Oct 09 2010

putting the grand in finale

Category: Wine tasting — winepost @ 4:59 pm

I visited over 60 wineries last night – all within walking distance of one another.

Seriously, it happened. For real. And there were hundreds of people there with me, which made it pretty damn fun. Someone (Johnston Meier Insurance) even offered to give everyone a ride home who had drank a wee bit too much (the new 0.05% alcohol law thing). That’s sweet.

My fella and I – along with multiple hundreds of other people last night – attended the Valley First Grand Finale Consumer Tastings at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre. It’s the fall wine festival closer, and it’s an absolute blast.

With well over 60 wineries in attendance (I heard rumours that there were up to 80), the Consumer Tastings puts the grand in finale. Festival winners are pouring their wines – often poured by the winemaker her/himself – and food stations offer something to nibble while you swirl, sniff and sip your way around the room.

If you like what you taste, chances are it’s there for purchase in the retail store the festival folks have set up at one end of the room. Where else can you browse award-winning BC wines with a glass of the stuff in your hand? Yeah, thought so.

The best part of the Grand Finale Consumer Tastings? It’s not over. Tonight’s the last night – get a ticket while you still can.

Here’s just a few of my faves from the night:

  • Seven Stones 2008 Pinot Noir: Newly released, this is beauty in a glass. Soft strawberries with a strong, mineral backbone. You’re going to want to spend some time with this one.
  • Spierhead 2008 Vanguard: Say hello to our new Okanagan wine friends with a glass of something wonderful. They just opened their doors in July, and are located in Kelowna. Fruit for this big red blend comes from the Black Sage Road in the south. Only 119 cases made.
  • Cassini Cellars Chardonnay: The unoaked version is a lovely example of what this grape can express without the time spent in barrel and is a fave with many. I enjoy it, and I’m an oaked chard lover. My fave is the Reserve which sees oak and has that delectable quality which only comes from a gentle wine making hand.
  • Orofino 2008 Beleza: These people make good booze. I tasted the Beleza a few months ago, and something wasn’t speaking to me then. Fast-forward to last night and damn, that’s good wine. Proof that wine in the bottle is literally a living, breathing thing. A substantial red blend which requires food and very, very good friends. Let it sleep a while, too.
  • Painted Rock 2007 Red Icon: Lieutenant Governor award-winner, taste bud pleaser and over-delivering big wine. I’ve been watching (well, tasting) how this sultry number has been doing over the last few months, and it’s only getting better.
  • Kraze Legs ‘The Bee’s Knees’ 2009 Pinot Blanc: Hello, surprise. Clean and crisp, the freshness of this little one is all about the acid – and I promised to not speak wine-speak here, but when you feel that clean taste cut across your taste buds I want you to know that it’s due to picture-perfect acids (if there is such a thing). Lovely. Yum.
  • Stag’s Hollow 2009 Con-Fusion: I bought a bottle. Enough said.

Get out there and taste some wine. You’ll thank me for it. While you’re there, be sure to grab a Safe Ride Home if needed – we want you safely tucked away in bed to dream sweet dreams.

What a great way to un*wine*d for a long weekend. Happy Thanksgiving!

~ Jeannette

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Sep 29 2010

fall festing (with a touch of hedonism)

Category: Wine tasting — winepost @ 8:48 pm

 

Rinse out your favourite wine glasses and get the Tylenol ready: it’s Festival time.

It’s the biggest festival in North American to happen during harvest, and this year that couldn’t be more fitting. Our Okanagan wineries are a little behind when it comes to bringing in the bounty, albeit through no fault of their own. And with the Fall Okanagan Wine Festival mere days away from kick-off, you’ll be able to spot the winemakers at festival events – they’ll be the ones with purple fingers.

I’m SO excited for the Festival this season, for a few reasons. I get to spend some quality time with my fella, which is always high on the priority list; it’s a great excuse to drink for a living – a definite bonus; and hundreds of wineries have stuff going on that involves a) wine and b) food. It’s all very hedonistic, and I love every bit of it.

One of the super sweet things about the Fall festival is the release of new wines. Watch for a killer new vintage of 2Bench Red from Tinhorn Creek (released October 1). I had the priviledge of an advance tasting with winemaker Sandra Oldfield, and the 2009 will be a great one to tuck away for a few years – if you can. Big and robust, this has a strong backbone which will not only help it keep through several winters sleeps, but will also help it develop into something wonderful. Over-delivering at the price point. Get it.

