We started April by showcasing the wine events that would have happened in early 2020 except for the fact that the Earth was fighting a pandemic.
First was event was –
Locals Only. Vancouver Islands best showcase of distillers, winemakers, brewers and cider makers.
Then Okanagan Falls & Skaha Lake Wine Assn pour in Vancouver. They were shut down. So we went back to 2019 and talked to the very same wineries. When people could shake hands and stand next to one another.
This week its Top Drop Vancouver/Victoria.
Top Drop is simply one of the best small wine festivals anywhere.
They ask of applicants to be sustainable, honour the fruit, don’t mess with the winemaking and be true to the land.
Unsworth Cowichan Valley
It’s become an astounding collection of “must taste” wineries.
We go back to years 4 and 5 to relive the interviews.
To salute BC Wine Month, we have collected only interviews with BC wineries.
Living and Working in New Zealand. Work is singing and songwriting in the music business.
Actually, the real work is being a mother and wife. Then comes work.
If you like the power of voices like Etta James & Patsy Kline then Tami is your kind of singer.
But she’s more than that.
A feminist, mother, and social activist.
Her latest album is Chicka Boom. It’s fantastic. Just like Tami
We’re going to talk about starting over, women in country music, expectations of a Mother in music, double standards, and what being a Canadian still means.
The Grand Crew Collective and Graham Pierce pours Kitsch in Victoria!
THE SHOW
The Press Release said it all.
The Grand Crew is a Collective of fiercely committed Okanagan wineries with a passion for sustainable farming and small-lot winemaking.
Unlike other “regional gatherings,” these wineries are from four different Okanagan regions. What they have in common is a “garagiste “ attitude. Smaller batches of wine, a true “hands-on” approach.
Each winemaker creates something unique, but they meet regularly to share insights, growing and winemaking tips, and resources so that they can each continue to craft some of the best wines in the region.
They have joined with Kelowna’s Public Liquor to offer a sample box of their releases, curated by the winemakers themselves! The limited-edition inaugural Grand Crew Collective box is available in-store or online, visit Public Liquor to get yours.
Black Market Wine Co. Rob Hammersley Owner/Winemaker (Kaleden)
Black Market Wine Co.
2019 Omerta Syrah Rose $24
A crisp, dry rosé made from 100% Syrah. Aromas of wild strawberries, cherries, and a hint of watermelon. The palate dominated by wild red berries and rhubarb. With crisp acidity, this wine finishes dry.
2017 Syndicate. $35
50% Merlot. 31% Cab Franc. 19% Petit Verdot. 100% Yummy
21 months French Oak. (40% new) Lots of black fruit, Dark chocolate. Tobacco.
Estate-grown Chardonnay shows yummy citrus, pear, and mineral notes with a subtle touch of vanilla from aging in 25% new French oak puncheons. On the nose and palate, lemon, green apple, and minerality. A true cold-climate Chardonnay, this wine offers beautiful balance, crisp acidity, and hangs a long time in the mouth.
2018 The Leap – $23. Rob says The Leap is the younger brother of The Pull. Plumb, Blackberry, and Cherry. Oak and Vanilla note. 60% Merlot. 27% Cab Franc. 13% Malbec. 18 months in new French oak. Bingo!
The Leap
Niche Wine Co. Joanna and James Schlosser. Owners/Winemaker (West Kelowna)
Joanna – James Schlosser Niche Wine Co
2019 Small batch bubbles – $26
Buttery texture. Homegrown. Handmade. Stirred weekly for 5 months. Limited production. Off-dry. Only 185 cases. Much sought after.
Pinot Noir Blanc – $24 Strawberries, lots of berries frankly. Made from just two barrels. 95 cases.
Again. $24 bucks. Oysters. Charcuterie. Or by itself. Hide from family and friends.
Tender Hope Winery – Efi Perel Owner. Winemaker (West Kelowna)
Eli Perel – Rob Westbury
Efi began his winemaking in Israel. Now 25 years later he’s fully Okanagan.
2019 Rose Bubble. VQA. $23
Whole cluster. Combo of Stainless steel and French oak. Melon. Strawberry. A light touch of PNE Candy Floss.
