Tasting Room Radio

Wines of Romance from Township 7 and Rocky Mountain Whisky from Wild Life THE SHOW The press release arrived well in advance of Valentine’s Day. “These exceptional wines are not only perfect for cosy winter evenings but also make for delightful Valentine’s Day celebrations. I’m 3 days late with this story but when Valentine’s Day falls on a Wednesday, I find most of my friends agree with me and move it to the weekend when we have time to call our own. Anyway, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. Mary McDermott – Winemaker Township 7 (Langley and Naramata Bench) Mary is a straight shooter. No catch-all marketing phrases. Just the facts and heartfelt reflections on the growing year and what the vineyard was trying to say to us. Her training and years of seasonal survival have made Mary one of the winemakers to watch. Mary watches over the prime Naramata vineyards and their ever-evolving vineyards in Langley. She is, after all, following in the footsteps of Michael Bartier and Bradley Cooper. High standards have risen even higher under Mary’s watch. A wonderful winemaker and consummate craftswoman. Tasting and Talking: seven stars RIGEL 2021 Traditional method style, made with Riesling from the  Fool’s Gold Vineyard in North Oliver. Owned by Mark Antonello, well known vineyard manager. The vineyard was researched and planted two decades ago by the legendary Richard Cleave. When he and Harry McWatters drove and walked around the Okanagan, they had their choice of “everything and everywhere”.  They picked the best plots of land to be had. If Richard Cleave’s name is linked to a vineyard, it’s Gold friends. For example, the 2020 version of this sparkling wine was awarded Best Canadian Sparkling Wine 2023 Champagne and Sparkling Wine World Championships in London.  Loaded with notes of citrus and minerality. The glorious mousse has a texture that never seems to leave my memory bank. The body remembers such moments. 383 six-bottle cases –  $36.97 seven stars POLARIS 2020 Named in honour of the North Star which has guided ships at sea for many 100’s of years. Crafted in traditional Methode Champenoise style. Polaris is a Blanc de Blanc made from 100% unoaked Chardonnay. It has been celebrated at the Canadian National Wine Awards, BC Lieutenant Governor  Awards, Global Awards in Australia and many more. Notes of brioche, Granny Smith apples, peach, lime. In a word – Polaris is complete!    1250 six-bottle cases –   $39.97   Benchmark Series Pinot Noir 2022   This wonderful Pinot came from long-time growers Dwight and Arnie Gash’s Remuda Vineyard in Okanagan Falls. Mary works with ripe dark fruit which she ferments in their concrete egg and stainless steel. Aged a full year in French Oak Puncheons. Your nose will love the aromas of raspberries and cherries. The palate is fully engaged with assembled fruit and delicious undertones. When your mouth is not busy with the pinot, it will be forming the words “wow”! 800 cases made – available at both wineries and online. $41.97 www.township7.com   Matt Widmer – Co-Founder of Wild Life Distillery  Canmore, Alberta   Matt and his co-founding partner Keith Robinson grew up together in the neighbourhood. In their case, the neighbourhood was Banff and Canmore, Alberta. Rundle Mountain was in between them but it all worked out. In 2017 they decided to build a distillery in Canmore – they called it Wild Life. Craft spirits became a reality – whisky, gin, vodka, amaro, canned cocktails, bitters, etc. While I was covering the Victoria Whisky Festival I heard their name being dropped several times.

Winter Wine Wars. Features on Orofino/Fort Berens THE SHOW   The letters were received on Jan 22. It was the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission informing a considerable number of BC wineries that if they did not immediately stop shipping wines direct to consumers in Alberta, they would stop allowing those wines in their retail stores. Legalities aside, the timing couldn’t be worse for BC wines and farmers. Two winters of freezing vine damage, roadblocks in high season and wildfires have led to some wineries wondering if they can survive through 2024. Now this! BC wineries are on record as offering to collect the taxes on their shipments, most of which are to members of their wine club. In many cases, these are high-end, exclusive & hard-to-find wines, so the Alberta concern of younger drinkers getting their hands on these wines is simply not in play To try and make sense of all of this new information I asked two valued wine friends to join me on Tasting Room Radio.   Sandra Oldfield – Former partner/winemaker in Tinhorn Creek. Now the founder of Elysian Projects and a steady voice in the Okanagan. You may remember Sandra from the 2011 wine war between BC and Alberta. To make a point about shipping across provincial borders in Canada,  Sandra ordered a shotgun from out of province and it arrived safe and sound. However, she was not allowed to ship or carry wines into Alberta. She still has that shotgun to remind her of how far we have yet to go.   www.elysianprojects.com     Al Hudec – Lawyer. Farris LLP. Specializing in wine law. Runs the Kelowna office of Farris LLP. Al is a prominent legal advisor to the BC Wine Industry and has been lead lawyer on many of Canada’s most significant Indigenous transactions of the past 12 years. www.farris.com   WWW.WINEBC.COM   We’re going to cover a lot of ground here but please keep in mind that the wines we love sharing with family and friends come from the passion,  talents and hard work of small farmers in BC. That’s who’s dealing with this bad news – in a year of bad news. Small farmers working sunup to sundown. Dealing with insects, fires, extremes in climate, smoke, hail and now regional politics.   Just when they really needed our support, there is another mountain to climb.   So, please buy BC as much as you can. We’ll get through this together. www.winebc.com         John Weber – co-founder and chief winemaker at Orofino Vineyards in the Similkameen Valley. Its been a while since John and I chatted about winemaking. Its usually about fishing.  No wait,  its always about fishing. Please  head for the website.  As you can see they’ve been  very busy. And this is just the whites!!! 2022 Orange skin contact White 2022 Pozza Vineyard C ab Franc Rose 2022 Crossroads Riesling 2021 Home Vineyard Old Vines Riesling 2021 Chanrdonnay 2022 Sparkling Gamay Noir   Mostly we’re going to be talking about how the Similkameen is dealing with killer winter freeze, fires and  with climate change.  Which is what farmers do. Every season and every year.   www.orofinovineyards.com   Alessandro (Alex) Nel – Winemaker at Fort Berens, Lilloett, BC Before arriving at Fort Berens,  for over a decade Alex had been a winemaker at Cederberg Winery in the Western Cape of South Africa. While there he produced one of the Top 50 wines  in the Decanter World Wine Awards in 2021.

