British Columbian Wine - Opinions Please

[Luke_Whittall]

@MaiMadigan

@Luke Whittall

@MaiMadigan

I have a friend here in Tokyo who runs an all Canadian wine store. He does tastings and hosts winemakers when they are available. A really nice fellow and a great proponent of the wines. I would bet he would love to chat with you.

His name is Jamie Paquin and you can tell him Mai (from Tokyo) said you should talk to him. He will know.

Their website is at: http://www.heavenlyvines.com

Good luck!

Based on the joy I derive from Lock and Worth’s Bordeaux Blanc blend I am in the “fan” column the wines.

I believe I’ve met Jamie before - at one of the many wineries that I’ve worked for here in B.C. (Some of which have been mentioned in this thread already!) His store sounds fantastic and I plan on visiting it if I’m ever in Tokyo. He is probably one of the biggest international champions of Canadian wine I’ve ever met.

Yes I spoke to him after posting and he said he had met you doing a podcast or some such thing.

If you make it to Tokyo, joining us for a wine dinner is a must. We put on a decent show for visitors here.

Cool! I totally will take you up on that if I’m ever there! I might have met Jamie while podcasting but I’m sure I met him at the winery where I work part-time, probably late 2015. Either that or at a large wine store where I used to work but that was a few years ago. Is he on this site?

[Luke_Whittall]

@Siun o'Connell

WB is a bit - at time - like Usenet but in the best possible way.

Has the International Fireworks competition moved from Montreal or is there now an East and a West coast edition? Such a fun event! My daughter and I used to go to Montreal for it when we lived in NH down the road from one of the winners and one of my favorite ever nights was spent out on the piers of Old Montreal with the whole city watching fireworks and dancing in the streets.

Good to know! There were parts of the old Usenet that I really liked. Glad I don’t have to use Pine for email anymore though… (Anyone for a shout out to Unix? … Yeah, no, didn’t think so…)

Montreal’s competition was different from the Vancouver one. The Vancouver one is way smaller than what it used to be in Montreal (I used to live there) and a lot less organized in my opinion. The old pier in old Montreal was way nicer than crowding around English Bay.

[Luke_Whittall]

@David Cooper

I suppose I should weigh in on this. The BC wine industry has come a long way, but in general has a long way to go. They seem to operate in a giant bubble. For years they have been protected by different levels of government to the point that there have been challenges in court, brought by other regions who are punished by countervailing duties.

This has made the whole industry very insular. Few wineries need to sell their wines in other markets. Even sales to other provinces were forbidden until recently.

What the BC Wine Institute has done a great job with is marketing the wines inside the province. Many wine drinkers in BC think that BC wines stand alone as the greatest wines in the world, knowing little of other players in the wine world. These consumers seek out Burrowing Owl, Painted Rock and Laughing Stock among others.

It is very unusual to find BC wineries with a world view. Two of which are Vieux Pin/La Stella and Terravista.

A good friend of ours Rasoul Salehi took over the management of Vieux Pin and La Stella almost 10 years ago and has really helped market the wines to the rest of the world. I would have drank the wines anyway to support a friend, but it turns out the wines are fantastic IMHO. They show very European for the most part and only the highest priced ones seem to appeal to the label drinkers.

Terravista on the other hand is owned by the couple who ran Black Hills for years and are now making two very good, well priced whites. One a Rhone blend called Figaro and the other a Spanish varietal blend called Fandango. I’m not sure these wines will ever be available outside of BC but they should be.

In terms of the rest of the industry there is nothing I would wholeheartedly recommend. The whole Okanagan Crush Pad operation is very dissapointing with their myriad of mediocre offerings.

Painted Rock, Liquidity and Laughing Stock have had some success but they seem to be chasing the high roller market. Cedar Creek has made some great wines, in fact I had a 2002 Meritage blind last night and loved it. I just haven’t had very many of their wines so can’t decide yet.

Tantalus makes fantastic Riesling, especially the Old Vines bottling but their other wines leave me cold. Culmina made an unbelievable Chardonnay from a high altitude vineyard but then tore out the vines to plant Cabernet on the advise of a geologist (and their banker probably).

