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TOP DROP 2019 / FIRST TIME IN VICTORIA

The press release came in loud and clear.

For the very first time Top Drop was coming to Victoria.

Frankly, that’s all I needed to know.

I’ve been happily covering this small wildly successful wine gathering for
Six Years but Top Drop in Victoria is a whole other event. Why? Because
Victoria is a great wine town.

TOP DROP is Vancouver based so they needed a Victoria Host. Turns out the
Vessel crew have been watching this independent, craft wine festival seed
and grow in Vancouver, and spread to Calgary in 2018. This was their year to
launch it in Victoria for ONE DAY .

Victoria International Marina

Top Drop is an opportunity to celebrate authenticity in farming, terroir
and wine, with winery principals from around the globe.

Mirroring Top Drop Vancouver and Calgary’s flagship experience, the public
event is a walk around, grazing-style tasting where attendees enjoy sips
and stories from the principals of international and local wineries. There
has never before been a wine tasting of this scope and caliber in Victoria.

For me and TRR, the voice and face of Top Drop has always been Kurtis Kolt.
Wine educator and Wine writer for the Georgia Straight.

Kurtis and TD

Because of the foul weather, Kurtis and his partners were delayed in
Vancouver and could not attend while I was there.

Once again Kurtis Kolt and his partner Jeff Curry and a sensational team
have convinced some of the very best winemakers to pour at Top Drop.

What they have in common is craft and care!

In Kurtis’ column in the Georgia Straight he said this:

“Each year, our process begins the same. Our team casts out a wide net to
British Columbia-based importers and wineries, asking for winery
applications to participate in the event. First and foremost, Top Drop
wineries must fit with our general philosophy: that wines, indeed, express
terroir or offer a sense of place.

Whether we’re talking vines grown in mineral-rich soils or under
cool-climate growing conditions bringing bright acidity or in sun-drenched
regions offering generous, opulent fruit and so on, we want those elements
to be notable in the glass and for them to have arrived there authentically,
rather than via heavy-handed additions in the winery.

Sustainable farming is also key. There is a high priority on those who
employ these methods while farming their own fruit or who work with growers
who fit the mold.”

Winemaking Guests in Victoria:

(Check them out – Winners All!!)

Ross Borland Managing Partner/Vessel Liquor Victoria www.vesselliquor.com

Mitch Renaud Asst manager Vessel Liquor Victoria www.vesselliquor.com

Rhys Pender (MW) Little Farm/Similkameen Valley
http://www.littlefarmwinery.ca/

Angus Thomson Urlar/ Gladstone NZ http://www.urlar.co.nz/

Kelsey Rufiange – Echo Bay/OK Falls www.echobayvineyard.ca

Grant Biggs – Kitsch wines/Kelowna www.kitschwines.ca

Tyler Knight = Lightening Rock/Summerland www.lightningrockwinery.com

Larry Gerelus – Stags Hollow/OK Falls www.stagshollowwinery.com

Michael Shindler – A Sunday in August/Similkameen Valley
www.asundayinaugust.com

Dan Wright – Unsworth/Cowichan Valley www.unsworthvineyards.com

https://topdrop.ca/

STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON:

Ann Sperling Making new direction wines at Sperling Vineyards

Tofino Food and Wine

Charles Smith and Rose Gathering/Jet City Seattle

A special feature on “field blends”

Fire Season in The Okanagan

The Wickaninnish Inn opens a spectacular cellar

Tofino mid-week experience. Chefs and more chefs

BC Shellfish Festival / Courtenay-Comox

Cowichan Valley Wine Festival

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BC’s VQA Wineries showcase Spring/Summer wines at Bloom 2019 in Victoria

THE SHOW

Wine fans across Canada and now around the world are increasingly aware of
what British Columbians have known for years – BC produces some
of the world’s most unique and in some cases very best wines

* Each year BC wineries contribute $2.8 billion
annually to the provincial economy and welcome more than 1,000,000
visitors.