Also, ’tis the season for some of our warm-you-up-during-the-cold-weather wines. Things like fortified and sparkling wines are heavy hitters for fall and winter. Our BC winemakers have some of that up their sleeves. Check out places like La Frenz and Granite Creek for their port-style offerings (not sure if they’ve got new stuff on the horizon, but I’m checking into it and will let you know). In bubble, there’s the always popular Summerhill, that delicious Sparkling Chenin Blanc from Road 13 Vineyards (if there’s any left) and Gray Monk’s Brut offerings.

Watch for Fall festival new wine release information here – I’ll update the blog with new release info as quick as I can. Make sure to get more than one bottle of the wine you love. I learned my lesson the hard way. The Cab Sauv that La Frenz released this summer? I missed the boat, and am kicking myself to this day.

Grab a glass, round up your friends and enjoy what the season has to offer. Un*wine*d with something yummy – and let us know what it was. We like to hear about those things. Otherwise, it looks like I’m doing all the drinking around here.

Cheers!

~ Jeannette

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Sep 10 2010

to cellar or not to cellar…

Category: Wine tasting — winepost @ 1:43 am

Where the hell did the summer disappear to? Don’t get me wrong – I love fall. Warm (supposedly) days meet cooler (allegedly) nights, vineyards (reportedly) start harvesting their ripening (hopefully) fruit while parents (understandably) rejoice. (it’s an adjective-y type of day)

The best part of fall is the annual Okanagan Fall Wine Festival – and I’m not just saying that because I blog for them. Okay, part of my joy stems from attending events as “work”. How could I not love that? 

My tickets arrived today, and I’m pretty stoked. First, there’s the WestJet Wine Tasting on Friday October 1 at the Delta Grand Okanagan Resort in Kelowna. That’s always a great shin-dig, especially because the wineries often bring new fall releases. Next, I’m heading to Cabana Grille in Kelowna on Sunday October 3 for the Gourmet and Grapes event featuring a battle of the chefs. That’s win-win. Then it’s off to the Culinary Arts Centre at the KLO Campus of Okanagan College for Alexis de Portneuf’s Young Chefs competition on Tuesday October 5. Anything having to do with cheese ranks pretty high on my list. 

I’ll wrap things up at the Valley First Grand Finale Consumer Tastings at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre on Friday October 8. Word has it that this is going to be the event of all events, so that’s a gimme. There are over 150 events happening around the Okanagan valley at different restaurants, wineries and miscellaneous spots where folks can gather and indulge. Nice.

Speaking of indulging…I’ve got some great wine to share with you.

Friends stopped by this weekend (being a long weekend and us living in vacationland), and we enjoyed a bottle or two. A couple of these bottles had been cellared, and that topic comes up quite often in the Okanagan. So here’s a bit of what we tasted:

  • La Frenz 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon: if you’ve got it, drink this baby now. Holy snappin’ turtles, this is good booze. Smooth as velvet, deep plum-black in colour and layer after layer of tasty goodness.
  • Burrowing Owl 2005 Syrah: oxidized, sadly. Based on this, I wouldn’t take a chance on recommending you sit on your bottle for long. If you’re saving yours for a “special occasion”, make that occasion be right now.
  • Jackson-Triggs SunRock Vineyards 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon: always enjoyable, ready to drink now.
  • Gehringer Brothers 2008 Auxerois: held up fairly well over a year in; my suggestion is to drink the vintage when it’s current as is intended when they make their wine. This is buy-now-drink-now wine. I like that.
  • Mission Hill Five Vineyards Rose: a pretty little number, indeed. And it’s listed as one of the Judges Choices in Wine Access‘ International Value Wine Awards (IVWA) for best wines from around the world available in Canada for $25 or less. Not bad at all.

Maybe we drank a few more bottles than that. Remember – it was a long weekend so there’s an extra day in there for consumption. Discover your favourite wines to un*wine*d with, whether it be over a long weekend or simply on a Tuesday night. When you’ve got great BC wine in the house, any day of the week can be a special occasion. 

Cheers!

Jeannette

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Aug 15 2010

coffee and wine? hell yeah.

Category: Wine tasting — winepost @ 10:23 pm

 

You know it’s going to be a good day when at 10:00 you’ve got bubble in your glass. Don’t judge me - I know you’re jealous.

