I am writing a book on the history of the wine industry in British Columbia and live in the Okanagan Valley. I am interested to find out what your opinions are about B.C. wine compared to other wine regions. I have done some keyword searches on previous posts and found some really interesting information so far. But I am still wondering about some general questions:
Have you heard about any wines from B.C.?
Have you ever visited the region?
Have you tried any wines from B.C.?
If you have tried any B.C. wines, what were your impressions? How do they compare to other wines from other regions in your opinion?
If you haven’t tried any B.C. wines, have you been interested to try any? Is there any appeal to seek it out?
If you have never heard of, never tried, and don’t care to try anything from B.C., please let me know as well! That information is still useful to me.
I am really interested to get points of view from outside of B.C. If your profile doesn’t indicate where in the world you are, please let me know if you are comfortable doing so.
Please note that this is for research and that anything you post might be quoted in the book if deemed appropriate, with attributions to the person posting as well as the Wineberserker community at large.
If you have tried any B.C. wines, what were your impressions? How do they compare to other wines from other regions in your opinion?
If you haven’t tried any B.C. wines, have you been interested to try any? Is there any appeal to seek it out?
Yes
Yes
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It’s like many regions - a lot of indifferent wine, some that are more intereseting. It’s a developing region so whatever anyone says will be out of date soon, but there’s much to be interested in. Years ago I tasted many whites from there, but in the past eight years or so I’ve had increasing numbers of reds that were quite good. They’ve obviously paid attention to winemaking and trends elsewhere, and they’re forging their own path. While many do a credible job with the Bordeaux varieties, once again Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon are the top varieties by acreage.
I think they should explore further than those grapes that are planted all over the world. I would be interested in seeing what they could do with things like Lagrein, Blaufrankisch, Tempranillo, Nebbiolo, Teroldego, Zinfandel, Trousseau, or any number of other grapes that could be interesting. From my limited exploration, I found more diversity among the white grapes.
And depending on the exchange rate with the US dollar, they’re overpriced or well-priced. That’s a twist that we don’t have to deal with when buying domestic wines.
But I’m interested in seeing how it continues to develop up there.
That’s not really right. It’s hot and arid in the interior in the summer, completely different from the coastal climate. Similarly, in Washington State, the grapes are grown in the dry, eastern half of the state, not near drizzly Seattle. This picture gives you a sense of the desert-like vegetation in the Okanagan Valley in BC:
The challenge is more latitude and hours of daylight, I think. Parts of the Okanagan wine area are at nearly 50 degrees latitude. That’s the level of Brussels, versus ~47 degrees for Burgundy and the Loire (the most northerly serious red wine areas in France). The Washington State wine regions are closer to 47, too:
Still, there are some very respectable reds being made in BC. I’ve had good syrahs from Laughing Stock and Vieux Pin that had more in common with Northern Rhone wines than most New World syrahs. I’ve had very good pinots from Nichols. And Gruaud Larose is making quite good Bordeaux blends in a joint venture called Osoyoos Larose.
My wife and I first visited the Okanagan in 2002. At the time it seemed geared to tourists. The buses pulling up at some of the larger wineries made it difficult to get a real tasting and conversation with a winery employee.
Since that time we have tried any number of the wines, mostly red, and while quality is definitely on the rise, the pricing is too high for the quality of the wines. That’s pretty typical of emerging wine regions, but it is an impediment to trying more bottles. Then there is the limited distribution. We mostly try BC wines when we visit the Canadian Rockies every other year. It would be fun to try more, but it’s just not possible.
I’ve had some good wines from there, more in the offbeat varieties than the perennial favorites. IIRC, there have been a few acceptable to good Pinots and Chards – but some standout Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris. But that’s just from memory, not from notes.
Also some Sankt Laurent, but the one I had from Nichols, whose pinot I liked, was pretty charmless.
There are lots of good dry whites from chardonnay, pinot gris and other standard grapes – a huge increase on the number of decent ones over the last 10 or 15 years. There are also good dry and just-off-dry wines from aromatic grapes like riesling and gewurtztraminer (the Joie winery’s line-up is very good and modestly priced).
I just booked a week in Peachland (heart of Okanagan Valley). I’ve had a few riesling from the valley that were delicious. I have heard there are some great wineries up there but the bigger, well known wineries are making over extracted, over oaked reds. So I hope I find wines that are more our style.
The area is absolutely beautiful. From what I’ve seen, the scenery seems the most scenic compared to Oregon and California.
There are definitely some of those. That sells, after all.
I haven’t visited BC wineries, but for reds, Nichol Vineyards and Vieux Pin are definitely not in that overripe, overdone category. I’d be curious to hear what you think if you visit. The Nichol pinots I’ve had over the last decade have been very nicely balanced, and restrained. The Vieux Pin syrahs have been taut and high acid, like an old-school Northern Rhone in structure.