* There are more than 10,499 acres under vine in British Columbia with
nine geographical indications (GIs) and two sub-geographical indications
(sub-GIs): Okanagan Valley, Similkameen Valley, Fraser Valley, Vancouver
Island, the Gulf Islands, Thompson Valley, Lillooet, Shuswap, and Kootenays.
Two sub-GIs include Golden Mile Bench and Okanagan Falls, and fall within
the larger Okanagan Valley GI.

Every Spring the wineries select their showcase wines, hit the road and
gather in Vancouver and Victoria. It’s the perfect opportunity for wine
lovers to kick off the season, celebrate new wine releases, meet the actual
makers of these wines and reconnect with those who share the same passion.

This feature is for those who attended and wanted to make further notes on
their experience.(which can be a busy blur)

However, it’s really for those of you who didn’t get to taste and make
notes.

As a public service and for “research purposes” we hit the floor of the
Crystal Ballroom in downtown Victoria and tasted our way through some 40
wines.

As always, we simply didn’t have time to talk to everyone. So we sought out
winemakers, owners and growers who took the time away from home and vines to
join us.

The Team

Very much appreciated.

If you are confused by the growing number of BC wines available we truly
hope this week’s show helps you find your Wine of the Year or at least The
Summer.

There is one special story here.

Michael Mosny was winemaking in Slovakia when he became a fan of Hollywood
and Vines TV co-hosted by Jason Priestley and myself. When he and his wife
Martina saw Jason and I visiting vineyards in The Okanagan it helped inform
the decision to move here. Years later we finally get to meet.

Michael and Martina Mosny Winemakers Cut

Thank You to
Kimberly Hundertmark – BC Wine Institute

www.winebc.com

Guests  this week include:

Joe Luckhurst – GM. Road 13 (Golden Mile)

2018 Canadian Winery of the Year

Joe Luckhurst

www.road13vineyards.com

Stefan Arnason – Head Winemaker Poplar Grove/Monster Wines (Naramata Bench)

www.poplargrove.ca

www.monstervineyards.ca

Michael Mosny Winemaker and Co-Owner Winemakers Cut (Oliver)

www.winemakerscut.ca

Bobby Gidda – Owner and President Volcanic Hills (West Kelowna)

https://volcanichillswinery.com/

Jeff Hundertmark – Head Winemaker Mt Boucherie (West Kelowna)

Jeff Hundertmark Mt Boucherie

https://mtboucherie.com/

Tim Turyk – Proprietor Unsworth Vineyards (Cowichan Valley, Vancouver
Island)

Tim Turyk Unsworth

www.unsworthvineyards.com

Bob Johnson – Owner Baillie-Grohman (Creston Valley/Kootenays)

www.bailliegrohman.com

Richard Da Silva – Proprietor and Vigneron Da Silva/Misconduct (Naramata
Bench)

Richard Da Silva Da Silva Wines

www.dasilvavineyards.com

Jody Switt – Hillside Wines (Naramata Bench)

www.hillsidewinery.ca

STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON:

Tofino Food and Wine

Top Drop 2019 Victoria

Charles Smith and Rose Gathering Jet City Seattle

A special on “field blends”

Fire Season in The Okanagan

The Wickaninnish Inn reopens a spectacular cellar

Tofino mid-week experience

BC Shellfish Festival

Cowichan Valley Wine Festival

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THE THIRD ANNUAL BC CIDER FEST… BIGGER AND BETTER!

The third annual BC Cider Week, took place from April 27th to May 5th.

This week long craft cider celebration saw many cider events, tastings and
festivities throughout British Columbia with tasting events from Kelowna to
Vancouver Island, including tap takeovers, cider pairing meals, and much
more throughout the week.

The highlight for me and many others is the final event. The gathering of up
to 40 Cideries at The Pipe Shop foot of Lonsdale in North Vancouver.

It’s one of the buildings my father Pat worked in during WW2.

