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Remembering Joe Zuppiger
Photo: Joe Zuppiger (courtesy of Arrowleaf Cellars) For the third time this year, one of the British Columbia wine industry’s leaders has died. On May 3, cancer took Joe Zuppiger, one of the owners of...
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SpearHead releases wines for spring 2021
Photo: Winemaker Grant StanleyThe early assessments of the 2020 vintage agree that this was one of the best vintages so far in the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys – except for volume. Most wineries...
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Dirty Laundry's Hush power
Photo: Winemaker Mason Spink (photo by Luke Whittall) Since Mason Spink took over as winemaker in 2013, Summerland’s Dirty Laundry Vineyard has doubled production to about 38,000 cases. The winery,...
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Roche family celebrates 10 years in the Okanagan
Photo: Pénélope and Dylan RocheIt came as a surprise to learn that Roche Wines is marking the 10th anniversary since Dylan and Pénélope Roche arrived in the Okanagan in 2011. They launched their label...
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Meyer Tribute Chardonnay honors Dr. Bonnie Henry
Photo: Dr. Bonnie HenryMeyer Family Vineyards has released its 13th Tribute Chardonnay. The release in 2021 honors Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial medical health officer in British Columbia. The...
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Noble Ridge wines: dress to impress
Photo: Leslie and Jim D'AndreaThe spring sample pack from Noble Ridge Vineyard & Winery was a bit like opening a clothes closet to find a tuxedo, a Harry Rosen suit – and something casual from...
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French Door's big reds and juicy whites
Photo: Winery owners Audra and Jason ShullPascal Madevon made big red wines for 10 vintages at Osoyoos Larose and for several more vintages at Culmina Family Estate Winery before hanging out his...
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1 Mill Road Pinot Noir 2019
Good news and bad news about the second release of a Pinot Noir from 1 Mill Road Vineyard, the Naramata boutique launched by David and Cynthia Enns. The 2019 Home Block Pinot Noir is, in my judgement,...
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Tightrope gets first certification for sustainable winegrowing
Photo: Lyndsay and Graham O'RourkeTightrope Winery & Vineyard on the Naramata Bench marked Earth Day in April with the announcement that it is the first member of Sustainable Winegrowing B.C. The...
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Black Widow Winery expands Naramata Bench holdings
Photo: Shannon, Dick (centre) and James LancasterSince opening in 2006, Black Widow Winery has relied on grapes from its seven-acre property on Naramata Road, along with purchased fruit. Now, the...
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Fort Berens releases debut Grüner Veltliner
Photo: Rolf de BruinThe spring wine release from Fort Berens Estate Winery in Lillooet includes the winery’s first Grüner Veltliner. The major white varietal in Austria, Grüner Veltliner was first...
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Lake Breeze's Garron Elmes is now an old-timer
Photo: Lake Breeze's Garron ElmesGarron Elmes, the president of Lake Breeze Vineyards, is now the longest tenured winemaker at the same winery in the Okanagan. That is remarkable, not just because...
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Stag's Hollow makes a statement with rosé
Photo: Keira LaFranc of Stag's HollowIn its two Okanagan Falls vineyards, Stag’s Hollow Winery grows the mainstream varietals but also nurtures several varietals rarely found elsewhere in the Okanagan....
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Blue Mountain will open tasting room after all
Photo: The photogenic Blue Mountain vineyard Only a few weeks after announcing the tasting room would not open this season at Blue Mountain Vineyard, there has been a happy change of heart, coinciding...
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Play Estate's spring 2021 wine release
Photo: Stephanie Bryers in the Play wineshop These wines represent the second vintage made at Play by Stephanie Bryers. Formerly the assistant winemaker at Culmina Family Estate Winery, she joined Play...
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Mt Boucherie's Summit with its modest friends
Photo: Winemaker Jeff HundertmarkJeff Hundertmark, the winemaker at Mt. Boucherie Estate Winery, is fortunate to have access to grapes from 200 acres of vineyards in both the Okanagan and Similkameen....
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Nk'Mip's Randy Picton retires
Photo: Winemakers Randy Picton (l) and Justin Hall (credit Jacquie Tremblay/Deeper Image Photography One of the Okanagan’s most successful winemakers, Randy Picton, is retiring at the end of June,...
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Sangiovese gets its day in the Okanagan sun
Photo: Sandhill's Sandy Leier When the 174-acre Sandhill Estate Vineyard was planted in 1997 on the Black Sage Bench, the varietals included two Italian reds – Sangiovese and Barbera. Both varietals,...
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Remembering George Heiss
Photo: Trudy and George Heiss accepting wine industry award Gray Monk Estate Winery’s co-founder George Heiss, a truly legendary figure in British Columbia wine, died on June 29. His accomplishments...
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Tinhorn Creek hires Leandro Nosal
Photo: Winemaker Leandro Nosal (courtesy Wild Thistle Photography)Tinhorn Creek Vineyards has just appointed Argentinian-born, European-trained Leandro Nosal as its head winemaker. This is likely the...
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