Joie Farm would be high up on my list to visit for whites. I wouldn’t say world class, but nicely made and fairly priced.
It helps that the Canadian dollar is around US$0.76. When it was closer to par, the value really wasn’t there.
I live next door in Alberta and I have posted on quite a few whites here on the forum. Nothing to add to the white wines but have never been a fan of the reds which can be quite expensive.
I always mention Mission Hill Reserve, Cedar Creek and Sandhill for nice entry level whites.
I believe the region is in its infancy. Confused and haven’t found its place. It literally grows and makes everything.
5% real great stuff
25% decent stuff
70% crap that shouldn’t be made
Needs maturity and needs to find and define who they are. You can’t do Pinot and Malbec at the same place.
We don’t seem to see much B.C. wine down here in Seattle, which is a little odd given that Seattle is probably the closest “major market” export city geographically.
What I’ve had has largely been on visits to Vancouver, B.C. and the surrounding area. Based on an extremely small sample size (<15-18 wines in total, including reds and whites from 5-6 wineries) my favorite was likely a Bacchus (Fraser Valley, I think), with a few Rieslings (Okanagan, perhaps, don’t recall) trailing a bit behind.
I’ve been a few times and have enjoyed my visits. Although, they were more recreational in nature – soaking up the sun and visiting family – not specifically “touring” the wine region.
It seems to me they just haven’t found their place yet. They seem to make every varietal under the sun… which is a good thing in my opinion. However, with experimenting, there comes the risk of failure, and I have had some dreadful wines. There are some doing a great job though. Unfortunately, I think I’m spoiled with the other local wine regions. In almost every case, I find that I can find something that I enjoy more and get better bang for the buck from either WA or OR.
Brandon - John’s recommendations are good. Although I have not tried Le Vieux Pin. I’d also recommend Bella, who are making some interesting sparkling wines (and conveniently located near Joie and Nichol if you’re on the Naramata Bench). Thoughts on a few others that are probably on the list of the “bigger, more well-known” places you mentioned:
I have enjoyed some Black Hills reds. When younger and in hotter vintages, they may be on the line for the “over-oaked, over extracted” but with age or in cooler years, I think they’re very nice.
La Stella is definitely in the “over” category, but for that style, I think they are excellent. And they certainly aren’t big when compared to Cali or Australia (I know, I’m generalizing, forgive me.)
Burrowing Owl is also slightly in the “over” camp in my opinion. Maybe not quite as much as La Stella, but I find the wines to be just OK and kind of boring. However, their restaurant patio has an amazing view of the valley.
Osoyoos Larose – no visits as far as I know. I have enjoyed multiple vintages of their wine – more restrained and akin to Bordeaux, not over oaked or over extracted. They definitely need a few years for the tannins to resolve.
Le Vieux Pin also makes a Marsanne/Rousanne that I liked. My wife liked it as well and it is not usually her thing. We also don’t mind La Stella as well. Though as some have said, pricing is questionable and I am buying it in CDN dollars.
The identity thing is also true. When someone says “B.C. Wine”, I don’t think - “yeah, they make a great - insert varietal or style here”. When I am looking for good Pinot for example, my mind thinks of the style I want and then I buy Burgundy or OR or CA. BC doesn’t have that. Sometimes I think I buy wine from there out of a weird sense of patriotism.
I was given quite a great list by a friend who’s been up there:
The Hatch
TH Wines
Haywire (Located at Crushpad Winery)
Lock and Worth
Blue Mountain Vineyard/Cellars
Painted Rock
Blasted Church
Little Farm Winery
Church and State (5 minutes to Bartier Bros.)
Bartier Brothers
Nk’Mip
Le Vieux Pin
Some good advice here. Very few BC wines make it to market outside of the province.
My go-to list includes these which tend to be on the more austere rather than exuberant side:
Tantalus - for old vines riesling
Lock & Worth - for cab franc along with some delicious whites and a rose
Joie - for PTG and noble blend
Le Vieux Pin - for syrah and sauvignon blanc
Nichol - for syrah
Little Farm - riesling and chardonnay
Pinot noir is tough up here - Haywire is probably the one to watch
Was in Calgary, Banff and Jasper this past summer and had a few different BC wines. Sorry, can’t remember what labels I had- but enjoyed the wines particularly with wild game. My general impression on the reds were they had a lot of fruit and resembled wines from Washington but didn’t have similar structure. Maybe as you go up the price ladder there are some that do have structure to age but overall I was pleasantly surprised how nice they are. I think its an area with potential.
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