That’s right; there are now two of us blogging for the thewinefestivals.com. Along with Courtney, I will be bringing my own perspective and experiences with BC wine. Hopefully the two different perspectives will be interesting. We might agree sometimes and disagree other times, but there’s no doubt that we are both very enthusiastic about wine in BC and love to share that enthusiasm with you.
Luke Whittall (@winecountrybc)
My first experience with BC wine was with a bottle of ’93 Sumac Ridge Blanc de Noir which I bought for New Year’s Eve ‘99-2000. After first touring wineries in the Okanagan in 2003, I decided that wine was the right career for me and began studying, reading, and trying as many wines as I could from then on. I started working with wine at a u-brew and then later at wineries after moving to the Okanagan. Much of my early experience with wine has been on the production side and I have worked in the cellars of various wineries in Naramata, Okanagan Falls and the Black Sage bench since moving to the Okanagan. Two years ago, I switched to selling wine at a large specialty wine store and started a podcast called Wine Country BC, both of which allow me to share my experiences and love of BC wine.
I like wines that offer up a lot of different things – flavors, aromas, and colors – but reveal them only slowly, over time. Sometimes I’ll try to age a wine in my small cellar to see how it will change. Other times I’ll give a wine what I call ‘trunk aging’, which means that I’ll let it age in the trunk of my car as I bring it home for dinner that night. Whichever way it gets here, I like wines that can hold my attention for the whole meal and bring that warm, convivial feeling to any occasion whether it’s an anniversary dinner or pizza on a Tuesday. Â
Working on bottling lines (which I have done at a few different wineries), watching the thousands of bottle move past me, I was always struck by the same thought: each one of these bottles is destined to be someone’s special dinner wine, or a gift to a friend, or a movie night wine. There is something very special that way about wine, unlike any other food or beverage. I hope to share with you my enthusiasm for wine and maybe we can pop a cork (or crack a screw-top) or two together. Cheers!
~Luke
