Written by Tim Pawsey | 17 January 2008

Chances are there’s a Grüner Veltliner in your future. That’s if it hasn’t happened already. Austria’s mainstay white grape can make a surprisingly complex, often delicious white that’s capturing the attention of sommeliers and chefs the world over.

Grüner has been winning more than hearts and minds: most notably, in a 2002 blind tasting orchestrated by British wine gurus Jancis Robinson and Tim Atkin, it beat out some serious Burgundies and other highly rated Chardonnays from Australia and Napa.

Written by Sean Wood | 10 December 2007

I have never understood why Port, always known as “the Englishman’s drink,” has not been more popular here in Canada. Surely, with our brutal winters, we need its heart-warming qualities even more than the English do. It appears, though, that Canadians are increasingly discovering the joys of this elixir. Interestingly enough, Quebecers are the runaway leaders in Port consumption in Canada.

Written by Tod Stewart | 08 December 2007

The Okanagan has long stolen the thunder of its neighbouring valley to the west, the Similkameen. But all that could soon change. This rugged ranching and former gold-mining region runs northwest from Osoyoos at the southern end of the Okanagan, and it shares with its more famous neighbour the most northerly reaches of the Sonoran Desert. You don’t want to walk the vineyards here in open-toed sandals in case you step on a rattlesnake or a scorpion.

Written by Tod Stewart | 08 December 2007

Inquisitive wine scribe: So tell me, Dr Frankenwine, how are you able to create these lavishly oaked, yet very inexpensive wines in a consistent, uniform style, year in, year out, no matter what hand nature deals?

Dr Frankenwine: Simple, really. First, we employ the most high-tech mechanical harvesters to efficiently collect our irrigated, genetically modified, clonally selected grapes that have made it to harvest unscathed thanks to the latest pesticides and fungicides. Once in the winery, the fruit is immediately treated with sulphur to avoid discoloration and crushed in a state-of-the art pneumatic bladder press. The juice is put through our reverse osmosis machine to concentrate it, then transferred to temperature-controlled, stainless steel tanks and inoculated with a specially created strain of yeast that imparts a desirable toasty nuance. The juice is then siphoned off into roto-fermenters to enhance the phenolic elements. Once fermentation is complete, the wine is put through the reverse osmosis machine again to adjust the alcohol level and remove any volatile acidity. We then add grape concentrate to intensify the colour and powdered tannins to better balance the wine. We also add tartaric acid to compensate for what was naturally lost when we let our grapes achieve maximum brix levels. Furthermore, allowing some charred oak chips to soak with the wine for a while introduces some delightful coffee and vanilla nuances. Our “reserve” wines are put into custom-made barrels designed to impart a unique, spicy quality. A bit of micro-oxygenation polishes any rough edges. The wine is then, cold-stabilized, flash-pasteurized, filtered and sulfited prior to being pumped into our automated bottling line. You see, we try to manipulate the wine as little as possible because wine, as we all know, is truly made in the vineyard.

Wine is made in the vineyard. Uh-huh. And fish sticks are made in the ocean.