby brought a cutting from a Syrah vine home to Australia from a trip to France. This small act not only created Shiraz, but started wine culture in Australia entirely. Now, you might be thinking that ‘Shiraz’ is just an accented pronunciation of Syrah. Or a mispronunciation entirely. You might be thinking that ‘Shiraz’ was all a mistake. Not the case. Shiraz was...
Read MoreThe Basics of Organic Wine: Brands and What to Know
These days, I’ve been seeing more and more about organic foods in general. Health-conscious people are standing up and taking notice of what ‘organic’ can do for them. And as a sommelier, I get a lot of questions about organic wine. Is it healthier? Is it better for me? Does it taste better than non-organic wine? Well, today I’d like to spend some time and clear up the big questions around organic wine. It’s worth knowing about, but keep in mind that organic production is a...
Read MoreWashington State Wine Tours: List of Regions
1. Yakima Valley You can find at least 60 different wineries here. The emphasis is on Syrah and Riesling, but with so many wineries, you’re bound to find more. 2. Walla Walla Valley This region has seen a fair bit of growth with almost 100 wineries here. The big emphasis is on cabernet sauvignon. You’ll also see Merlot, Chardonnay, and Syrah grapes coming from this region. 3. Columbia Valley The Columbia Valley is definitely Washington State’s wine...
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