The first interview had to be with Shawn Pisio, who co-founded the B.C.
Cider Festival three years ago.

Glenn Ennis, Lynn Colliar and the Geo Team

Just how popular is this event? It sells out within minutes.

Cider is going through the very same revolution that craft beers did 10-15
years ago.

The opportunity to grow more cider apples in B.C. is unlimited, but BC is
already home to many excellent craft cideries.

One of the cideries we interviewed was Twin Island Cider on Pender Island.
They were voted most popular Cidery at this event.

Finally, for those of you who still think that ciders are not for you
because they’re too sweet or something…FORGET ABOUT IT..

It’s a whole new world out in the orchard.

Enjoy!!!!

Our guests are:

Shawn Pisio – Txotx/ Co-Founder

Russ Johnson – Owner/Cidermaker Truck 59 Kelowna

Sydney Bottomley – Asst Cidermaker Broken Ladder Kelowna

Nick Farrer – Founder The Bricker Cider Co Sechelt

Mike Lachelt – Co-owner/Cidermaker Salt Spring Wild SS Island

Mathew Vasilev Co-Owner Twin Island Cider Pender Island

David Schneider – Persephone Brewing Gibson’s BC

Kathleen van der Ree – Northyards Cider – Squamish

Mike Petkau – Nomad Handcrafted Cider – Summerland

Glenn Ennis – Owner Geo Cider Co – Squamish

Lynn Colliar – Geo Cider Squamish

Jeff Nairn – Co-Founder Windfall East Van

http://bcciderfest.ca/

Photos by Linda C

STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON:

Melissa Etheridge and Cannabis infused wine

Bloom in Victoria

Top Drop in Victoria

A special on field blends

Fire Season in The Okanagan

Rose Day June 8th

Charles Smith in Jet City Seattle (Rose all day)

Tofino Food and Wine festival

The Wick reopens a spectacular cellar

Tofino mid-week

hello

New Zealand Pure Discovery 2019

THE SHOW

New Zealand is recognised as one of the world’s premium wine regions,
mainly due to the success of their Marlborough region Sauvignon Blanc

This explosive varietal introduced the world to New Zealand Wine.

In 2019 they would like to celebrate the success of their famous white
through sub-regional expressions as well as showcase the lesser known
varieties such as Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Rose.

Several weeks ago I was offered the opportunity to “speed date” a handful of
New Zealand Winemakers as they passed through Vancouver. I sat at a desk and
they showed up one at a time..each with a wine in hand.

Frankly, it was a blur.

In listening back to the discussions several things became clear.

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is World Class but now it’s time to check out
sub regions of the North and South islands.

Simon Toneycliffe GM Whitehaven. (Marlborough’s Golden Mile)

Simon Toneycliffe WhiteHaven

Whitehaven wines are grown, crafted and bottled in Marlborough. Each wine is
a powerful, elegant and consistent expression of Marlborough’s classical
wine styles. The white label is the flagship. Their growth has been nothing
short of fantastic.

Whitehaven has been successfully exporting to the United States since 2004
when its first shipment totaled just 5,000 cases. In 2015 Whitehaven
celebrated the export of its millionth case of wine to the US.

Canada is showing the same kind of growth.

The reason is simple. Affordable World class wines.

www.whitehaven.co.nz

Wayne Leadbetter – VP Sales Te Awanga Wines (Hawkes Bay)

Wayne Leadbetter Te Awanga

Planted 25 years ago by a group of friends in one of Hawke’s Bay’s oldest
wine growing areas, they dreamt of making the region’s greatest wines.
They say they’re still working on it but believe their vineyard, right by
the coast truly captures something unique.

Sitting on an elevated site in the Te Awanga foot hills, the cellar door has views down through our vines,
across the Te Awanga basin and out to the Pacific Ocean. Spectacular.

