British Columbian Wine - Opinions Please

WINE TALK
21

HI Luke - I’ve spent a fair amount of time in the Canadian marketplace and attending various trade shows and tastings in BC and AB. I’ve tasted a bit of Okanagan wines and found the Alsatian varieties (Riesling, Gweurtz, PG) as well as Cab Franc, Merlot and Syrah to be quite good on occasion and particularly as of late (big improvement over the last decade). Tantalus, Burrowing Owl, Ex Nihilo, Sandhill, Tinhorn Creek come to mind…

Having said that, BC wines have no traction here in CA marketplace and my sense is that for all practical purposes, they are virtually non-existent in the US. As the other gentleman said, they’re hard to find in Seattle much less the rest of US.

Cameron

22

I used to travel to Vancouver often for work and was introduced to Tantalus Riesling and love it. Would carry back bottles whenever I could … and miss it immensely not that I have run out.

Jancis Robinson did a very flattering column about wines from the region maybe 6 or 7 years ago, you might want to dig that out.

23

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. :slight_smile:

24

A 100% dedicated BC wine shop in Tokyo?? That’s really interesting.

25

Not just BC no, they have Niagra etc. as well. But a lot of BC for sure. It is all Canadian wines though.

Anybody passing through that wants me to take them by and introduce them I would be very pleased to do so.

26

BC is a huge destination for the Japanese (and Asia in general) so they get plenty exposed to the BC and Ontario wines.

27
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World Fireworks championships in Vancouver.

There’s such a thing? Cool.

Almost as unexpected as an all-Canadian wine store anywhere in the world!

29

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.

30

Thank you to everyone who has posted. This has been extremely helpful and I will absolutely mention this community in a section of the book now. I actually wasn’t sure what to expect, having not been a member of a posting forum-type community like this in many years. The last one was a musician’s forum probably about 10 years ago and then before that my experience was in the many Usenet newsgroups in the real old days of the internet. If anyone remembers the days of alt.music and other newsgroups like that, they were pretty wild places back in the day. I thought perhaps this place could be a little like that but I clearly didn’t need to worry about that. This place is awesome! Thank you so much everyone! I will be posting more when the book is finished and I’ll let you know when it gets released.

31

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

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

32

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.

33

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.

34

I’ve visited the Okanagan Valley twice, the last was five years ago so maybe I’m not totally up to date. Here are my thoughts:

It’s gorgeous, with glacial carved granite that’s a little reminiscent of Yosemite around Okanagan Falls. With the finger lakes, the Sonoran desert terrain in the south, the bench lands fronting the lakes, it’s simply amazing.

Many of the wines aren’t my thing, too oaky or extracted or seemingly messed with.

One producer I loved - straight up loved - was Blue Mountain. Very good Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gris and sparkling. They used to be closed to the public but they have been open now for years and it’s worth a visit. Brandon J, I’d be very interested in what you think here.

I haven’t found stellar food in the area though I was with family and not on full geek alert, so I probably missed the best options. I’d love to return for a visit, that pretty much says it all.

35

Yes Vincent. Blue Mountain is an omission from my rant. Excellent wines at very fair prices. It’s the regular Gamay that has shown the best for me. The road approaching the winery has a view that is spectacular.

The food scene has gotten a lot more interesting. Miradoro at Tinhorn Creek Winery is a favorite. As is the Bistro at Liquidity. There is also excellent farmer’s markets around the valley.

36

I’ve had a couple of handfuls of BC wines, a few while in Toronto (wish they were a bit more readily available there!) and a bunch at the Six Nations Wine Challenge tasting in Australia last year.

The wines that caught my attention at the Six Nations were the 2011 Tantalus Old Vine Riesling, the 2012 Burrowing Owl Syrah, the 2013 Painted Rock Red Icon and Syrah, the 2013 Culmina Hypothesis and 2013 Clos du Soleil Signature. All very nice wines that I’d be happy to drink and possibly buy, though they were tasted without any price context as the wines are simply not available at retail here.

On the whole the wines showed well, though none blew me away. Given that they were selected by a Canadian wine writer (Christopher Waters), it is expected that they all would have been solid examples rather than some of the less than stellar wines that I’m sure are available.

I haven’t visited the region but would like to do so and learn more about the producers and sub-regions, maybe on my next trip to Canada I’ll be able to do so.

37

  • yes (smile)

  • yes, 3 times now I think

  • yes (smile)

  • I think like any emerging region, they’re finding their footing in relation to the climate and soil. One of the difficulties that I think many of the wineries have to shake themselves out of there (and it’s no different in Ontario, you know) is to stop making everything for everyone and concentrate on what you’re good at. I am seeing more of that focus begin to take hold, especially on my last visit there.

What is perhaps the most interesting aspect is, I suppose, the reflection of just how many and how micro the microclimates are, as I am seeing various wineries specialize in all sorts of varieties. This link may help, from my visit last spring.

You’re very good to be this upfront about your project, Luke, and I hope you receive more responses to assist you.

All best,

Mike

38

Thanks again everybody! These are absolutely wonderful comments. Now you will all have to buy my book when it comes to see whose comments get pulled!

If you ever come to the Okanagan, please feel free to get in touch!

39

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.

40

This is one that gets me. Loved their (Canadian Screaming Eagle :wink: )earlier releases of Cab Franc. Seems to have become excessively oaky lately though. Trend in palates or style?