Madeira renewal

Portugal’s other great fortified wine, Madeira is making a comeback after a long period of decline. The product of the verdant, steeply-terraced island 600 km off the coast of Morocco, early merchants took advantage of Madeira’s location on major trade routes and shipped the wine to the Americas and beyond. The heat of the sun and motion of the ship on long sea voyages gave Madeira wine a special tangy, burnt caramel...

Gray Monk 304050

On a perfect spring evening in June, Trudy and George Heiss, founders of Gray Monk Estate Winery, celebrated their manifold milestones in style, with family, friends and long time industry colleagues. The stars lined up for a trio of anniversaries – 50 years of marriage; 40 years since they started planting vines in their 20 acre vineyard in Okanagan Centre; and 30 years since Gray Monk opened in 1982. A modest operation in...

“We are in the business of joy”

Open for only two weeks, it was high time to try out one of the Okanagan’s most gorgeously-situated winery restaurants, Vanilla Pod Restaurant at Poplar Grove Winery. For the occasion, Poplar Grove’s founder and executive winemaker Ian Sutherland and president and owner Tony Holler joined yours truly in the dining room, where the “transparent” decor minimizes the border between inside and outside. “Nothing gets in...

Pinotage

A tasting at Cornucopia, in Whistler, showcased the wines of modern South Africa. Featured were two intriguing Pinotages, KWV Café Culture and The Grinder. A South African specialty, the red grape is also grown successfully by a small contingent in the Okanagan. In 1925, Stellenbosch University viticulturist A. I. Perold gave birth to Pinotage when he crossed Pinot Noir with Cinsaut, a Rhône variety, then known as Hermitage...

Richard Kamphuys

A hill overlooking Kelowna International Airport may seem an unusual site for an estate winery, but for Dutch native Richard Kamphuys and his wife Jitske, it’s a perfectly sensible spot to grow quality grapes and make fine wine. When the couple first immigrated to Canada in 1992, they bought the property that then hosted a 19-hectare apple orchard. “We were seeking a change from a big city environment,” Richard says....