This Years Winner. Last years winner. Plus Whitehorse and Edinburgh   THE SHOW Making great whisky is serious business. Whisky takes time. You can create it and leave it in barrel “while your kids grow up and head off to college” kind of time. For example Paradigm Spirits -The Heritage Collection –  Whisky of the Year in Canada spent 19  years in barrel. Then along came friends and partners Michelle deBus and Irma Joeveer who were just beginning their whisky journey. They purchased the filled barrels to start Paradigm. Then blended in some Oloroso Sherry and found a stunning balance between the corn whisky and sherry. Davin de Kergommeaux Canada’s Whisky authority and founder of the Canadian Whisky Awards describes The Heritage as having “sublime complexity and elegance with fresh fruity top notes”   This is a really nice story of people who dreamt a dream of making whisky and how it all lead to being named Whiskey of the Year in Canada. Besting 200 other whiskeys. Our guests are Irma Joeveer and Michelle Debus www.paradigmspirits.com     Bob Baxter – Two Brewers Whisky.  Whitehorse, Yukon  At the Canadian Whisky Awards,  Two Brewers put on a show. Won Single Malt Whisky of the Year – Release 41 Won 3 Gold – Releases 41/36/37 Won 2 Silver  Yukon Single Malt Whisky  38 and 39   Bob has been on Tasting Room before and I was delighted to catch up with him again. I like this man and his whisky.  They keep winning a number of awards in Canada and the World.  His attitude is…. we appreciate it but we have whisky to craft and that’s way more important. They’re brewers first and bring those smarts to their spirits. They also use some of the craft beer grains in their whisky making. Bob is joined by his daughter Corey. She’s with the marketing department. His son has joined the whisky makers.  It’s truly a family thing.   www.twobrewerswhisky.com   Rob Carpenter –  co-founder /  Calum Rae – Distillery Manager Holyrood Distillery Edinburgh  (Old Town) October 2023 Holyrood launches their 1st whisky Arrival. It’s one of the first single malt whiskies produced in Edinburgh in over 100 years. Working in the cellar with Butts-Hogs Heads-Bourbon Barrels and Rum Barriques. Playing with flavours eg: Heritage Barleys-Special Malts-Yeast Strains Have a listen about their latest release on World Whisky Day 2023.  Lovingly called Mezcal Moonshine.   https://holyrooddistillery.co.uk/ James Lester – co-founder of Sons of Vancouver Last years Canadian Whisky of the Year Palm Trees and  a Tropical Breeze came from Sons of Vancouver Distilling. They sent their whisky but stayed home. There was no way they would be named Whisky of the Year. Well, a year later everything’s changed. For them and I think for Canadian Whisky. How they taste and how they’re marketed. This year they won Gold with Summer Road Trip Across the Midwest Palm Trees and a Tropical Breeze Desert Grass and Blue Agave   Won Silver with Raiding Nona’s Liquor Cabinet   Love this company and their vision.  Making whisky and marketing it in a whole new way. Changing the next generation of spirit makers.  Teaching their methods to those who want to sign up for classes. Heads up – They sell out quickly!!  James explains the very best way to get your hands on their “expressions” before they’re gone. James leaves us with a couple of teases of what’s coming up this year.   www.sonsofvancouver.ca

Victoria Whisky Fest  & Canadian Whisky Awards     THE SHOW    “Friendship is like Whisky – the older the better”  Yes, my friends its our annual trek to Victoria’s inner harbour for the 18th annual Victoria Whisky Festival and the Canadian Whisky Awards. It was founder of the awards Davin de Kergomeaux who whispered in my ear wondering why I wasn’t attending or tasting or writing about his Whisky Awards.  On second thought I think the voice in my ear was me saying “how could you possibly miss this?” just after I had missed the events about 6-7  years ago. I knew almost nothing about Whisky but my thinking was the same as wine – 17 years ago – every interview is going to be a master class. Pay attention and you could learn all about wine and pass it on to the listeners.   I’m pleased to welcome to Tasting Room Radio –   Davin de Kergommeaux – founder of the Canadian Whisky Awards. The Canadian Whisky Awards, held annually with the Victoria Whisky Festival, is the first and only competition dedicated solely to Canadian Whisky. The Awards have become the first stop for whisky producers, distributors, retailers and fans looking for the very best Canadian whiskies. Davin is the world’s leading authority on Canadian Whisky. He also has three books available on Canadian Whisky with a fourth coming in March! Davin assembled 10 judges and sent them nearly 200 competing whiskies to blind taste.  Davin announces the winner in his interview. We talk to the winners next week.   www.canadianwhiskyawards.com www.canadianwhisky.org     Dr. Graeme Macaloney PEng, PhD. – Macaloney’s Island Distillery (Saanich)   Proud owner of 5 world whisky awards including Worlds best Potstill – Kildara. They are a non-chilled, filtered, no colour added distillery. In our 8-10 minute interview I think I asked 3 perhaps 4 questions – Dr Graeme handled the rest. It was like a masterclass. A charming man in a Cameron Kilt. He won Gold for his 54ppm Peat Project.   www.macaloneydistillers.com     Tish Harcus –  Manager Canadian Club Whisky  since 1988.  Canadian Club itself since 1858. www.canadianclub.com James Neil – Bowmore Distillery. The oldest distillery in Islay. On the shores of Lochindaal since 1779. Also home to one of the world’s oldest Scotch maturation warehouses – The No 1 Vault. James poured Bowmore 22 Aston Martin www.bowmore.com   They took part in the Great Whisky Debate with Micah Dew from Maker’s Mark. Words flew, one liners were exchanged and they still remain long time friends. Micah was busy with a masterclass but we thank Tish and James for coming by. www.makersmark.com   Chris Read –Shelter Point Distillery. Campbell River. Distinctly Vancouver Island. Uniquely Shelter Point. By the time Chris sat down we knew Shelter Point had won 2 Bronze medals for their Oak Cask Single Malt  (smoke, spices, honey, leather and a wiff of ocean) and their flagship Evans Family Reserve. (vanilla, tannins, dark chocolate, coconut, citrus, berries, cloves.) Chris explained the unique influences in their island location. It was like poetry. www.shelterpoint.ca     NEXT WEEK – Rob Carpenter.  Holyrood(Edinburgh) Calum Rae –  Holyrood Distillery Manager Bob Baxter – Two Brewers Whitehorse. Irma Joeveer and Michelle Debus –

