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Sandra Oldfield, Kurtis Kolt , Rhys Pender. Helping Restaurants and Wineries in the year ahead

THE SHOW

2020… a year like no other.

We all have hunkered down and completely changed our lives in order to survive the Covid19 virus.

Perhaps lost in all this is the fact that restaurants and wineries are struggling to stay open and stay alive.

We have gathered three of the voices that need to be heard.  They speak on behalf of families struggling to keep their businesses open.

Struggling to pay staff and suppliers.

We try to answer the basic question  –  HOW CAN WE HELP?

I’ve asked Sandra and Kurtis and Rhys to give us the lay of the land.  Where are the needs, who’s adapting well and what the year ahead looks like.

I also took the time to ask them to recommend wines they’ve tasted recently that people should know about.

Kurtis Kolt 

Kurtis-Kolt

Kurtis is  a Vancouver-based wine consultant who writes about wine, presents seminars, hosts events, judges wine competitions, works with restaurants on their wine programs, and so on.
Kurtis’ background is in running restaurants around Vancouver, eventually managing Gastown’s Salt Tasting Room until 2010 when he received the ‘Sommelier of the Year’ award at the 2010 Vancouver International Wine Festival.

Kurtis has various certifications and credits through London’s Wine & Spirit Education Trust, the Court of Master Sommeliers & the Winemaking Program at UC Davis. He is  also the co-founder of Top Drop, dubbed “the nerdiest, most awesome wine festival in Canada.”.

Wines Kurtis would like to  recommend:

2018 Cerasuolo Dabruzzo Tiberio

2018 Morgon – Mathieu & Camille Lapierre

2018 – Road 13  Chenin Blanc Chip off the Old Block

KurtisKolt.com

@kurtiskolt

Sandra Oldfield

Sandra Oldfield

Sandra and Kenn Oldfield established Elysian Projects to give a hand up to BC wineries and tourism businesses.  They work in a wide range of areas including organizational effectiveness, business analysis and planning, recruitment, mentoring and innovative sales and marketing ideas.  At the heart of every project they accept is the belief that people come first and from there success will follow.

Many of you know Sandra from her over 30 years in the wine business. She made 20 vintages as winemaker at Tinhorn Creek and became the  CEO.

She lead the way for BC’s first sub appellation – The Golden Mile Bench. She currently suits on the Ministers Council for Tourism BC,  has agreed to be on the  board for Thompson Valley Tourism and  just wrapped up the 2020 edition of Fortify, a business conference for the beverage industry.

Check out her weekly #bcwinechat  – It’s a Hoot.. Two actually.

When asked to recommend a wine she suggested  Bill Eggert’s Fairview Cellars Two Hoots a Cab/Merlot blended specifically for daily consumption. True.

#bcwinechat

https://elysianprojects.com/

Rhys Pender

Rhys Pender MW is a wine educator, freelance wine writer, wine judge and consultant to the industry. Working in the wine trade since age 14, Rhys’ career has included experience in the vineyard, cellar, wine retail, education and hospitality – providing knowledge in all facets of the business.

In 2010 Rhys became Canada’s youngest Master of Wine (MW) and was awarded the Taransaud Award for best Production of Wine paper.

Rhys consults to the industry on marketing, new winery development, wine evaluations, viticulture, business planning, food and wine pairing and staff training.

Rhys  runs a WSET wine school and consultancy through his business Wine Plus+, and when he’s not travelling around the world he can be found with his boots in the dirt at his small four acre vineyard and winery in the Similkameen Valley – Little Farm Winery.

 He has attempted to explain wines plus  play the ukulele and sing at the same time.  Some have said  “it didn’t go well”  and  many others  have said  “rock on Rhys”

Rhys Pender recommends

A Tempranillo, A Barbaresco, a beautiful old bottle of bubble from Summerhill and because he was calling from Tofino, he chose a Vancouver Island wine Unsworth Pinot Noir.

www.rhyspender.com

wineplus.ca

STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON:

 The Hatch Wines

‘Black Swift

Fort Berens

Sperling Wines

Winemakers Cut

Hillside

Moon  Curser

Enrico

Pags in Victoria

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Holiday Budget Bottles from The Wine Diva & The Bard of Oliver Michael Bartier of Bartier Bros.

THE SHOW

Daenna van Mulligen – The Wine Diva

Daenna Van Mulligen

Her website www.winediva.ca has become one of the “go to” wine sites in Canada.

We are happy to have Daenna van Mulligen  return to the show with the first of several wine lists. (Daenna loves her lists)

This list is called Holiday Budget Bottles 2020 ($16.00 or less)

Pretty much everyone is looking to stock up for the Winter and Daenna  takes care of those needs.

She has personally tasted every one of these wines and only the best tasting and best value wines make the list.

Yes, you can make a list as we talk OR you can go to www.winediva.ca ..click on wine ..and click there for Wine lists.