While we – well, most of us – can’t start every day with a glass of bubble, I was fortunate to do just that at the Okanagan Summer Wine Festival this weekend at Silver Star. It’s the last year this event will be hosted among alpine wonderous goodness. Sad, but don’t fret: next year we’ll see a virtual explosion of events hosted throughout the valley, with Penticton shining as the predominant host city. I’ll be there, glass in hand.

Back to the mid-morning bubble. Over two days, events this year included Wine and Cheese, the decadent Cadbury’s Chocolate and wine tasting (can I hear a big ‘yum’?) and a Progressive Tasting on the Saturday afternoon to cap things off. But what really got my curiosity was something a little different: coffee and wine.

Starbucks introduced a pairing like no other. This is where we got to sip delicious BC bubble at 10am and five other BC wines – all matched with a coffee partner. Initially I was sceptical; hell, I still am. But the enthusiasm of the coffee folks have me looking at the brewed beverage in an entirely different light.

Acidity. Aroma. Floral. Earthy. Spicy. Do you think these are just reserved for wine? Not according to the people at the ‘Bucks. All are descriptors of coffee and are included in a handy little Coffee Passport – given to new partners when they start on the job. And there was no drip coffee-making done here. Oh no. These were brewed french-press style, and spoken about with such love and attention to detail that I could see the road we were headed down a bit clearer than when I signed up for the seminar.

They poured and paired while we swirled, sniffed and drank (slurped, in the case of the coffee). A good time was most definitely had by all – including those who answered skill-testing questions to be rewarded with prizes and hugs. It was that kinda crowd, and that’s alright by me.

Wine/Coffee #1: Summerhill Cipes Brut / Breakfast Blend. I’m a big fan of what Summerhill does with bubble – especially the Cipes Brut. The Breakfast Blend didn’t get the full workout or appreciation as we were in our coffee tasting infancy. All I can say is that it woke me up quite nicely.

Wine/Coffee #2: Mission Hill Reserve Chardonnay 2008 / Italian Roast. Admittedly, I hadn’t tried a chard from Mission Hill yet – there’s just too much damn good stuff around the Okanagan. And this was quite pleasant. Think brunch wine as your nibbling on a bagel and lox. The Italian Roast had that woodsy aroma going for it, complete with memories of maple syrup smokehouses.

Wine/Coffee #3: Tantalus Riesling 2009 / Kenya Blend. Tantalus makes a damn good riesling – initially crisp with bright fruit (think grapefruit on its best day) and a wee bit of oily-goodness, yet it can hang out in the bottle to develop into the kerosene/petrol beauty that I know lurks beneath the surface. Yum. The Kenya Blend is often used for iced coffees – it’s got that citrus thing going for it which I couldn’t discern but am willing to go back for another try. Or two.

Wine/Coffee #4: Ex Nihilo Night 2006 / Pike Place Roast. This was my introduction to an Ex Nihilo red, and I’m still not sure what to think. Night is a blend of equal parts cab sauv, merlot and cab franc – and supposed to be a Bordeaux-style. Whatever the reason, it wasn’t working for me. I tasted stuff at the start (fruit) and the end (tannin), but nothing in the middle. The Pike Place Roast, however, made me swear off putting anything in my coffee ever again. And if you’ve ever seen me doctor up a coffee, you’ll know just what a big deal that is.

Wine/Coffee #5: RollingdaleIverson Merlot 2008 / Organic Yukon Blend. The grapes for this merlot come from Rollingdale’s growing partners along the Golden Mile (Oliver area), and they only make 200 cases of the stuff. Hot damn, them’s good grapes. There’s a whole lotta stuff going on when you take a sip of this merlot, and it’s all in happy unison. As for the Organic Yukon Blend…think dark, bitter chocolate. Yep.

Wine/Coffee #6: Quail’s GateFortified Foch 2007 / Komodo Dragon Blend. Bring me a fortified wine, and I’m in a happy place. There’s a wee ‘but’ in here, as I haven’t been a foch fan in the past – except for their Old Vines Foch, which is gorgeous. Sweetness hides a high (but typical) alcohol content in this fortified, yet the foch varietal does something my taste buds don’t like. My fella liked it just fine. Instead, I concentrated on the Komodo Dragon. In the world of wine, there are big wines….and this is a helluva big coffee. Also my favourite of the morning, as it turns out. Yeah, that surprised me too.

