Tag Archives: Vancouver

Canadian Pinot Noir Eh!? Alderlea v Quill v DeVine Vancouver Island BC

Posted on October 1, 2018 by waywardwine

By choice or by fate, I cannot escape Pinot Noir. I was born in Oregon and returned to its wine industry. Our traipse through the extreme wines of Vancouver Island have gone from bad to worse to decent, usually faltering with noble grapes like Chardonnay (here), Gamay (here), but succeeding with weird hybrids like Savignette (read here). Can this warm pocket in the Northernmost fringes of winemaker pull off the queen of grapes: Pinot Noir? Continue reading →

Posted in Pinot Noir, Uncategorized | Tagged Burgundy, Canada, Canadian wine, drink, Oregon, pinot noir, travel, Vancouver, Vancouver Island, wine | 3 Comments

Canadian Chardonnay Eh!? Vancouver Island Wine Tour #1

Posted on August 26, 2018 by waywardwine

Check here over the next few weeks, I am touring Vancouver Island’s wines, ciders, and beer.

Wife, kid, and I (sounds like a musical) have driven a day to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. And yes, they grow enough grapes here to claim a Vancouver Island appellation or VQA. Sure, vines only started in 1992, today boasting 432 planted acres and 32 wineries (even Oregon’s tiny Willamette Valley claims 19,000 acres and over 500 wineries). But what that youth and extremely small scale means, however, is focus: most wineries are estate only, often organic, and handled by families from vineyard to bottle. Continue reading →

Posted in Chardonnay, Uncategorized | Tagged Canada, chardonnay, Cheese, Food, grapes, travel, trips, Vancouver, Vancouver Island, wine, Wolff Estate | 6 Comments

Vancouver Visit Leaves for Backyard Vineyards in Fraser Valley

Posted on January 27, 2015 by waywardwine

With one “dry” weather day left in Vancouver, we hike the interior of Stanley Park. We feel like lost hobbits in this endless glade.

Dog walkers disappear as we delve deeper. Misty and free of the city’s steel, we find something odd. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged backyard vineyards, bc, british columbia, Cabernet Sauvignon, Canada, pinot noir, Sparkling wine, Stanley Park, Vancouver, wine | 4 Comments

Vancouver Visit to Stanley Park, Liberty Distillery, Fish and Chips, BC Liquor Store

Posted on January 25, 2015 by waywardwine

Wayward Wine continues to search for drinks-related fun in “No Fun City”: Vancouver, BC. Where better to start than downtown’s Signature BC Liquor Store? But even in this urban chic city center, this state-run store only offers the same old Okanagan brands (Wayne Gretzky wine…sigh). Prices all tend to the teens and above. Anything cheaper and “local” is Australian bottled in BC (yes, they have a section for it). Thanks to brutal taxes, shelf price for any wine from anywhere, is twice what is stateside. There’s a reason people buy wine pre-made in bulk from private home brew shops: Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bc, british columbia, Canada, distillery, G&Ts, gin, Liberty Distillery, spirits, Stanley Park, Vancouver, Vodka, Whiskey, wine, Wisky | 2 Comments

Vancouver 4: Sake Rice, Mushroom, and Molsen Beer Risotto

Posted on January 13, 2015 by waywardwine

So that rice, Canada’s only Saké rice, that we bought from Artisan SakeMaker of Osake (see last post: here) on Granville Island…how does it cook?s Since our palates have adapted to British Columbia over ten days, we decide to hold firm … Continue reading →