Looking back on a volatile year in BC Wine. 2024 featured wildfires, floods, COVID, road closures, price, tax and wage increases and two cold snaps over two Winters. Vineyards were damaged or destroyed by the Winter freeze. Wineries and growers were facing a 2025 with little or no wines to cellar and sell. The Wine...

Heading for Hanks Cowichan and Kurtis Kolt explains “Everything”!   THE SHOW Hank’s – Provisions from The Cowichan Hank’s was originally going to be called “Hank & Ludo” named after our dog Hank and a gigantic bull mastiff named Ludo.  Then the name was shortened to just Hank’s. Hank, the dog,  is named after one of...

Interview with Grant Stanley – Winemaker at Spearhead. #1 Winery in Canada. And the BC Ale Trail  (Mid-Vancouver Island!)     THE SHOW    Grant Stanley – Winemaker and GM  Spearhead Winery (Kelowna)   Grant Stanley is the winemaker and general manager at SpearHead Winery,  on the south eastern slopes just outside Kelowna, BC. Grant...

Part Two of Victoria Whisky Festival   THE SHOW    It’s the second half of the 2025 Canadian Whisky Awards and  Victoria Whisky Festival     Our guests this week are: The Sons of Vancouver: (East Van) Jenna Diubaldo –   Blender and Whisky Program Manager James Lester – Founder-Blender-GM. (Middle)   Jenna –  A grad...

It’s early January. It’s Victoria. Must be Whisky Season!!   THE SHOW    It’s the first of two Whisky Specials from the 2025 Canadian Whisky Awards and the 2025 Victoria Whisky Festival. There are always headlining whiskies and star whisky makers in attendance! Whisky fans want to taste and explore the new releases from Crown...

Alderlea (Cowichan) and Meyer/Mayhem (Okanagan Falls)   THE SHOW North of Duncan, Vancouver Island lies Alderlea Vineyards.  Formerly home of Roger and Nancy Dosman.  Roger would talk about his Pinot Noir plantings until you ran out of batteries. Rightly so.  For over 20 years, they had beautiful Pinot Noir harvests. When they sold, Zac and Julie...

Changing BC Wines in 2025. Guests: Rhys Pender – Master of Wine/Little Farm Winery  (Similkameen) Kathy Malone – Winemaker at Hillside Estate  (Naramata Bench)   The SHOW There are so many elements in play during the 2025 BC wine growing season. AND it’s just started. Two cold snaps that damaged or killed many vines and vineyards over...

This is Wine School –  Kelcie Jones and Jenna Brisco wine educators And BIG NEWS:   BC Wineries can now sell directly to Alberta consumers.   The Guest is Paul Sawler. Board Chair Wine Growers of BC.   Plus sales & marketing for Dirty Laundry. THE SHOW    This is Wine School  Smaller, funny and essential wine school in Chinatown with...

Look who’s on a Roll – It’s this week’s guest,  Author Luke Whittall   Luke and his Sipster’s Pocket Guides Books. In the third volume in the popular  Sipster’s Pocket Guide series, wine expert and educator Luke Whittall presents his latest top 50 British Columbia wines under $50 (including many under $30) and along the...

Complete  Interview with Anthony Gismondi: Co-founder of The Nationals!   THE SHOW   The 2024 National Wine Awards of Canada wrapped up in June in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Founded by Canadian wine experts David Lawrason and Anthony Gismondi, ‘The Nationals’ are the largest and most respected Canadian wine competition. This year,  22 judges tasted 1,800...