Just when you think you’ve been there, done that with wine tasting, change things up a little. I’d never think to put these things together – and I’m sure there are people out there who may think these aren’t natural partners. They might not be. But the folks behind this event sure did their homework because I can honestly say it was an absolute blast – and something I’d do again in a heartbeat.

Go ahead – un*wine*d with a glass of bubble before noon…then chase it with a lively, vibrant coffee. Whatever you do, have fun. That’s what this is all about.

Cheers!

Jeannette

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May 02 2010

spring wine festival part one: staggeringly tasty

Category: Wine tasting — admin @ 8:19 pm

A monk, a quail and a rock walked into a park one day…

No, it’s not the start of one of my dad’s bad jokes – and he’s got plenty. I’m referring to a day in the park; specifically, Vintages in the Park hosted by the fine folks at the wine festivals and sponsored by BC Liquor Stores, Johnston Meier Insurance Group and Valley First Credit Union.

See? Bankers and insurance people can be fun. Just take them to a wine tasting and watch the merriment unfold.

The setting: Father Pandosy Mission in Kelowna. The suspects: twenty or so of your favourite Okanagan wineries. The food: Okanagan Street Food. My mission: taste as many of said wineries as possible while retaining my glass, swag and composure. You should know by now that I’m up for a challenge – especially if it involves wine.

people doing the wine-tasting thing

On this particular occasion I brought my fella along, not only for his delightful company but also to ensure that I wouldn’t have to spit in public again. Memories of my wine-judging-spitting experience are embarassingly fresh; I wanted to taste without doing the spit thing, so I figured I’d need a ride home. That was a very good call because there was a ridiculous amount of tasty wines.

When presented with over 20 wineries offering multiple tastings, one does wonder where one should start. My solution: start with white wines and what’s in front of you. Work your way around until you’re back where you started. Repeat with red wines. Easy.

It was a lot of wine, and I couldn’t begin to talk about every single one I tried. That, dear readers, might lead you to guess just how much I ‘tasted’ – something a lady doesn’t disclose, like age. But I’ll share with you a few of the “You have to try this!” moments, because there were several.

Quinta Ferreira makes great wines, and one of their unique white blends is a Muscat/Gewurztraminer named Mistura Branca. Lovely and aromatic, this is sitting-with-friends-in-your-backyard, nibbling-on-tapas wine. And it’s under $20. Winemaker Michael was on site for the pouring, so you’re getting the inside scoop when you chat with him. (Michael recommends chicken dishes with this wine, but I’d also give it a go by itself on a sunny day)

I stopped by to see regional sales rep AJ from Poplar Grove, and my first sample was their Pinot Gris. Delicious. Mouth-watering. Crisp, summer fruits all tumbled into a glass. Hovering just over the $20 mark, this is one of those wines that’s going to become a favourite, real quick. On our second round I tasted two reds. First was the Merlot. Hello, dolly. Blackberry meets cocoa meets cherries, all tangled up together in happy abandon. At $30 a bottle, I’d tuck one of these ones away to sleep for a bit – if I could leave it alone. Next was the Cabernet Franc. This is unique, unlike any other cab franc you’ve tasted. It’s freshly mown hay and squishingly ripe red fruit. Grab a bottle. Or two.

The folks at Quail’s Gate have two white wines that I am head-over-heels in love with. My fella and I both get silly about the Chenin Blanc. Honey and cream get cozy with tropical fruit, and I feel like I’m on vacation. Nice. But it’s got competition from the Chardonnay. You know I love an oak-y, creamy chard – and this delivers. Pick up the main street version at under $20 a bottle, or splurge on the Stuart Family Reserve at $30 – my heart (and cellar) has room for both.

I’m smitten by the Gray Monk Gamay – something about what they do with that grape just works. This time I tried their Rotberger. It’s a rosĂ©, and it has the complexity of a red wine coupled with a lighter something else that dances around in your mouth. My fella was noshing on a plate of mushroom & duck confit, and what a nice companion that was with my pretty rosĂ©. Delicious in a bottle for under $20.

What’s a wine tasting without a little bubble? Summerhill Pyramid Winery brought out the sparkling wine for the sunshine, and how appropriate. Summerhill produces five sparkling wines, so there’s bound to be one that will fit your taste and pocketbook. Prices range from $25 to $45 per bottle.