John Skinner on his Painted Rock Wines /VJ Gandhi: making our wines available in USA.   THE SHOW   “If Painted Rock is going to compete with the best in the world we must have confidence in our terroir and allow it to express its uniqueness. That’s why we are 100% Estate.”  John Skinner John Skinner and Valeria Tait planted Painted Rock  in 2006,  a year before we moved to the Naramata Bench. Even though there was no Painted Rock to taste when we arrived, it was one of the first wine names I heard in my ‘walk arounds’. John was driven to make wines that would be appreciated all over the World but first he had to create it and then convince the wine world that it was worthy. He has done so with Painted Rock. John’s Red Icon was named as a Decanter Wine of the Year in 2020. Also this review from Jancis Robinson:  London Painted Rock, Red Icon 2016 17 Points: “Like a very rich red Bordeaux. Very beautifully balanced. Long and velvety. Everything fully ripe but with good acidity too. Well balanced and very bright-fruited. Still youthful but promising for the long term. (RH) 14.9%” Drink 2020 – 2027   John takes us through his new releases and brings a stack of stories. 2020 Chardonnay  available for first time since 2019 2020 Merlot – dark and rich. 2020 Red Icon – classic blend 2020 Syrah – a jaw dropping gem   www.paintedrock.ca   VJ Gandhi  – Founder of Kascadia Wine Merchants “It’s time to change the narrative to – North American wine.” – VJ Gandhi For everyone who has family and friends in the USA asking how to get their hands on  wines from BC and other provinces, or Americans who discover wines North of the border that they really like, there’s someone now making our  best wines available in the US. That someone is VJ Gandhi. Founder, VJ Gandhi is a proud Canadian citizen with epicurean taste, and her deepest passion yet has to be her love for the complexity in a glass of fine-tasting wine. Over the course of her career in marketing and business management  VJ has developed, implemented and managed several large scale projects in finance and marketing for high profile organizations such as the Government of Canada, BC Provincial Government, and 2010 Olympic Games Secretariat. VJ was inspired to market award winning Canadian vintages globally in the United States when  she’d moved to the San Francisco area in 2014. VJ and her trusted team of experts have carefully curated the Kascadia Wine portfolio over the years, which has now scaled to shipping in US states. With the launch of the wine club, clients who are eager to savor exclusive, high quality wines from North America, including Canada and the Pacific Northwest are going to be impressed!   Today, her growing venture, Kascadia Wine Merchants, markets and sells Canadian wines across 45 US states.   www.kascadiawinemerchants.com   STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON   Fort Berens – New Releases Township 7 – New Releases Van Wine Festival Victoria Whisky Festival.        

Wine, Whisky and Winter THE SHOW  First Guest is Harry Hertscheg – Executive Director  45th Annual Vancouver Wine Festival Acknowledged as the largest combined consumer and trade wine show in North America. Also one of the biggest and oldest in the World.  Not Harry…the festival. The 45th festival will take place February 24 to March 3! 8 days with 42 events. Harry takes us through some of the events including the California Wines Sun Fest Mingler and a public seminar. The theme region is Italy. With an amazing 71 Italian wineries represented. In many cases attendees include winery owners and winemakers. The Italians alone are featured in 22 events, 12 dinners, a public seminar, trade seminars , The Bacchanalia Gala, the Festival Toast, Awards Lunch and La Dolce Vita. Daenna van Mulligen – The Wine Diva hosts one of two Gerard Bertrand wine events. Harry also advises us to watch  for the Global Cru and The Shape of Wine. Van Wine Fest have partnered with StayVancouverHotels.com..  Harry suggests “don’t just plan a couple of hours in the tasting room, make a wish list that covers a couple of days. Make a weekend of it.”   Details at www.vanwinefest.ca   Second Guest is Adam Bradshaw – Digital & Premium Experience manager at The Strath. (Victoria) Victoria Whisky Festival.  Thursday Jan 18 to Sunday Jan 21.   Adam is also local ambassador for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society Held annually at the Hotel Grand Pacific. The festival hosts four days of events including the Canadian Whisky Awards. Grand Tastings, Masterclasses and consumer tastings. Adam is personally presenting a single cask masterclass Details at www.victoriawhiskyfestival.com   The third guest is Kimberly Hundertmark – General Manager Okanagan Wine Festivals The 2024 Okanagan Winter Wine  Festival * Jan 20 . Winter Sips South. Penticton Trade and Convention Centre * Jan 20/21 TASTE Passport – District Wine Village Oliver * Jan 27 Winter Sips North. Revelry Food and Music Hub   Kimberly  takes us through all of the events and the fun to be had. Why winter and wine go together. A great pairing. The District Wine Village intends to become a great destination. Finish with lunch at Wards Kitchen. ALL of the details  you need  can be found at www.thewinefestivals.com   STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON Victoria Whisky Festival Fort Berens Celebrating Winter Whites      

