Wine Island Vintners Association
Wine Tasting at Laurel Point Inn, Victoria, BC

 

Janet Docherty - Merridale Cidery

 

The quality and flavours of British Columbia's Island wineries has reached a new level of excellence

The annual event was held at the Laural Point Inn located in Victoria's Inner Harbor. A beautiful day, a wonderful setting and some very good wines, with hospitality exceeding expectations. Having been involved in the management end of the hospitality business for twenty five years I do have high expectations.

Laural Point Inn in Victoria's Inner Harbour ~ photo by Bob Bell

There were over twenty Island wineries presenting their wines that included fruit, ciders and mead. The setting was perfect, tables nicely arranged, warm and friendly greetings were exchanged. Media (of which I am one) and trades people had opportunities to talk with the winery owners. A great time and a most enjoyable experience where the wines exceeded all previous expectations, I was very impressed with the tantalizing flavours of many of the wines I tasted.

Perhaps the quality of the wines produced by Stephen Bishop of Carbea Vineyards on Hornby Island was the biggest surprise. The winery is only 4 years old I was honoured to have my tasting poured by one of the Bishop daughters. The winery name comes from the combined names of their two daughters, Carlyn and Brenna. I rated the Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer as very good four star wines.

My first table stop was Muse a winery located on the Saanich Peninsula near Sidney. I was greeted with a big smile and a charming welcome which set the tone for the entire tasting. One of my favourite wines is the Ortega, Muse Ortega ranks among the best produced today another four star wine. Even better was the refreshing Pinot Gris the fruit flavours come through making a great afternoon on the patio type wine.

Averill Creek located near Duncan with vineyards on the slopes of Mount Prevost provided a wide range of excellent wines. Owner
Andy Johnston had a dream and he has achieved it with these amazing wines. Coming in with a five star rating were his Prevost 2007 and his Cowichen Black 2008, a dessert wine. You also must try Foch-eh the all Canadian wine made by Carboic Maceration.

Blue Grouse has been welcoming visitors to Island since 1993. The wine you will want to try here is the Bacchus 2008. Not too many winery's produce this wine; a wonderful sipping wine for a hot day. Also try winemaker Hans Kiltz Muller- Thurgau For reds Han's offers another unique wine Black Muscat. Its a *must buy* wine. The Siegerrebe is worthy of five stars in my humble opinion.

Yes, Port Alberni has a winery, and a very good one at that Chase and Warren began growing grapes in 1996 They sold their first wine in 2003. I enjoyed chatting with the young lady behind the table but I forgot to take notes. I recall that their Pinot Gris was quite good and had a distinct difference to it, a slight orange aroma. Also try the Alsatic a interesting grape with complex flavours

Cherry Point Vineyards was one of the early and most popular wineries on Vancouver Island. It was recently purchased By Xavier and Maria Clara Bonilla who have made some wonderful changes making Cherry Point a *must visit* winery. I enjoyed the Pinot Gris with it's fruit and spicy bouquet with a long honey finish - five stars

Church and State Winery

Church and State Winery, if you're going to Butchard Gardens you must stop here at their nicely designed tasting room to enjoy their wines. The Pinot Gris is an outstanding four stars. Quintessential 2006 was named the best red wine at the all Canadian Wine Championships. I also like their Merlot and Pinot Gris.

Divino Winery was first established in the 1980 in the Okanagan by Joe Busnardo who then relcoated to Cobble Hill. Joe's wine tasting started slow then built to a fascinating finish. I retasted the wine Trebbiano and found it even better the second time. The taste is hard to explain in words trust me and experience Divino wines for yourself.

Marcel Mercier and Elaine Kozak know how to make one feel glad they came. It was a pleasure to meet them. It was also a great experience to taste their wines. Their best white is called Prism made from a blend of Gewürztraminer and Chardonnay with hints of peach pineapple and flowers, a nice sipping wine. Another great wine is Zeta a great red from zweigell grapes. One of a very few wineries that make a Zweigell wine. My five star selection is Fetish a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Fetish and a nice BBQ steak, wow!