All the bottles are shown and tasting notes appear BUT if you look up in the top right corner it says You can print this..

I urge you to print and save the list. Trust me, it will come in handy as Christmas approaches. For you and your gift giving.

. See Ya Later Ranch ‘Luna’, Okanagan Valley, BC $ 15.99

.Farnese ‘Fantini’ Primitivo, Puglia Italy $ 12.99

.McWilliam’s “Stolen Colt ‘Shiraz, NSW, Australia $ 15.99

. Tiger Horse Old Vine Cinsault, Western Cape, South Africa $ 14.99

.Easter Romeo & Juliet Red Passimento, Veneto Italy $ 15.99

. Grown Wild ‘Rapturous Red’, Okanagan Valley, BC $ 15.99

. Undurraga ‘8 Rios’ Sauvignon Blanc, Chile $ 11.99

. Santa Carolina ‘Carolina’ Reserva Pinot Noir, Leyda Valley, Chile $ 13.99

. Bodegas San Alejandro ‘Pablo’ Old Vine Garnacha, Calatayud Spain $ 17.00

. Oops ‘Spicy Splendor’ Carmenere, Central Valley Chile $ 14.00

. Terra Ventoux ‘Les 5 Terroirs’ Vieilles Vignes, Ventoux, Rhone Valley $ 15.00

. Five Vineyards by Mission Hill, Chardonnay, Okanagan Valley, BC $ 14.99

. Spier ‘Signature Collection’ Chenin Blanc, Stellenbosch South Africa $ 13.99

. Aureliano Negroamaro, Salento, Puglia, Italy $ 15.00

. Nederburg ‘The Winemaster’s’ Sauvignon Blanc, Western Cape South Africa $ 13.99

. Santo Cristo Garnacha, Campo de Borja, Spain $ 16.00

. Three Monkeys ‘Fresh & Fuity’ Rose, Spain $ 13.50

. Felix Solis ‘Run Rafa Run’ Tempranilla, Spain $ 9.00

. Acheron ‘Footprint The Long Walk’ Shiraz, South Africa $ 12.99

. Trapiche Reserve Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina $ 14.99

. Sanguinhal ‘Sottal Leve’, Lisboa, Portugal $ 16.00

. Leyda Rose, Leyda Valley, Chile $ 15.99

. Rupert Wines ‘Protea’ Cabernet Sauvignon, Western Cape South Africa $ 14.99

. Spier ‘Stormy Bay’ Cabernet Sauvignon, Western Cape, South Africa $ 13.00

www.WineDiva.ca

Michael Bartier – Bartier Bros  (Oliver)

Michael Bartier

“We are from and of this valley.
We grew up here, we know it, we love it, and we are responsible to it.”

– Michael & Don Bartier

Michael Bartier grew up in the Okanagan Valley, leaving as a young man for his education. After receiving a degree from the University of Victoria and working in wine sales on Vancouver Island for a few years, he and his wife Jodi returned home to the Okanagan. While looking for a “real job”, Michael accepted casual work in a winery cellar. And, since he’s still in the cellar, you could say he hasn’t found a real job yet.

Through distance learning at Washington State University and University of California Davis, Michael worked his way into a winemaking position.

He quickly made a name for himself: first as a maker of white wines, earning two Canadian White Wine of the Year titles within three years, and then as a maker of red wines with several consecutive Lieutenant Governor’s awards for his red wines.

Michael enjoyed stints at Hawthorne Mountain Vineyards, Township 7, and Road 13, among others. Currently, he acts as consulting winemaker to what is surely the most coveted client list in North America among consulting winemakers.

Michael’s winemaking philosophy is simple:

1. Plant the correct grapes on the correct site.
2. Farm these well, thinking of the vineyard as a 200-year project.
3. Take the good fruit into the cellar, and make sure the vineyard characters, not the winemaker’s manipulations, make it to the glass.
4. Don’t try to copy Napa, or Bordeaux, or Burgundy; make Okanagan wine. These places make beautiful wines, but they’re different from what the Okanagan gives, and they don’t have the privilege of working with Okanagan grapes.

Keep an eye on where Michael is sourcing his grapes.  If it says “Cerqueira Vineyard:”on the label then grab it. Vineyards don’t come much better than that.

The site is located between Black Sage and Ryegrass roads between Oliver and Osoyoos – rocks as far as the eye can see in a place  made up of a complex site of 10,000 year old glacial till.   It’s called the Black Sage Gravel Bar.

Over two segments Michael and I will talk about:

Chardonnay 2018/2019

Rose 2019

Gewurztraminer  2018

Obrigado 2018

Semillon 2019

Illegal Curve 2018

Merlot 2018

Cab Franc 2018

Orchard Row 2018

GSM  2017

Syrah 2018

The Goal 2018  dedicated to the Penticton Vees – 1955 World Hockey Champs

www.bartierbros.ca

STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON

Sperling new releases

Wine gifts

Best of the year

Fort Berens

The Hatch

Black Swift