Category: Wine Tourism

British Columbia’s Okanagan Fall Wine Festival – Virginia Hutton

 I attended the Okanagan Fall Festival this year, along with five other notable Canadian journalists to experience Canada’s premier Fall Wine Festival. This year’s fall wine Okanagan Fall Wine Festival connected wine lovers to winemakers from the region with events designed to celebrate their unique and award-winning wines.

Located in southern British Columbia, the Okanagan Valley is one of the warmest regions in Canada, with an average winter temperature of -8 C and 28 C in the summer – it’s slightly cooler than eastern France. The Valley and its wine industry have matured tremendously over the last 30 years, boasting 280 wineries and offering visitors the opportunity to experience one of the world’s premier wine and culinary destinations.

This year’s Okanagan Fall Wine Festival included the province’s most prestigious and oldest wine competition, The British Columbia Lieutenant Governor’s Wine Awards (BCLGWA) held at the historic Laurel Heritage Packinghouse in Kelowna. There were more than 700 entries in this year’s competition. The Wine of the Year Award went to Deep Roots Winery’s for their 2017 Syrah, representing consistency in a varietal and a combination of superb grapes and winemaking.

Also part of the Festival was the Fall WestJet Wine Tasting at YLW in the Carson Air Hangar. It is Kelowna’s largest indoor wine-tasting event, with over 40 wineries serving up their most popular varieties. Guests were entertained by a live DJ and sampled cuisine from around the world from food trucks parked outside the hanger.  Joined by Canadian wine experts and journalists Gurvinder Bhatia, Darren Oleksyn and Tim Pawsey, we sipped our way from Lake Country in the north to Osoyoos – Canada’s only desert, in the south. Our tour included meeting the talented winemakers behind O’Rourke’s Peak Cellars, 50th Parallel Estate, Indigenous World Winery, Fitzpatrick Family Vineyards, Burrowing Owl Estate Winery, Moon Curser Vineyards, Nk’Mip Cellars, Nobel Ridge Vineyard & Winery, Wild Goose Vineyards and Time Winery.

Over 90% of the Okanagan wineries have earned the British Columbia Vintners Quality Alliance, or BC VQA designation – similar to the AOC and DOC systems utilized in France and Italy respectively, which guarantees the origin and ensures qualifying wines meet certain minimum quality requirements. BC VQA wines are made from 100% BC grapes, and are free from certain potential faults, and the labels include where the grapes are grown and the wine is produced. And, many Okanagan winemakers have embraced environmentally friendly, lower-energy wine-making methods and built sustainability and philanthropy into their business models, with many using solar energy, gravity flow to move the juice and composting to replenish nutrients in the soil. 

According to Wines of British Columbia, there are over 80 grape varieties being grown in BC, with 51% being red varietals and 49% white varietals. The most notable reds include: merlot, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, syrah / shiraz and gamay noir, with top notable white being: pinot gris, chardonnay, gewürztraminer, riesling, sauvignon blanc, pinot blanc and viognier. Several winemakers are taking advantage of the recent growth in sparkling wines and are now producing white and rose varieties. The Region is also is well-known for producing high-quality, award winning icewines, with Inniskillen, Okanagan Estates and Whistler receiving Gold Medals, and Nk’Mip and Jackson Triggs Okanagan being awarded Silver Medals at the 2019 Wine Align Awards.

 

 

With Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter Wine Festivals, it’s always a great time to visit and enjoy world-class award-winning wine and dining experiences. It’s worth the trip to Okanagan Wine Festivals.

 

 

Wineries visited:

O’Rourke’s Peak Cellars 

50th Parallel Estate

Indigenous World Winery

Fitzpatrick Family Vineyards

Burrowing Owl Estate Winery

Moon Curser Vineyards

Nk’Mip Cellars

Nobel Ridge Vineyard & Winery

Wild Goose Vineyards

Time Winery

British Columbia’s Okanagan Wine Festivals
http://www.thewinefestivals.com

British Columbia’s Two (Award-Winning) Indigenous Wineries – Virginia Hutton

During my visit to Okanagan in October, I attended the Fall Okanagan Wine Festival, and also had the opportunity to visit British Columbia’s two Indigenous wineries.

50 Years ago, the first aboriginal winery in Canada, Nk’Mip Cellars was launched by former Osoyoos Indian Band Chief Sam Baptiste. Osoyoos, in British Columbia’s, (BC) Okanagan region is Canada’s only desert and its sandy soils are used for growing 40% Okanagan wines.

The Okanagan region is located in the rain shadow of the Cascade Mountains and has a dry and mild climate with no month having a below 0°C average temperature. The summers are hot and dry with temperatures occasionally topping 40 °C.

Nk’Mip Cellars, (pronounced ‘inkameep’), located on the Osoyoos Indian Reserve,is part of the development including the Hyatt’s Spirit Ridge Hotel, and the Sonora Dunes Golf Course. Owned by the Osoyoos Indian Band, Nk’Mip was the first Indigenous-owned winery in North America and is ideally located, having been rated a class 1 site according to 1984 Atlas of Suitable Grape Growing Atlas in the Okanagan, and Similkameen Valleys. Justin Hall, a member of the Osoyoos Indian band and current Winemaker arrived in 2004. Nk’Mip Cellars was awarded the 2016 Intervin Winery of the Year and #2 Winery in BC in 2018 from Wine Align. Nk’Mip varieties include: Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Rose, and Ice Wine.