I couldn’t resist a stop at Painted Rock Estate Winery, where proprietor John Skinner radiated happiness. My heart skips a beat each time I take a sip of the Chardonnay, and if you’ve read my earlier posts you’ll know the Syrah makes me weak. John had the entire (available) portfolio out for tasting, so I took full advantage. Their Merlot took Best of Varietal at festival competition. Taste it, and you’ll know why.

Before I staggered – er, walked – to the gates, I needed to visit Lindsay at Tinhorn Creek. I had a sip of the Oldfield Series Merlot. As usual, I went immediately to my happy place. This baby spends a year and a half in oak, so it has some cellar life – and it’s got that smokey/peppery thing to it that seems signature of the Okanagan. Nicely done, winemaker Sandra. That’s a lady I’d like to drink with.

Music, food and wine – enjoyed outdoors in the spring sun with my fella. Seems like a pretty good way to un*wine*d.

Cheers!

Jeannette

PS: You’ve still got time to get wine-d up with the Spring Wine Festivals – click on the events tab to find out what’s happening in and around the Okanagan this week. I’ve got a few more to stagger through – er, make my way to. Perhaps you’ll join me?

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Mar 05 2010

monopoly + wine = wineopoly

Category: Wine tasting — admin @ 2:34 am

Question: What do you get when you cross wine with Monopoly? Answer: Four happy players.

Think you know the game? Think again. Monopoly has come a long way from Baltic Avenue, and a game played recently with friends showed me it’s not the game of our youth. It’s now Wineopoly. That’s right. Monopoly with a wine theme. How could I not play?

You buy vineyards and plantings, sometimes countries and regions (I held on to France; Luke was after an empire). Instead of buying houses and hotels you purchase grape bunches and bottles. And rather than going to jail, players go to the cellar to age. Nice touch.

We started the game with a Pinot Blanc from Lake Breeze in Naramata. Game? What game? I was surrounded by big, leafy trees and sitting on a patio on a warm afternoon. When I closed my eyes I could almost smell the apples; the fresh, ripe granny smith type. I’m easily distracted so it’s a good thing I’m not very competitive.

When the game got going, and I remembered to buy a property or two, I got into a Marsanne Rousanne white blend from Inniskillin, outside of Oliver. These grapes are less commonly planted (they’re originally from North Rhone in France – see, I hung on to France for a reason) and combined here at a ratio of about 50/50.

Inniskillin has a series called ‘Discovery’ that produces small amounts, but done very well. The Marsanne Rousanne is in that series, and it’s a sweet discovery indeed. You can read the flavour profile on the Inniskillin website because I won’t do the wine-speak thing (it’s less fun). But I’ll say this about it: grade school recess.

My elementary school in Ontario had a huge expanse of lawn and most of the lower slope wasn’t often mowed in June. That’s when the wild strawberries were just coming into season. My friends and I would hustle down the hill at afternoon recess, throw ourselves on the ground and root around for the little berries. They always tasted so much sweeter than the store bought kind.

No, the Marsanne Rousanne didn’t taste or smell like strawberries. I’m not done yet.

When we’d found all of the ripe berries we’d spend the last bit of recess hunting for clover. The kind of clover with big, fat purple-pink heads and individual sections. We’d pull each section out, suck the pinhead of sweetness off the bottom and repeat.

That’s what this wine reminded me of: laying on my stomach in the grass on a June day and tasting little bits of sweet clover goodness. Now that’s a good wine.

As for the Wineopoly; I lost. But I was being silly with my fella and our friends Heather & Luke on a Saturday night – and we were drinking awesome BC wine. What a great way to un*wine*d.

Cheers!

Jeannette

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Feb 26 2010

summer in a glass, some sushi…and a big red

Category: Wine tasting — admin @ 10:08 pm

I rarely run out of wine, but a few weekends ago I realized the stash was getting dangerously low. Yeah, I know – I live in the heart of British Columbia wine country, minutes from great wineries. How could I get close to running out of wine here? Shame on me.

There’s one snag to dashing out to a local winery right now: it’s winter. Not all of our wineries stay awake during the off-season; some close, some stay open and some open by appointment. So, what’s a girl to do? Go wine shopping anyway. Maybe even call on a winery – just for good measure.

First, a visit to the Penticton Visitor’s Centre was in order. It’s a fantastic place to grab some BC wine because it’s got a VQA store on site. This one has a huge variety of wines from the Okanagan, you don’t have to travel far and they’re open all winter. Bonus.