Syrah and Chardonnay are exceptional.

www.teawangaestate.co.nz

Jim Robertson Global Wine Ambassador NZ Brands – Stoneleigh/Pernod Ricard
(Marlborough)

Jim Robertson – Stoneleigh

Stoneleigh Vineyard is situated in the heart of the Rapaura area on the
northern side of the Wairau valley in Marlborough, New Zealand. The ‘Golden
Mile’ of vineyards.

Stoneleigh takes its name from the stones that cover the
vineyard – land that’s now home to some of the oldest grafted Sauvignon
Blanc blocks in Marlborough.

The stones store and reflect the sun’s heat up into the vines, enhancing the ripening process and contributing to the
unique taste of Stoneleigh wines.

Jim travels the World – a natural storyteller and what a story. NZ wines
are recognized the World over.

http://www.stoneleigh.com <http://www.stoneleigh.com/>

Joel Watson – Winemaker at Luna (Martinborough)

Joel Watson – Luna

Luna Estate has been lovingly renovated and transformed into one of
Martinborough’s premier wineries.

While their main love is Pinot Noir, they also produce elegant Pinot Meunier Rose, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot
Gris, Chardonnay, and Syrah. It’s almost impossible to capture how
passionate Joel Watson is about NZ winemaking and Luna. It shows in his
wines.

A fierce believer in Martinborough.

www.lunaestate.co.nz

Rory Crawford – Loveblock (Wellington)

Loveblock is the home of Erika and Kim Crawford. Yup, the same Kim Crawford
who sold his namesake winery and Loveblock is what they did with the money,
honey.

This 180 acre (72 hectare) vineyard is perched on top of the hills
overlooking the Awatere Valley above Wellington..

The site is perfect for growing premium aromatic white varietals. Due to the
strong winds, the vine growth is slow and they tend to get very small
berries giving high aromatic concentration in the wine.

The main vineyard area produces Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris
predominantly, as well as Pinot Blanc, Tempranillo, Gewurztraminer, Chenin
Blanc and of course, Riesling.

www.loveblock.co.nz

Hamish McRae – Forrest and The Doctors (Marlborough)

Hamish McRae – Forrest & The Doctors

The vineyard of Doctors John and Brigid Forrest.

Forrest Wines – The first vintage for Forrest Wines came in 1990 when an
over-filled red wine fermenter “accident” resulted in a trophy-winning
Merlot Rosé.
Fast forward almost 30 years; many awards and accolades, 5 labels and
vineyards across the country. Forrest is set for generations.

Forrest is all Marlborough.

The Doctors – The Doctors’ range is about innovation and excellence.
New grape varieties, alternative winemaking techniques and select parcels of
fruit all qualify to create very special wines under this unique label.

https://www.forrest.co.nz <https://www.forrest.co.nz/>

https://www.forrest.co.nz/collections/doctors

www.nzwine.com

STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON

2019 BC Cider festival

Melissa Etheridge and Cannabis infused wine

Bloom in Victoria

Top Drop in Victoria

A special on field blends

Fire Season in The Okanagan

Rose Day June 8th

hello

Vintage 2018 : Senka Tennant, Howard Soon, Grant Stanley & Bailey
Williamson

THE SHOW

First – a couple of quotes

“These wines will go down as classics” David Paterson Winemaker & General
Manager, Tantalus Vineyards

Bailey, Laura, Grant, Sharon McLean, Senka, Howard

“Overall I’m excited for the wines to come – bright acid, full flavour
development without some of the surprising potential alcohols we’ve had in
recent years.” Chris Turyk Sommelier, General Manager Unsworth Vineyards

Overall the 2018 vintage is one of freshness and elegance with slightly
cooler temperatures in most regions making wines of vibrant acidity, lower
alcohol and intense fruit character.

High quality was ensured by the trademark long, sunny Okanagan fall with warm days to ripen the fruit
balanced with cool nights to maintain the characteristic crisp BC acidity.
(Media Preview)

It was a very specific gathering in Victoria organized by Laura Kittmer of
the BC Wine Institute.

Have a look at the Vintage 2018 in BC from a winemaking viewpoint.