Cobble Hills Merridale Cidery is owned by Janet Docherty and Rich Pipes who purchased the property in 2000. They have made a number of changes over the years that make them a key destination point on the Island. Of their ciders I like Scrumpy. It's a strong full apple flavour with a sharp taste. A little lighter and sweeter is the House Cider.

Mistaken Identity is the third winery to open on Salt Spring Island Island. They are close to Ganges the Islands main center. They grow Organic grapes. I gave their Abbondante Bianco 2008 four stars. The Latin name for this white wine signals the abundant mix of varietals in the blend: Madeleine Angevine, Madeleine Sylvaner, Ortega, Siegerrebe and Riechensteiner. These come together with attractive floral and spice aromas and with spicy fruit flavours. A very good finish. Also try the Pinot Gris with citrus and pear flavours. A good crisp finish.

A new fruit winery in Parksville is Mooberry a fruit winery. I would have to describe their product line as simply delicious capturing the flavour of each fruit. The Pear is worthy of four plus stars.

One of my favourite wineries to visit is Morning Bay Vineyards and Estate Winery located on Pender Island. You will enjoy and hospitality of the Barbara Reid and Keith Watts, the beauty of the estate vineyards and their excellent wines. One wine that stands out is their Reserve Merlot which has proven it self a winner vintage after vintage. The last one I tasted was 2004 which was a five star wine.
One of their most popular wines is the Estate Chiaretto If you like rosé wines this is one you must try.

Linda Holford owner of Rocky Creek along with her husband Mark provided another nice welcome. The winery recently changed its label and bottle tops. Some interesting wines including Ortega and Pinot Noir. The Pinot has a soft but lingering aroma with a hint of butterscotch on the finish. It was barreled in Hungarian, French and American Oak

Dev and Joanne McIntyre purchased Salts Springs Vineyards in 2008. Salt Spring Winery proclaims its focus on organic and sustainable viniculture through the logo of “Eartha” – a beautiful and quirky earth goddess. She is on all of their labels and retail merchandise. One of their better wines is Millotage 2007 a blend of Marechal Foch (pronounced "mar-esh-shall-fosh") and Leon Millot your pasta eating wine. You also should try their Apple Pie a dessert style wine.

Tugwell Creek Meadery is located 50Km west of Victoria. They were British Columbia's first meadery. Their experience shows in the quality of their products. I was very impressed by the smooth refreshing flavour of their wine. I gave five stars to their award winning Wassail Gold Sack Mead 2006 a major achievement since I usually do not care for sparkling wines. Their Brazen Blackberry- Blacken Melomel 2008 was another five star wine. It was rich and well GOOD. Maybe I should have given only four stars to the previous wines as Their Vintage Sac-Sweet 2007 was Fantastic. Can I give a 6 star rating. A dessert wine with a long sweet finish.

Enhancing the wines were breads from the Merri-dale brick oven bakery, cheeses from Hilary’s Cheese and Little Qualicum Cheese and fresh shucked oysters from Evening Cove Oysters

Some wineries who took part in the wine tasting are not mentioned as there simply was not enough time to try everyone's offerings. I'll make sure I do so next time.

 

Naramata Spring Release

Some of our previous trips have taken us to Rivers Bend ~ Neck of the Woods ~The Fort  ~  Lulu Island Winery

Where to Stay while visiting the wineries

 

More of Robert's Reports


1. Labels 2. Proper Labeling 3. Cawston, BC 4. Paying for Etiquette 5. Nova Scotia 6. Walnut Wine
7.Christmas Wines 8.Tilman Hainle 9.Canada's Wine History 10. Wine Tasting Manners 11. Hospitality
12. Fraser Valley 13. Wine Language

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