2018 Fire Dance Meritage
This wine is made up of a ripe and balanced blend of 50% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 14% Malbec sourced from the southern limit of Canada’s pocket desert. Rich dark fruit, blueberry, chocolate, wood spice, and smooth mouth feel and a spicy finish.
Winemaker’s Cut – Michal Mosney co-owner and winemaker. (Oliver)
Michal and his wife moved from winemaking in Croatia directly to the Okanagan.
They have become a force, making us even better.
Michael Mosney Winemakers Cut
2019 Gruner Veltliner $26
Shades of Slovakia!
Peach, pear, and citrus aromas along with beautiful minerality and a touch of white pepper and marzipan. Hello Gruner!!!
2018 Bohemia Cuvee $26 and $36
Michal makes a Blanc and a Rose.
Blanc is Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Viognier.
Rouge is Cab, Merlot, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot, AND Syrah. (Pepper. Herbs. Dark Fruit)
Winemaker and GM Graham Pierce – Kitsch Wine pours in Victoria.
I felt I owed this revisit with Graham Pierce. First, he’s a friend, second he’s one of the best winemakers in Canada (think Black Hills and Note Bene) and lastly, my previous interview placed Graham in the uncomfortable position of having to explain the wines of former gifted winemaker Grant Biggs.
Graham Pierce
When I saw that Graham was pouring for the wine community in Victoria I headed South from Nanoose Bay and met him on the 6th floor deck at Laurel Point in the inner harbour.
Beauty spot but windy that day. Plus it was the first time I was doing an interview with masks on. So the audio is a tad muffled but that goes with the times. Mask Up!
Here’s what we tasted.
2016 Blanc de Blancs ($39)– Lime, Granny Smith apples, crème Brulee. In other words delicious. New vintage coming soon.
2018 Ester’s Block Riesling($25)– classic Riesling. Nectarines and Apricots..add peach and ginger notes and you’ll love this wine.
2019 Pinot Gris ($22) – clean citrus on the nose. Green apples and minerality. Beauty.
2019 Block Party ($21) – I’m a Block Party fan. Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Riesling, and Pinot Noir all from the same block. From the 5 blocks on the family vineyard. You just know this is going to be an interesting experience.
2018 Chardonnay ($24)– (Tentree) Really approachable wine. One bottle bought plants 5 mangrove trees in the Village of Mahabana, Madagascar. Get your bottle soon.
2018 Pinot Noir ($40)– Star anise, forest floor, clean and bright.
2018 Cabernet Franc ($36) Oh Hell yes. More, please. Elderberries, lilacs. Intriguing minerality. Spice and red berries.
“But being in a room with Tami Neilson—whose voice is equal parts Patsy Cline, Mavis Staples and Etta James, and no, I’m not reaching for hyperbole here—is a reminder of the soul-shattering effect of the human voice at the height of its powers. I don’t get that reminder often enough; I’m not sure I could handle it emotionally if I did.”
Michael Barclay
McLean’s Magazine
The Neilson Family was part of the country scene in Canada. A young daughter Tami was shy and quiet. Not anymore.
She fell in love with a Kiwi and moved to NZ
Been there 10 years.
But she found her voice and direction.
Big voice driving a wicked mix of blues, soul, rockabilly, and country.
She was ready to take her latest album Chicka Boom on the road when the COVID-19 pandemic shut the music touring world down.
We found her at home In Auckland and open to talking about early family days in Canada, restarting her career in NZ, the challenges women face in country music, and the reaction to being a mother, a performer, and a feminist.
The Complete Zoom interview can be found on The Mulligan Stew Podcast
I have never been to the Wild Mountain Music Festival in Hinton, Alberta. But it feels like I have now!
It’s mid-July. Whole families show up. With two main stages side by side, all the audience has to do is turn 2 feet either way and the next artist kicks off.
The host for the past 6 years is CKUA’s Mid-Morning Mojo Baba.
We’re going to talk to Baba, Jason Williams and Meagan Loves from Swear by the Moon, who’s played and volunteered since the beginning.
I put together a wish list of artists from the many who’ve played Wild Mountain.
CKUA Senior Producer Elliott Garnier kindly gathered live tracks from various festivals we’ve recorded. (Thank you Scott Franchuk)
Looking back on highlights from years past.
The on-stage performance list says it all.