The discussion included all 9 regions of BC.

We took our seats at the Victoria Marriott, opened our notebooks and the
winemaking panel took over the room.

The Winemakers on the panel and on the show

Bailey Williamson -Blue Grouse

Bailey Williamson

In the heart of Vancouver Island Blue Grouse Estate Winery is a
family-owned Cowichan Valley gem. The estate-grown wines are made by
winemaker Bailey Williamson from transitional organic vineyards, and a
second label, Quill, combines Island fruit with Okanagan fruit.

Varietal wines include Ortega, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir, and there is also a
traditional method sparkling wine, “Paula” named after winery owners Paul
and Cristina Brunner’s daughter. The wines are bright, crisp, and
well-balanced, showcasing where they are grown.

Bailey talks about his vineyards, the BG philosophy and these wines..

2018 Rose(Gamay)

2018 Pinot Gris

www.bluegrouse.ca

Howard Soon – Vanessa Vineyard

Howard Soon

Vanessa Vineyard is located in one of the finest wine regions in Canada and
is dedicated to producing wine that is true to the heritage of its terroir.
Situated on the hillside overlooking the Similkameen Valley, Vanessa
Vineyard grows its grapes on 75 acres of sloping, well drained rocky
terrain. The vines grow in rows of rock, stressing the plants while
absorbing the day heat and imparting that warmth during the cooler nights,
contributing to the grapes’ unique character.

Howard talks about …um…everything. That’s what we love about him.

2018 Rose (Syrah and Merlot)

2018 Viognier

www.vanessavineyard.com

Grant Stanley – Spearhead Winery

Grant Stanley

Spearhead Winery is located near the top of Spiers Road on the bench lands
of South East Kelowna. The focus is on premium quality wine which they
produce from grapes grown on their estate vineyard and from selected
Okanagan Valley vineyards. On our estate vineyard we grow Pinot Noir,
Chardonnay and Riesling.

About 80% of 15 acres of vines is comprised of
Pinot Noir including four different Dijon clones, 2 California heritage
clones and Pommard. They also draw from a number of other vineyards in the
Okanagan including Golden Retreat in Summerland and Coyote Vineyard in West
Kelowna. Our vineyard and winemaking teams are led by Grant Stanley.

His commitment to showcasing specific terroirs of the central Okanagan Valley is
evident in the ‘single vineyard’ program they have developed for their Pinot
Noir releases. They also produce blended Pinot Noirs which combine the
characteristics of different vineyards, including their benchmark Cuvée.

Grant poured

2018 White Pinot Noir

218 Pinot Gris

www.spearheadwinery.com

Senka Tennant – TerraVista

Senka Tennant

TerraVista Vineyards was started in 2008 by Bob and Senka Tennant. Their
farm is located on a rocky south-west facing bowl above the benches that
characterize the Okanagan’s Naramata area. Bob and Senka are the former
owner/developers of Sharp Rock Vineyards and Black Hills Estate Winery.
Senka was born in Zagreb, Croatia where she spent her first 13 years before
moving to Canada.

The focus at TerraVista is white wines. After much
research the two chosen grape varieties for the home vineyard were Albariño
and Verdejo, white varieties that have been grown in north western Spain and
Portugal for over nine centuries.

From these varieties they are now  producing the sensational white wine they call FANDANGO! Grapes purchased
from a few dedicated growers allow for the production of their other white
wine. It is a delicious blend of the grape varieties Roussanne, Viognier and
Marsanne that they call FIGARO.

Senka poured

2018 Fandango ( Albarino and Verdejo)

2018 Albarino

www.terravistavineyards.com

Many thanks to the winemakers and to Laura Kittmer and team at BC Wine
Institute.

www.winebc.com

STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON:

Melissa Etheridge infuses wine with cannabis!

NEXT- The Naramata Bench pours new releases in Victoria

Top Drop 2019

BC Cider Festival – The Pipe Shop Finale

One on One with the Kiwi’s.