Mike Grgich – His 1976 Napa Chardonnay in USA/France blind tasting in Paris was The Shot Heard Round the World.       THE SHOW   Winemaker Mike Grgich died Dec 13th 2023.  He was 100 years old. This is his story,  as told to yours truly into a nasty microphone in the lobby of the Hotel Vancouver 2016. He had just released his memoir A Glass Full of Miracles. (Note – on his way from Croatia to Napa he travelled across the Atlantic and by train across Canada to Vancouver for a lumberjack job he had applied for. The job was gone by the time he reached the west coast. So,  Mike washed dishes until he heard of a winemaking job in Napa and straight south he went)   Steven Spurrier, a wine expert from England who ran a fine wine shop in Paris, decided it would be fun to organize a blind tasting to coincide with America’s Bicentennial celebrations in 1976. For the tasting, he gathered together the best French judges, the finest French wines, and to salute America on its 200th anniversary he added in a few wines from some upstart winemakers in California. Steven hoped the tasting would bring favorable attention to his wine shop. But he didn’t have any idea of the impact that his Bicentennial tasting would have on the world of wine. André Tchelistcheff, along with Jim Barrett, had hand-carried an armload of California wines to Paris for the competition. The blind tasting was held at the InterContinental Hotel in the center of Paris. The morning competition was devoted to white wines and the afternoon was devoted to the reds. And Steven Spurrier brought together the very best white wines of Burgundy: a 1973 Meursault-Charmes, a 1973 Beaune Clos des Mouches, a 1973 Bâtard-Montrachet, and a 1972 Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles. Alongside these French legends there was the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay crafted by Mike Grgich, and other Chardonnays from California that the French judges had never heard of either. The judges expected to sniff and gag when they tasted the California wines. But it didn’t happen that way. The nine French judges blind tasted the white wines and graded each of them. The winner was the Chateau Montelena Chardonnay that Mike Grgich had made, with 132 points, the highest total scored of any of the wines, red or white, in the tasting. It was the champion! Then, to add insult to injury, the third and fourth places went to Chalone Vineyard and Spring Mountain Vineyard. TRR Jan 6 Mike Grgich Part Two 1011   In the afternoon tasting of the red wines, the French judges gave their top ranking to Warren Winiarski for his 1973 Stag’s Leap Cabernet Sauvignon, beating the best wines of Bordeaux, among them a 1970 Château Mouton-Rothschild, a 1970 Château Haut Brion, a 1970 Château Montrose from Saint-Estèphe, and a 1971 Château Léoville-Las-Cases from Saint-Julien. The judges were shocked as was Steven Spurrier. Upstarts from the Napa Valley had won both categories, against the very best wines of France. The French judges were speechless and a few tried to suppress the results, but without success. The following week, George Tabor’s story in Time magazine announced the American triumph, and it sent shock waves throughout the world of wine. Mike received the news that they had won by a congratulatory telegram from Jim Barrett in Paris. That was the first he learned that his wine was even in the competition. Soon, though, the importance of what had happened began to sink in.. On July 4, 1977, Mike Grgich and Austin Hills, of the Hills Bros. Coffee Company, broke ground to start Grgich Hills Cellar, which from the start sold wines that were in high demand, based on Mike Grgich’s reputation as the winemaker who won the Paris Tasting. Gradually,

  THE SHOW It is a year-end tradition on Tasting Room Radio Daenna van Mulligen – The Wine Diva – joins me for a rundown of her primary year lists. After tasting well over 1000 wines a year, Daenna compiles all of her notes and posts her “best of” categories. Three weeks ago it was the   Top Wines of 2023. All 93 points or better. Then, last week The top 100 wines of 2023 – all $25 or under and 88 points or better. And just in time for New Year’s weekend, the final list features The Top Sparkling Wines of 2023. Not only does Daenna bring her comprehensive tasting notes and reflections on the wines but we also get into a discussion about new breakout regions in the bubble world. They all have one thing in common. Cool climate wines and that’s exactly what Canada is gaining an expanding reputation for.   Here is the list of sparkling wines we talked about. The complete list can be found at www.winediva.ca and www.winescores.ca   CHEERS – Goodbye 2023. Onward Friends   * Jansz Premium Cuvee Brut, Tasmania, Australia $45.00 * Taittinger Brut Reserve Champagne, France $76.99 * Taittinger ‘Prelude Grands Crus’ Champagne, France $115.00 * Taittinger ‘Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs’ Champagne, France $350.99 * Township 7 Vineyards and Winery ‘Seven Stars Vega’, British Columbia N/A * Blue Mountain Vineyard and Cellars Brut Rose, Okanagan Valley $45.00 * Blue Mountain Vineyard and Cellars Reserve Brut Okanagan Valley BC $50.00 * Township 7 Vineyards and Winery ‘Seven Stars Sirius’, British Columbia N/A * HIgh Note Estate Winery ‘Patter’ Brut, Okanagan Valley, BC N/A * Jansz Premium Rose, Tasmania, Australia $45.00 * Gerard Bertrand ‘Papilou’, Petillant Naturel, Sud de France N/A * One Faith Vineyards Fizz Rose Okanagan Valley, BC N/A * Gigglewater Prosecco, Veneto Italy $25.00 * Gigglewater Prosecco Rose, Veneto, Italy $20.00. 15.Bartier Bros. Brut, Okanagan Valley, BC N/A * Mayhem Wines Sparkling Rose, Okanagan Valley N/A * Mayhem Wines Sparkling White, Okanagan Valley N/A * Bartier Bros. Brut, Okanagan Valley, BC N/A * Caves de Rauzan Cremant de Bordeaux Brut, Entre-Deux-Mers, France $25.00 * Villa Conchi Cava Brut Seleccion, Penedes Spain $20.99 * Louis Bouillot ‘Perle d’Aurore’ Cremant Brut Rose, Bourgogne, France $29.99 * De Chanceny Cremant de Loire Brut, Loire Valley, France $26.99 * Da Silva Vineyards and Winery ‘Isabella’ Frizzante, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, BC N/A * Bottega ‘Il Vino dei Poeti Rose Gold’ Brut, Italy $34.99 * Bernard~Massard ‘Cuvee de L’Ecusson’ Brut, Luxembourg $36.99 * Bottega ‘Il Vino dei Poeti Gold’ Prosecco Brut, Italy $34.99 * Marques de Monistrol ‘Monistrol Seleccion Especial’ Cava, Penedes, Spain $19.00 * Marques de Monistrol ‘Monistrol Seleccion Especial’ Cava Rose Brut, Penedes, Spain $20.00 * Haywire ‘Pink Bub’ Sparkling, Okanagan Valley BC $30.00 Win *  Ferrari Brut Metodo Classico, Trentino, Italy $34.99   For the full story and bottle shots please go to  www.winediva.ca and www.winescores.ca   Happy New Year – May 2024 be healthy and happy! Thank You Daenna. And a special Thank You to Associate Producer Corey Wood and Meg!!       STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON

The Wine Diva: Top 100 Wines ($25 or under – 88 points or better)   THE SHOW The end of any year always brings “best of” lists: Films, Music, Books, Food and many artistic events! This year end list from Daenna van Mulligen/The Wine Diva  brings the very best budget wines of 2023. All $25.00 or under and 88 Points or better!! For all those wine fans who ask the yearly question – “Where are the $25.00 wines that taste like $35 dollar wines?” Those wines are right here. Budget bottles good enough to be happily offered as gift bottles. Daenna van Mulligen/The Wine Diva tastes a staggering amount of wines over the weeks and months of a wine year and these are the ones that stood out. Affordable all stars. The complete printable list can be found at winediva.ca winescores.ca   Merry Christmas – Happy Hanukah – Best of the Season – Happy New year CHEERS!!   HIgh Note Estate Winery ‘Capriccio’ Riesling, Naramata Bench, BC N/A Hester Creek ‘Selected Barrels’ Merlot, Okanagan Valley, BC $21.99 Gerard Bertrand ‘An 806’, Corbieres, Sud de France $21.99 Nicosia Grillo, Sicily, Italy $21.99 LaFleur Chevalier Bordeaux, France $22.00 Araldica Barbera, Piedmont, Italy $22.00 Wild Goose Winery Riesling, Okanagan BC $25.00 Oops ‘Spicy Splendor’ Carmenere, Central Valley Chile $14.99 Falernia Carmenere Gran Reserva, Elqui Valley Chile $19.99 El Petit Bonhomme Blanco, Rueda Spain $17.99 Meyer Family Vineyards ‘Meyer’ Chardonnay, Okanagan Valley, BC $21.00 HIgh Note Estate Winery ‘Soubrette’ Pinot Grigio, Naramata Bench, BC N/A HIgh Note Estate Winery ‘Continuo’ Rosado, Naramata Bench, BC N/A Township 7 Vineyards and Winery ‘Provenance Series’ Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley, El Petit Bonhomme, Jumilla Spain $17. N/A Terra Ventoux ‘Les 5 Terroirs’ Vieilles Vignes, Ventoux, Rhone Valley $18.50 Selbach Riesling ‘Fish Label’, Germany $22.. Mayhem Wines Sauvignon Blanc Okanagan Valley N/A Mayhem Wines Cabernet~Merlot, Okanagan Valley N/A Mayhem Wines Rose, Okanagan Valley N/A Meyer Family Vineyards ‘Meyer’ Gewurztraminer, Okanagan Falls, BC N/A Castello di Gabbiano ‘Cavaliere d’Oro’ Chianti Classico, Tuscany Italy $20.00 Da Vero Nero d’Avola Vino Rosso, Sicily, Italy $15.00 Familia Zingarelli ‘Rocca della Macie’ Chianti Classico, Tuscany, Italy $20.99 Araldica ‘Il Meridone’ Catarratto, Sicily, Italy $15.00 Fort Berens Estate Winery Pinot Gris, British Columbia $25.00 Lunessence Winery & Vineyard Rose, Okanagan Valley, BC N/ Clos du Soleil ‘Winemaker’s Series’ Whispered Secret Vineyard Pinot Gris, Similkameen Valley, BC N/A Clos du Soleil Fume Blanc, Okanagan Valley $25.00 Bartier Bros. Rose, Okanagan Valley, BC $18.99 Spearhead Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley BC $22.00 Wild Goose Winery Gewurztraminer, Okanagan BC $25.00 Covert Farms Family Estate Semillon~Sauvignon Blanc, Okanagan Valley, BC $26.00 CedarCreek Estate Winery Sauvignon Blanc, Okanagan Valley $25.00 CedarCreek Estate Winery Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley BC $25.00 La Bonhomme Monastrell Rose, Valencia Spain $20.00     STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON: Canadian Whisky Awards Fort Berens – New Wines Remembering Mike Grgich and the shot heard round the World. Highlights of 2023          