Blue Rodeo – ‘Til I am myself again (Calgary 2017)
Terra Lightfoot – Never Will (Wild Mtn 2019)
Harp and Axe – Pretty Please (Edmonton 2019)
Harry Manx – Make Way (Edmonton2015)
Steve Mariner – Trouble no more (Edmonton Blues Fest )
Matt Anderson – People get Ready (Bear Creek 2017)
Whitehorse – Boys like you (Canmore 2017)
Mariel Buckley – Driving in the Dark (Edmonton 2017)
Diggin Roots – Highway 17 (Edmonton 2016)
Serena Ryder – Sing Sing (her Live album)
Special guests include BABA (who’s MC’d many years)
Also, Meagan Loves – Swear by the Moon
Jason Williams – Festival Artistic Director
Hour one starts with
The great Brian Wilson and his song Love and Mercy
Led Zeppelin back to back with new Robert Plant
Paul Simon Live in Central Park.
Dave Mason and his famous pals,.
John Mayer and Ben Harper
Anna Jayne Burton and Joey Landreth
Michael Kaeshammer and Colin James
Gord Downie and The Sadie’s
And a famous moment in Amsterdam when The Who ran onto the stage at the Concertgebouw to play Tommy for the first time.
That moment when drummer Keith Moon kept running and fell off the stage and took the sound system with him.
I was there..remember it well and now I can hear the audience go “ooooh” as he fell.
Sandra Oldfield & BC’s Women in Wine and Jeff Hundertmark from Mt Boo & Modest Wines!
THE SHOW
Sandra’s email said it all “let’s feature BC women in wine”.
Sandra Oldfield is currently the President of Elysian Projects Inc., a company that supports BC’s wine industry. Sandra is best known as the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Tinhorn Creek Vineyard, kick starting Oliver’s Festival of the Grape in 1997 and has always advised tourism in the province.
Her recent tweet says she’s was born in the same Oakland Hospital as Kamala Harris a year and a half after the VP candidate.
It’s fair to say we took some time organizing these names.
Sandra describes some of them as unsung heroes and some you’ll recognize instantly.
It appears we will be doing this feature again soon as there were LOTS of winemakers/owners we had to leave off just to make room. That’s a good thing.
BC is blessed with an abundance of women in wine and there are many more joining them each year.
“We are a team of artists & technologists passionately building an efficient, friendly and transparent marketplace where anybody can perform, host, or curate shows for their communities”
And then this –
“Although our company was originally for in-person shows only, we quickly expanded to the online sphere, once gatherings became unsafe. Our job is to help artists, curators, festivals, and venues keep creating shows and help audiences find them.
When faced with a crisis, it is always art that helps us through. Whether it offers comfort, community, understanding, solace, distraction, or perspective, art has always been something humanity employs to make it through pain and suffering. We are committed to supporting the creators in safe and innovative ways to connect to their audience.”
Laura Simpson Co-Founder & CEO
Laura’s founding partner is Dan Mangan, a singular artist who knows about endless road trips, rooms full of strangers, and surviving the hard road.
SideDoor started several years ago as a way for emerging artists to play stages in towns, cities, regions, and provinces.
The stages were storefronts, backyards, front rooms, porches, tennis courts, and actual stages.
Forward to 2019 and a World epidemic that changed everyone’s life.
Dan tells the story of where he was and how Sidedoor Access became “The Thing”
Here’s the story of how Dan, Laura, and Sidedoor became a sensation and changed their lives. Again.
This week we celebrate the great Edmonton Folk Music Festival.
My co-host is Elliott Garnier who was the on site producer for the entire festival.
The fans can’t gather on The Hill but we can help recreate the feeling.
We had many interviews and live performances to choose from…but here’s the final list.
Terry Wickham – Producer of the Festival. He gives us a preview of the new Festival documentary The Hill featuring highlight performances from past years. www.edmontonfolkfest.org
Nathaniel Rateliff – 3 days after the Jimmy Fallon breakout. (2015)
Rhiannon Giddens – appearing as a solo performer for the first time. Outspoken activist. Gifted artist. The complete memorable conversation can be heard on the MulliganStew Podcast (2017)
Dan Mangan and Blacksmith – a brilliant off-the-cuff acapella song. (2014)
The Bros. Landreth – debuting songs from their new album. Strong performance. (2018)
Mike Farris – Grammy winner. A wicked mix of rock, gospel, and soul. Great voice. (2016)
Michael Franti – who better to close the show. He returns to Edmonton where he spent some of his teen years. Biggest audience we’ve seen at the CKUA tent. Brings the Joy of The Hill (2018)
Enjoy!! Do you own Hill!