The Osoyoos Indian Band leases the majority of their 380 acres in the Okanagan, with 60 acres producing Nk’Mip’s 18,000 cases annually. Distribution extends to Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

The second Indigenous winery, Indigenous World Winery, is owned by Robert Louie, former Chief of the Westbank First Nation and his wife Bernice. They are descendants of the original Sylix people of Okanagan. Located in West Kelowna, Indigenous World Winery has produced a number of award-winning wines, most recent, winning one silver and 2 bronze awards at the 2019 Wine Align National Wine Awards of Canada. Varieties include: Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay, Pinot Auxerrois, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, Viognier, Merlot, Marechal Foch, Chardonnay, Muscat.

With 5 leased properties and 2.5 acres of estate land, Indigenous World Winery produces just over 10,000 cases annually, primarily for the BC and Alberta markets.

Indigenous tourism is booming in British Columbia, allowing visitors the opportunity to explore indigenous culture and engage with communities they might not otherwise connect with. The Okanagan Region’s beautiful landscapes, rich history, wonderful hospitality, and award-winning wines deliver an outstanding experience for all wine lovers!

For further information:

Nk’Mip Cellars
http://www.nkmipcellars.com/

Indigenous World Winery
https://www.indigenousworldwinery.com/

Okanagan Wine Festivals Society
http://www.TheWineFestivals.com

 

Geographic Indication Approved for San Pablo, A High-Altitude Mendoza Sub-Region

San Pablo, a sub-region of Mendoza, Argentina has been awarded Geographic Indication status after a four-year campaign led by local producers. San Pablo is located in Uco Valley, and is the northernmost sub-region in Tunuyán, Uco Valley.

It is also one of Mendoza’s extreme regions in terms of altitudes, with vineyards planted between 3,600 ft (1,100m) and 5,600 ft (1,700m) above sea level, with an arid climate and an average of 500mm rainfall per year.

San Pablo is located on the alluvial fan of the Las Tunas River, on the right bank, where the soil has a high pebble content as well as other calcareous materials.

The GI spans the following areas:

East boundary: Provincial Route N°89

North boundary: Las Tunas River

West boundary: dimension lines at 1.700 meters above sea level

South boundary: Villegas Creek up to its intersection with Cuevas Creek

The Salentein winery was the first winery to produce Estate Bottled wines from what today is the GI San Pablo and one of the first in the Uco Valley.

Salentin launched the campaign in collaboration with Bodegas Tapíz, and Familia Zuccardi wineries, together with the Facultad de Agronomía de la Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (Agronomy School of the National University of Cuyo) and the Instituto Nacional de Vitivinicultura (National Institute of Viticulture), in 2016.

Bottega opens Prosecco Bar at DXB (Dubai International)

Bottega Prosecco Bar and Restaurant launched this week in Concourse A of the world’s busiest international airport, Dubai International (DXB). The brand’s second site in UAE, results from the partnership with global travel restaurateur HMS Host International.

Deeply rooted in the Italian tradition of fine wine and food, Bottega Prosecco Bar offers a broad selection of drinks, along with traditional specialties. The concept was created to deliver the experience of good wine, genuine food and convivial Italian lifestyle. The collaboration of sommeliers, chefs, architects, and designers has shaped this idea, originally inspired by the philosophy of the Venetian “Bacaro”: an informal tavern, where food is mainly presented as “cicheti”, traditional food bites to be consumed at the counter. In a welcoming yet elegant ambiance, travelers can enjoy the “Perfect Match”, the ideal combination of a glass of wine from the Bottega range and authentic Italian dishes, made with fresh ingredients.

Owner and Managing Director Sandro Bottega comments:

“The 2019 ACI World preliminary data confirm that Dubai is the top airport in the world for international traffic, with approximately 89 million international customers in 2018: we are delighted to offer our wines and our culinary tradition, made of simplicity, genuineness, and taste, to this varied audience. The venue correctly reflects the values of Bottega and aims to enhance the reputation of Italy in the oenological and gastronomic fields: we are grateful to HMSHost International and Dubai Airports for believing in the project and supporting its development.”

 

Bottega SpA website:

https://www.bottegaspa.com/en/collections/prosecco-doc/

Prosecco harvest down 3-5%

The harvest in the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore has just come to an end with yields down between 3% to 5% from last year.

“This month we have just spent on the Rive vineyards has been one of intense work,” said Consorzio president, Innocente Nardi.

Nardi said that this has been an exceptional year for the territory, “starting off with the accolade from UNESCO, but also including the fiftieth anniversary of the denomination and our ban on glyphosate, which has made us the largest wine zone in Europe to forbid the use of this well-known herbicide.”

According to a statement from the Consorzio, harvesting took place in ideal conditions. “We registered an average pH of 3.30 and acidity of 6.55, values that are ideal for the production of elegant sparkling wines,” said the statement.

After a cold winter, spring was cooler and rainier than usual, which caused a delay in bud break. This was followed by a hot summer, and the weather was fine during the harvest. The harvest began in the most easterly zone and one slopes with the most exposure to sunlight, such as the vineyards at San Pietro di Feletto.

The region’s steep slopes are difficult to harvest with machinery, and “600 to 700 hours of manual work are necessary per hectare each year”.

The wines from 2019 will be the first to take advantage of the new production regulations passed in August of this year, which allow for sui lieviti (“on the yeasts”) sparkling wines that have been refermented in the bottle, and extra brut, with residual sugar between 0 and 6g per Litre.

https://www.prosecco.it/en/prosecco-superiore-docg/