Daenna van Mulligen – The Wine Diva & her TOP scoring wines of 2023. (93 pts or better) THE SHOW A dear friend returns. For many years now wine reviewer, educator, speaker and writer Daenna van Mulligen, known to the wine world as The Wine Diva, has graced Tasting Room Radio. We have  co-hosted many shows.  The Vancouver Wine Festival, Cornucopia in Whistler and countless specials. The Wine Diva  has two exceptional websites www.winediva ca and www.winescores.ca  On those sites Daenna reviews perhaps a 1000 wines a year. At years end she always  publishes her much anticipated  wine lists. The lists can be found on www.winediva.ca  and includes a link for printing that list. This TRR is the first of several.  It features the top scoring wines of 2023. All 93 points or better. As Daenna says “ wines that are complete, balanced and worth the expense! All wines that come up for discussion on this weeks TRR also include Daenna’s  tasting notes and reflections. NEXT WEEK – Top 100 of 2023. $25 or less and all 88 points or better. (The last segment of this weeks show is a brisk preview) Heads up – Daenna mentions an event she’ll be hosting during the upcoming VanWineFest. Wine Diva’s Annual TOP Lists   As I do every year, for longer than I can actually recall, I send out my annual TOP lists. The parameters have changed a bit over the years (especially this year), more than 15 years ago my TOP 100 wines were $16 or less. That number steadily grew and this year, thanks to inflation these wines are now $25 or less and scoring 88+ points.   My annual TOP 50 $20 or more has become my TOP Scoring Wines of 2023. These are wines that have scored 93+ points   Finally my sparkling wines list remains the same, bubbles of all styles and shades, from all over the world   Thank you all as ever for supporting WineDiva and WineScores over the years and as ever I wish you all a happy and healthy holiday season and the best for 2024!   These are the wines reviewed:  Taittinger ‘Prelude Grands Crus’ Champagne, France $115.00 Taittinger ‘Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs’ Champagne, France $350.99 One Faith Vineyards ‘Reserve’ Chardonnay, Okanagan Valley, BC $25.99 Township 7 Vineyards and Winery ‘Seven Stars Sirius’, British Columbia N/A Gerard Bertrand ‘Cigales’, Sud de France $60.00 One Faith Vineyards ‘Grand Vin’, Okanagan Valley, BC $142.00 Gerard Bertrand ‘Cuvee 100 Les Arbousiers’, Corbieres, Sud de France $75.99 Gerard Bertrand ‘Chateau de Soujeole Grand Vin’, Malepere, Sud de France N/A Township 7 Vineyards and Winery ‘Seven Stars Aurora’, Okanagan Valley N/A Lunessence Winery & Vineyard Cabernet Franc, Okanagan Valley, BC N/A Frescobaldi ‘Perano’, Chianti Classico, Tuscany Italy $35.00 Tenuta di Arceno Chianti Classico, Tuscany Italy $45.00 Castelvecchi ‘Madonnino Della Piave’ Chianti Classico Gran Selezione, Radda in Chianti, Tuscany, Italy N/A . Township 7 Vineyards and Winery ‘Seven Stars Polaris’, Okanagan Valley N/A Covert Farms Family Estate ‘Grand Reserve’ Chardonnay, Okanagan Valley, BC N/A Dona Paula Estate ‘Seleccion de Bodega’ Malbec, Gualtallary, Mendoza Argentina $60.00 Uko Old Vines Malbec, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina $40.00 Quails’ Gate Estate Winery Syrah ‘The Boswell’, Okanagan Valley BC N/A Citation Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon $90.00 Laughing Stock Vineyards ‘Portfolio’, Okanagan Valley, BC N/A

John Skinner on his Painted Rock Wines /VJ Gandhi on making our wines available in USA.   THE SHOW   “If Painted Rock is going to compete with the best in the world we must have confidence in our terroir and allow it to express its uniqueness. That’s why we are 100% Estate.”  John Skinner John Skinner and Valeria Tait planted Painted Rock  in 2006,  a year before we moved to the Naramata Bench. Even though there was no Painted Rock to taste when we arrived, it was one of the first wine names I heard in my ‘walk arounds’. John was driven to make wines that would be appreciated all over the World but first he had to create it and then convince the wine world that it was worthy. He has done so with Painted Rock. John’s Red Icon was named as a Decanter Wine of the Year in 2020. Also this review from Jancis Robinson:  London Painted Rock, Red Icon 2016 17 Points: “Like a very rich red Bordeaux. Very beautifully balanced. Long and velvety. Everything fully ripe but with good acidity too. Well balanced and very bright-fruited. Still youthful but promising for the long term. (RH) 14.9%” Drink 2020 – 2027   John takes us through his new releases and brings a stack of stories. 2020 Chardonnay  available for first time since 2019 2020 Merlot – dark and rich. 2020 Red Icon – classic blend 2020 Syrah – a jaw dropping gem   Alfresco Dinner  featuring Backyard Farm  Saturday Sept 16 Info on Painted Rock Website  www.paintedrock.ca   VJ Gandhi  – Founder of Kascadia Wine Merchants “It’s time to change the narrative to – North American wine.” – VJ Gandhi For everyone who has family and friends in the USA asking how to get their hands on  wines from BC and other provinces, or Americans who discover wines North of the border that they really like, there’s someone now making our  best wines available in the US. That someone is VJ Gandhi. Founder, VJ Gandhi is a proud Canadian citizen with epicurean taste, and her deepest passion yet has to be her love for the complexity in a glass of fine-tasting wine. Over the course of her career in marketing and business management  VJ has developed, implemented and managed several large scale projects in finance and marketing for high profile organizations such as the Government of Canada, BC Provincial Government, and 2010 Olympic Games Secretariat. VJ was inspired to market award winning Canadian vintages globally in the United States when  she’d moved to the San Francisco area in 2014. VJ and her trusted team of experts have carefully curated the Kascadia Wine portfolio over the years, which has now scaled to shipping in US states. With the launch of the wine club, clients who are eager to savor exclusive, high quality wines from North America, including Canada and the Pacific Northwest are going to be impressed!   Today, her growing venture, Kascadia Wine Merchants, markets and sells Canadian wines across 45 US states.   www.kascadiawinemerchants.com   STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON   Fort Berens – Winemaker Alex Nel Pietradolce Rosso – Mt Etna Meyer  and Mayhem – it’s a family thing.      