It is very nice to be able to visit the wineries to taste and buy without the obvious intervention of the provincial government. It would be nicer to actually speak with the people involved with the process but that is very rare. Almost every winery big or small has sales people at the tasting counter who know very little. This is prevalent both in the Okanagan and in the VQA stores.


Just one man’s rambling opinion.

A very good opinion, thank you. I know Rasoul although he might remember me more as the cellar hand that worked with James Cambridge at LVP for the harvest in 2008. I think that was his first year. I haven’t seen him in a long time. Please tell him that I said hello next time you see him.

[David_Cooper]

I certainly will Luke. Good luck with your book. Let us know when you have it available.

[Freelon_F_Hunter]

@bob parsons alberta

Some great chat here and I did contribute from here in Alberta. Burrowing Owl has missed the mark for a number of years now, Culmina has some very high pricing.

I was up in Richmond B.C. every month during the latter part of the last decade so gained some experience with their wine. Also, Wine Press Northwest (Andy Perdue’s magazine) used to cover BC wine, so read something about what was going on up there. Remember a big fire affected some of the wineries one year.

Back then, found Burrowing Owl to be the most consistent wine for my Bordeaux loving palate.

Tried some 2005 Osoyoos that Garagiste hyped, was very disappointed. Was given some Road 13 as gifts when I retired, good but not memorable.

As others have pointed out, you rarely see the BC wine here in Seattle in the shops. Too bad given the great exchange rate right now!

[MaiMadigan]

@Luke Whittall

@MaiMadigan

Yes I spoke to him after posting and he said he had met you doing a podcast or some such thing.

If you make it to Tokyo, joining us for a wine dinner is a must. We put on a decent show for visitors here.

Cool! I totally will take you up on that if I’m ever there! I might have met Jamie while podcasting but I’m sure I met him at the winery where I work part-time, probably late 2015. Either that or at a large wine store where I used to work but that was a few years ago. Is he on this site?

I do not think he is here but he is on Facebook. We’ll keep an eye out for you over here

[Boris_Palameta]

I would urge visitors to dig deep in the Similkameen Valley…such a gorgeous area, with some lovely wineries who will receive you with open arms. E.g. Orofino, Little Farm, Clos du Soleil.

In the Osoyoos area, look out for Lariana. Very small scale, they don`t produce a lot…but what there is, is choice. Try the Viognier. Also Moon Curser - check out the Tannat.

[Andyperdue]

The best Cabernet Sauvignon I’ve ever tasted came from the Naramata Bench, the Kettle Valley Crest Vineyard Cab.

[Gareth_H]

I did vintage in the Okanagan in 2013. I’m from Australia and knew pretty much nothing about the industry over there.

I was surprised at how warm it was in the summer months. Beautiful place though. I can only echo what other comments have said about the fruit salad of varieties planted there, which is kind of a sign of the immaturity of the region overall. Says a lot that I liked some of the Syrah and Malbec as much as I liked the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. It’s weird though. Diurnal range is huge, and it gets cold in a hurry. Makes me think the real late-ripeners like Cabernet, and even Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne had no business growing there, when there was snow on the ground and they were still hanging. Lots of microclimates in the region though. Placement is everything… The Eastern side of the bench (getting the Western sun) is more prized for that reason. I have fond memories of Blue Mountain’s Pinot (very burgundian style), and their sparkling, as well as Foxtrot’s Pinot and Chardonnay. Church and State’s Syrah was spicy and lean and terrific, and I also remember Joie’s PTG as a highlight.

Someone else mentioned the Similkameen. Other side of the mountains, some terrific wineries there which I felt were a bit under-appreciated. Seven Stones, Orofino were highlights.

I would love to find some BC wines in my neck of the woods but I know there’s a fat chance of that ever happening. I’d have to import them myself, which I have considered doing despite the taxes…

[John_Morris]

This is great reading, folks. Keep it coming!

I hadn’t realized until I looked up Vieux Pin for one of my posts above that that’s where Rasoul was headed when we met in 2008. I’m not surprised, given his evident good palate.

[bob_parsons_alberta]

Good perception from Gareth so thanks.