Photo: Clos du Soleil's Michael Clark In May, Clos du Soleil Winery announced the acquisition and conversion of an organic orchard to a new vineyard not far from the winery in the Similkameen Valley. It is a huge vote of confidence in the future of viticulture in the Similkameen, where many vineyards suffered considerable damage during the last two winters. The new vineyard has been christened Three Winds Vineyard. Michael Clark, the winery’s managing director and winemaker, wrote: “Situated on the Middle Bench of the Similkameen Valley, within the town of Keremeos and just minutes away fro ..read more

Photo: Solvero's Alison Moyes (Jon Adrian photo) On the Canada Day weekend, Solvero Wines opened its tasting room in the Garnet Valley, appealing for visitors not to be deterred by the wine shortage misperception created by the Okanagan’s two recent hard winters. “We are open and we have lots of wine to share,” says Alison Moyes, Solvero’s general manager and winemaker. “That is a message that is getting a bit lost amid all the talk about vineyard damage. The best thing that people can do to support BC wineries is come and visit us.” It is not that Solvero’s Garnet Valley vineyards, north o ..read more

Photo: Mayhem winemaker Ajay Chavan (courtesy of the winery Mayhem Wines portfolio of reserve wines, which are labelled Anarchy, has now expanded to four with the release of the inaugural Anarchy Pinot Gris from the 2023 vintage. The name, Anarchy, seems to have been inspired by the Anarchist Mountain Vineyard, the home of Terry Meyer Stone and Andrew Stone. They are co-proprietors of Mayhem with the owners of Meyer Vineyards, JAK Meyer and Janice Stevens. This is a vineyard with a history, recounted on Mayhem’s website: Location: Located on the east side of Okanagan Valley in Osoyoos, this ..read more

Photo: Tim Watts (left) with partner Bob Ferguson Kettle Valley Winery has announced that Tim Watts, one of its founding partners and a pioneer of Naramata Bench winegrowing, passed away on June 27, 2024. “Tim asked for no ceremony to mark his passing, but asked that you share a glass of wine with those that are dear to you,” his partner, Bob Ferguson, wrote in an email. In keeping with that request, I opened a bottle Kettle Valley Malbec 2006, one of about a dozen older Kettle Valley reds in my cellar. These are long-lived wines and, true to my expectations, the wine, while showing its matu ..read more

Photo: Burrowing Owl founder Jim Wyse Rosé is hardly the first wine that comes to mind when thinking of Burrowing Owl Estate Winery. This has been the house of big red wines for the last 25 years and, judging from the current releases, it still is. One of those wines is the 2020 vintage of Meritage. I included earlier vintages in my 2017 book, Icon: Flagship Wines from British Columbia’s Best Wineries. Here is an excerpt: The Burrowing Owl red wines are among the biggest in the South Okanagan because they are grown in a sun-bathed vineyard. Winery founder Jim Wyse, a successful real estate ..read more

Photo: Don and Michael Bartier (courtesy of the winery) For the second year in a row, Bartier Bros. winery’s annual releases have included cans of a 4.2% alcohol product called Piquette. There is both a white and a rosé. Unlike last year, I am scoring these products, which are pleasantly refreshing. And given the damage to vineyards during the past two winters, Piquette may be making an outsized contribution to the viability of Bartier Bros. if, as expected, consumers embrace the product. Let me quote the winery’s explanation of Piquette from last year. “Piquette is light wine made from a s ..read more

Photo: Leslie and Jim D'Andrea with debut sparkling wine in 2013 In April, Noble Ridge Vineyard & Winery became the first Canadian producer to achieve the Biosphere Sustainable Certification. The following month, this Okanagan Falls winery released three excellent sparkling wines that one should drink to celebrate the achievement. The Biosphere certification culminates a years-long effort by the winery to become a sustainable producer. In August 2021, Noble Ridge was one of the first wineries in the Okanagan to achieve a British Columbia certification for sustainable winegrowing. There ..read more

Photo: Winemaker Matt Mavety After releasing no wine from the smoke-tainted 2021 vintage, Blue Mountain Vineyard & Cellars has begun releasing wines from the excellent 2022 vintage. I have been able to review the 2022 Gamay Noir earlier this year (and I will reproduce my note here); and I have just had a chance to taste the 2022 Estate Cuvée Chardonnay. I have tasted previously the other three 2022 whites that the winery has released: the Sauvignon Blanc, the Pinot Blanc and the Pinot Gris. Given winemaker Matt Mavety’s competence in both the vineyard and the winery, I would even recomme ..read more

Photo: Winemaker Ross Wise MW Black Hills Estate Winery releases its flagship Nota Bene 2022 with two dinners in mid-June, celebrating what arguably is the best Nota Bene ever made. The good news is that the winery made 4,262 cases in 2022, one of the Okanagan’s finest vintages. The sad news is that no Nota Bene will be made this fall and probably not for a few more vintages after that. “Vineyard redevelopment is our big focus for 2024,” writes Ross Wise MW, the winemaker and general manager at Black Hills. “Unfortunately, we have been heavily impacted by the cold events of the last two wint ..read more

Photo: Winemaker Scott Robinson Since opening in 2016, Little Engine Wines and its winemaker, Scott Robinson, have delivered top quality wines at prices commensurate with the quality. Now the owners, Steven and Nicole French, and their winemaker, have launched a series of wines – the Elevation Series – that are somewhat more affordable and more informal. The winery says these are “a new collection of playful, quality wines, made for spontaneous occasions.” In a note with the new releases, Steven says: “Our Elevation wines continue to deliver quality while peeling back some complexity [and ..read more