PLAYLIST:
Mulligan Stew
Aug 8 2020 EFMF
Welcome to The Stew TDM and Elliott Garnier
Celebrating past guests from Edmonton Folk Music Festivals
This is the first repeat that we’ve presented on the Podcast. It comes from working on a Mulligan Stew special celebrating our many years at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival. One interview stood out. This one with Rhiannon Giddens. It was 2018 and she was returning to the festival for the first time since taking time away from her friends in Carolina Chocolate Drops. She was now a solo artist with T Bone Burnett producing and mentoring. That’s a matter of record. What was outstanding were her comments 2 years ago on Black Lives Matter, civil rights, the history of black struggle in America, and her place in that struggle. Powerful words and opinions. As essential today as they were 2 years ago. We present Rhiannon Giddens. The complete interview.
Recorded live at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, Rhiannon Giddens talks to Terry David Mulligan about stepping into the spotlight as a solo artist, the influence T-Bone Burnett has had on her career, her latest record ‘Freedom Highway’ and her thoughts on the recent sea change in American politics.
One of the originals on the Naramata Bench and one of the leaders on The Golden Mile and home of “The Judge.”
This week we spotlight Hillside Winery and Hester Creek Estate Winery!
Kathy Malone – Winemaker at Hillside Winery (Naramata Bench)
Kathy Malone
In the early 1900s, this site was an apricot orchard.
In 1979, the property was purchased by Bohumir and Vera Klokocka who had recently immigrated to the Okanagan Valley from Czechoslovakia. In 1984 she and Bohumir pulled out the apricot trees and planted 3.5 acres of vineyards. The grapevines thrived in the gravelly soil and warm Okanagan sunshine and Vera’s dream took shape.
In 1989 Hillside, together with Lang Vineyards and Wild Goose, lobbied the Provincial Government to bring about the Farmgate Winery Policy that was instrumental in changing the B.C. Wine Industry.
Since Kathy moved from Mission Hill to Hillside she has lead the winery to walls of awards and became the voice and face of the Naramata Bench Wineries.
The Hillside portfolio is a testament to Kathy’s skill and passion.
100% of Hillside wines are Naramata raised and grown.
Alert – some wines are marked either above or below the road or below the road. The road being the shoreline of the lake 1000’s of years ago.
Hester Creek on The Golden Mile. Kind of rolls off the tongue, right?
Hester Creek Estate has been growing and releasing wines for 50 years.
In 2018, they marked the 50th anniversary of their estate vineyards. As one of the oldest wine properties in the South Okanagan, they are graced with historic vineyards and a modern winery.
None of it would have been possible without the stubborn farming passion of original owner/winemaker Joe Busnardo. His original planting of Trebbiano is still bringing smiles to wine fans.
Joe sold and moved on to Divino in the Cowichan Valley.
Hester Creek went on to become one of the finest wineries in Canada.
Our Zoom guests are Winemaker Marl Hopley and for the food pairings Terrafina chef Adair Scott.
We talk about two new releases.
2019 Character White – The Pinot Gris has stone fruit on the nose. The palate is treated to honey, melons, papaya, and pear. $16.00
2017 Judge.
Equal parts Cab Franc, Cab, and Merlot. Also equal parts DeLish.$43.99
Your nose will love the anise, black fruit, and cherry.
Followed by tastes of plum, fig, and dark chocolate.
What a great wine.
Every year it surprises and seduces.
This, my friends is an icon wine..let this beauty rest for a couple of years..like 5-8-10 years. The wait is well worth it.
Given that we’re only talking about two wines and because I had the winemaker and the chef handy I decided to pair foods with wine. And then wines with food. This includes a speed round. Like a game show.
“Although our company was originally for in-person shows only, we quickly expanded to the online sphere, once gatherings became unsafe. Our job is to help artists, curators, festivals, and venues keep creating shows and help audiences find them.