The staff is friendly and will happily show you some remarkable BC wines. And so I met Aaron, a wine enthusiast who knows his grapes. He’d set aside a few bottles of the 2004 Hester Creek Cabernet Sauvignon for me – I had to book it there because there aren’t many bottles left. Their 2005 is on shelves soon, though. Yummy in a bottle.

Oh, but that’s not all. I also left with a couple of white wines: a White Meritage from Jackson-Triggs (white blends are less common) and two bottles from Larch Hills – a Siegerrebe and an Ortega. Each of these white wines is under $20. (by the way, it’s taken me ages to pronounce it: pretty sure it’s see-ger-RAY-bee, baby)

Up the hill from Penticton you’ll find Naramata, and the Township7 winery. Winemaker Bradley Cooper made time for me while I was in the area, even though the winery wasn’t open. They’re nice that way, like lots of our local wineries are. Good news! Township7 is open again as of this weekend: Friday through Sunday from 12:00pm – 5:00pm.

It’s amazing how much time I can waste – er, spend – when buying wine. But dinner doesn’t make itself, so I had to head home. We were making sushi for some friends and I could think of nothing better to go with it than a dee-lish BC wine. White wine? Sure.

If you’re missing summer, this wine’s for you. The Siegerrebe from Larch Hills is like tasting a little bit of summertime in a glass. It’s a sit-on-a-patio-out-of-the-summer-sun-and-gab-with-friends kind of wine. And it went well with the sushi, too. Nice.

Did we stop there? Of course not. After dinner we opened up that 2004 Cab Sauv from Hester Creek. This is hang-out-with-good-friends-and-tell-stories wine, the stuff you want to linger with. I think we were all sad when we saw the decanter was empty. (Yeah, I drained the bottle into a decanter for about an hour that time – but go ahead and pour it straight into your glass. I do both.)

Sleeping vines doesn’t mean you can’t explore BC wine country. And all of our little wineries are just starting to wake up again, which makes it a perfect time to un*wine*d with an Okanagan wine. Think I’ll go and do just that.

Cheers!
Jeannette

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Feb 25 2010

let’s un*wine*d together

Category: Wine tasting — admin @ 2:38 am

Welcome to The Wine Festivals. Pour yourself a glass from that bottle over there. Yeah, that one.

I’m new here; at The Okanagan Wine Festivals and in the Okanagan. I like being new. It gives me an excuse to explore. Since it’s the Okanagan, I get to explore wine – and that’s just awesome. I figure there’s a load of people who are fairly new to the BC wine world, like me. Let’s be new together. It’s way more fun and I like making friends. Especially friends who like wine.

What can I tell you about me? I’m a Gemini who likes camping, hiking, walks on the beach and….oh, wait. Wrong blog post. Okay: my first job in the Okanagan was with a winery – which was a pretty nice gig. But I think it’s more fun on the taster/drinker side of the counter, and I get to drink with you. That’s a way better deal.

Living in vacation-land has a few advantages. We’ve got a lot of wineries in the Okanagan, and that’s a lot to write about. I’m up to the challenge; I’ve been training for this gig for years.

Where was I? Right. A little about me: I have a freckle in the corner of my left eye and one on the outside of my right foot. I like wine. I like gulping wine with friends on a warm summer day and lingering with a glass on a cold winter night. (yes, I just wrote ‘gulping’: of course you can gulp wine)

What I like best about wine is that it’s social. I’m not here to talk about acidity, balance, structure or mouthfeel (whatever that is). What I like is the story. I’ll share with you where I drink what wine and who I drink it with – so you can picture where you could drink it and who you could drink it with. Oh, and you can always drink with me.

Wine should be friendly. I’ll take a bottle of “it reminds me of picking cherries in the summer with my mom” over a bottle of “well structured, good balance with a hint of blackberry leaf on the nose” any day. My apologies to those who know what a blackberry leaf smells like and how it can impact your wine tasting experience. You’re good people; just speaking a different language than me. And many of my friends.

So, please; un*wine*d with me as I get my wine on in the Okanagan. We’ll drink yummy wine, sunshine-y wine and patio wine, maybe even some fireplace wine or snowshoe wine. There will be lots of BC wine.

And I promise that you’ll get no technical wine-speak around here. It’s more like wine-speak, easy. Or a wine speak-easy. Now that’s a good idea


Cheers!
Jeannette

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