THE SHOW  “ I was a friend to the BC wine industry before they had any friends.”   John Schreiner is the Dean of Wine Writers in Canada. Good Grog: A life in wine and journalism is John’s 22nd book. The journalism chapters of Good Grog take us from  newsrooms such as The Regina Leader Post all the way  The Financial Post. John travelled the World filing stories on the economies of nations and their industries. When wine took over his interest and passions, John went back to some of  those  same countries to taste and report on their wines.   The Jack Webster award for Excellence in Business Reporting  and the 2017 “the national winner for Canada”  Gourmand World Cookbook Award in the category of New World Wine Book. John’s research into World Wines took him from BC to the US, Europe, South America, Australia and New Zealand. Best of all, John was the right guy, in the right place,  at the right time.  He  not only watched the BC wine industry grow and get much better with each harvest but through his reporting  he was also very much a part of building the industry. I was fascinated by the parade of “characters” John engaged with over the years. From the business side,  a mix of BS  and Billionaires. On the wine side,  the builders, the grifters and the legends.   Characters such as: Sam Baptiste Joe Busnardo Ben Ginter vs Anthony von Mandle Harry McWatters Jim Pattison And many more.   Enjoy this special edition of Tasting Room Radio. Saluting the life and triumphs of John Schreiner.   www.friesenpress.ca                                                                                                                                STORIES WERE WORKING ON Fort Berens The Sipster 2 Meyer/Mayhem Hester Creek Etna/Pietradolce Painted Rock                

Cowichan Valley Wine Fest & Chef Kristian Eligh/Marilena, Victoria THE SHOW It’s Festival Season. In the Cowichan Valley. Wine, Music, Blues and Roots, Food, Fishing, Camping. The annual Cowichan Valley Wine Festival returns to its Month of August setting. Its kicks off July 27  with Sunset Soirée from 6-9 PM on the gorgeous Campbell Commons at  Brentwood College School in Mill Bay. 13 wineries will be pouring some of their favourites plus some chosen especially for this event. Attending and tasting allow you to actually meet the maker of the wines. There’s nothing better than getting the real story of the wine. Expect high-end, new releases and a few surprises being poured. This year the food program will be created by  Mensch Catering, so you know it will be very interesting. Wineries pouring on the night will be Alderlea, Avril Creek,  Blue Grouse, Cherry Point, Damali, Devino, Deol,  Emandare, Enrico, Rocky Creek, Unsworth, Venturi Schultze and  Zanatta! August in the Cowichan Valley  Aug 1 – 31.    Twelve wineries. Wine Passport.   Your map and tasting glass are your ticket to all 12 participating Cowichan Valley Wineries. Everyone who purchases a ticket is automatically entered into draws.  (Accommodations, wine, tours,  transportation and gift baskets.) Details at www.cowichanwineries.com   Our guests are: Alderlea – Julie Powell co-owner/co-winemaker Blue Grouse – Bailey Williamson  Head Winemaker Enrico Winery – Lorin Inglis  General Manager and Pres Cowichan Wineries Society. (Jim Moody from Zanatta had tech issues and we will do a follow up) www.cowichanwineries.com www.alderlea.ca www.bluegrouse.ca www.enricowinery.com @zanattawinery   Chef Kristian Eligh – Marilena Café and Raw Bar.  Victoria It felt like the longest opening of a new restaurant I’ve seen in many years. 3-4 years ago I knew that Kristian and his family were moving back to Victoria with a plan to create a singular restaurant. Then came years of COVID and post Covid. Finally the day has arrived and Marilena Café and Raw Bar  was just launched. Kristian is a chefs chef. Kristian is a chef’s chef. From Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry, to culinary director of Hawksworth Restaurant and now Top Table Group Executive Chef. The Top Table Group includes Blue Water Café, Eliza, Cin Cin, Araxi, Il Caminetto, Bar Oso.  Quite a line up and it doesn’t include their two New York City restaurants. Marilena is two rooms in one. They’ve been described as “pockets of ambience”. The Raw Bar, led by Chef Clark Park. The Café is the turf of one of the best managers Aaron Matsuzaki. The wine directory is large. It’s overseen by the brilliant Shane Taylor. This is a destination, my friends… Go to www.marilenacafe.com and check out the dazzling menu and wine list. The café is a blend of Japanese-inspired small plates, Italian salads and large sharing plates of whole fish, lobster and  48 hr Beef Shortrib. Cocktails on tap and a list of variables called lively, adventurous and sophisticated. Pouring select Vancouver Island Wines. One from Basque Country and Aquilini   Cab/Merlot Family Blend from Red Mountain.   Marilena is now open. It was well worth the wait.   www.marilenacafe.com   STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON Fort Berens  John Schreiner  Good Grog The Sipster 2 Painted Rock

Michael Bartier – Tasting The Brothers  classic portfolio and Rowan Stewart Cellared Chardonnay from QG.   THE SHOW Michael Bartier: Bartier Brothers  – GM. Co-Owner and Chief Winemaker (South Okanagan) (Don and Michael Bartier) For a guy who literally fell into the wine business many years ago, he has become,  through his own drive, will and talent,  one of the very best winemakers and visionaries in Canada. Michael learned his craft as a tradesman at Hawthorne Mountain Vineyards, Township 7 and Road 13, among others. Currently, he acts as a  consulting winemaker and by his leadership, in and out of the bottle, he makes them even  better wineries. Michael has been on Tasting Room Radio for many years now. He brings smarts, compassion and no BS. Perhaps once a year we exchange questions and answers, insights and food fights. This time we’re  talking about  the new releases of his classic wines,  and big things like Wieners and Wine Wednesdays, Burgers and Blues, and Bubbles and Brunch. Plus one really fascinating addition to his resume. Partnering with Boutinot , the biggest negotiant in French winemaking. They love the wines that Michael makes and its now finding its way to many other countries in the wine world. The wine is called Project B.  We have a very interesting chat about those wines and Michaels role in the process.  www.bartierbrothers.com   The newest releases of some BB  classics: * Brut N/V * Chardonnay 2022 * Semillon 2022 * Rose 2022 *   * * Merlot 2021 * Cabernet Franc 2021 * Grenache Syrah 2021 * The Orchard Row 2020  a field blend . Pinot Noir/Cab Franc/Merlot The latest additions to portfolio: * Pinot Noir Rose 2022 * Riesling Gruner Veltliner 2021 * Pinot Noir 2021 * The Goal 2021 Coming in August. * Piquette and Piquette Rose (in four pack cans) Rowan Stewart – Quails Gate Winemaker: New Developments Even though Rowan’s title suggests new developments, he’s really with us this week to take us through cellaring Chardonnay in the Okanagan Valley. Its always a very interesting experience when new Okanagan white wines are tasted  next to their previous vintages. The tasting takes on a  more serious tone when the wine being tasted is Quails Gate Chardonnay. Thats because they have gained wine fame with their portfolio of cool climate Chardonnays. Quails’ Gate are true wine pioneers in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia with more than sixty years of experience in viticulture. The Stewart family settled in the area in 1908. Five decades later, Dick Stewart started to grow grapes in 1961. The winery, Quails’ Gate was founded in 1989. Over the next two decades, the entire family became involved in making the company one of the leading producers of premium BC VQA wines. Rowan is  the latest Stewart to commit to the family business. The vineyard and the climate are unique: the Okanagan experiences cooler temperatures yet high heat and long periods of sun exposure in the Summer, which provides the ability to grow a multitude of varietals. Due to its latitudinal location, the Okanagan has, more sunlight exposure than most regions in the world. West Kelowna in particular, also sits over an extinct volcano with soil rich in volcanic rock, clay, gravel and glacial till, providing minerals that give wines depth, strength and character.  Vessel Liquor,  Victoria. Currently Quails Gate is doing a program of specialty tasting  for wine fans and right now it’s Chardonnay. The event is called  Right Place, Right Time.  Well made chardonnays age beautifully. Quails Gate are exploring how their chardonnays  will age. You can as well.

For over 17 years we’ve had a feature on TRR called A walk in the neighbourhood. We’ve made some fine friends along the way. The “neighbourhood“ for Tasting Room Radio  are the segment sponsors of this weekly salute to the  craft of winemaking and culinary arts. When we started the show we vowed  “if we are committed to talking  about someone for 52 weeks,  we better like them  and  admire what they do or it  just doesn’t work!” In one hour, we’ll  talk about the wines they’ve released, the awards they’ve won and their plans  for the Summer and Fall.  Fresh new talk friends.   This year in the  neighborhood are:   Hillside Winery (Naramata) Unsworth Vineyards (Cowichan – Vancouver island) Moon Curser (Osoyoos) Mt Boucherie  (West Kelowna) Okanagan Wine Festivals (West Kelowna)    HILLSIDE ESTATE WINERY GM and Winemaker Kathy Malone and Chef Evan Robertson Kathy delightfully takes us through the new Hillside releases. The 2022 Gewürztraminer, 2022 Pinot Gris and a wine club exclusive Below the Road Rose. Also the 2020 Pinot Noir,  2020 Merlot, 2018 Dickinson (single vineyard) Merlot. They’re prepping for a Best of the Bench Dinner event July 18th In our interview Chef Evan pairs each wine with items from his new menu at The Bistro at Hillside. It is….a beautiful thing!! www.hillsidewinery.ca   UNSWORTH VINEYARDS To quote Barney Bentall  “putting this band together is like a goat rodeo”.   In our day to day life in Mill Bay our real neighbours are the Cowichan Wineries and the closest in heart and mind  is Unsworth. We drive by every morning on our way for a Cobble Hill walk.  Representing Unsworth in our  neighbourhood special are: Dan Wright -Winemaker,   Felix Egerer – Viticulturist,  Chef Dan Bain – Restaurant at Unsworth, Karen Newington – Hospitality and Tasting Room Manager.   “The Dans” bring really good food and wine pairings. Dan Bain has a new menu to walk us through as well. Dan Wright and Felix take us through new releases and their growing season and a new vineyard we should all keep an eye on. 2022 Pinot Gris, 2022 Rose, Charme de l’ile and CDL Rose,  a mention of the coming  2018 Cuvee de l’ile and a 2022 Saison Vineyard Pinot Noir. I heard someone mention Mags. Chef likes the new garden in place. Especially the tomatoes for their local legendary pizza on the patio. (Chef Dan Bain) Karen brings us tasting room hours, new summer music every Sunday, August wine passport and everyone had a comments about those new vineyards,  with the promise of increased availability of pinot noir and chardonnay. Dan Wright and I both swooned over the possibilities of the new Charmat Tank. Here’s a local heads up!  If you’re in the Cowichan on a Monday or Tuesday check out the pizza on the patio between 12 noon and 6pm.  It’s just such a good for the soul  experience. All-in-all the place is buzzing. Reservations highly rcommended. www.unsworthvineyards.com   Moon Curser Vineyards The 2019 Best Small Winery in Canada. (just thought I’d throw that in there) A true family winery  Beata and Chris Tolley created Moon Curser 20 years ago and made it  one of the most interesting wineries in the Okanagan.   Best of all, their wines reflect their character. Upbeat, strong and welcoming. Such great people. On the Osoyoos East Bench, they grow and make an amazing range of singular wines. A portfolio measured in heartbeats. 2022 Heist Rose (Syrah driven. Neutral oak presents texture – in a rose) 2022 Dolcetto (loaded with notes of pomegranate and dark berries.