The Sipster's Podcast

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

If Kayla Bordignon's enthusiasm for BC wine was contagious, we would quickly have another pandemic on our hands. (Too soon?) The fact is that her love of BC wine is overflowing and it is not hard to get caught up in it when speaking with her. Kayla's website Uncork BC and the seriously epic journey that awaits people who purchase the 2023 edition of her BC Wine Passport are the results of her passion and enthusiasm for wine in British Columbia. Officially, she is the first return guest on this podcast, having appeared in Episode 17 at Winterfest, and hopefully she will want to come back again soon. Enjoy!

Welcome to the Sipsters Podcast!

Thank you for listening to the Sipster's Podcast. Find us online at sipsters.ca. 

Support the show

Purchase copies of “The Sipsters Pocket Guides” here!

Support Sipsters by subscribing!

Contact me at [email protected]!

Read Sipster's ICONS (Because sometimes more IS more.)

Find me online at sipsters.ca or lukewhittall.com

Thanks again for listening!

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

Zac Brown and Julie Powell from Alderlea Vineyard join me on the podcast this week. They are on Vancouver near Duncan and took over Alderlea from founder Roger Dosman in 2017. Since then, they have continued to build Alderlea with the same level of enthusiasm for learning and exploring the region's potential for making great wines. With guitars in the background and motorcycles in the conversation before we started recording, I stayed focused on the wine as best as I could although it wasn't easy. Zac and Julie are both very well spoken and clearly love what they do so the conversation rolled easily. I hope you enjoy!  

Welcome to the Sipsters Podcast!

Thank you for listening to the Sipster's Podcast. Find us online at sipsters.ca. 

Support the show

Purchase copies of “The Sipsters Pocket Guides” here!

Support Sipsters by subscribing!

Contact me at [email protected]!

Read Sipster's ICONS (Because sometimes more IS more.)

Find me online at sipsters.ca or lukewhittall.com

Thanks again for listening!

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

It's a shorter episode today, taking a little time to answer the big questions:

• What is a "wine tour" exactly?
• What is with all of those empty bottles in my kitchen?
• What does it mean to be a Sipster? 

Burning questions, all of them, I know. Sit back with a glass of something interesting and enjoy!

Welcome to the Sipsters Podcast!

Thank you for listening to the Sipster's Podcast. Find us online at sipsters.ca. 

Support the show

Purchase copies of “The Sipsters Pocket Guides” here!

Support Sipsters by subscribing!

Contact me at [email protected]!

Read Sipster's ICONS (Because sometimes more IS more.)

Find me online at sipsters.ca or lukewhittall.com

Thanks again for listening!

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

It's my reunion with one of my earliest wine friends, Calli Bailey. A frequent guest on my old podcast, Calli and I have seen each other infrequently in the past 6 years. This podcast is more than just reminiscing though – in the years since she and I first worked together selling wine at a wine store in Penticton 13 years ago, Calli has become a highly trained winemaker and wine professional and it was a thrill to share a glass with her again. She really knows how to communicate about wine without getting bogged down in the details, which I think you'll be able to hear on this podcast.

I also let something slip in this podcast that I was planning on announcing properly at a later date but sometimes that’s just how things roll. You’ll have to listen closely but the wine that Calli and I are tasting is a hint. 

Welcome to the Sipsters Podcast!

Thank you for listening to the Sipster's Podcast. Find us online at sipsters.ca. 

Support the show

Purchase copies of “The Sipsters Pocket Guides” here!

Support Sipsters by subscribing!

Contact me at [email protected]!

Read Sipster's ICONS (Because sometimes more IS more.)

Find me online at sipsters.ca or lukewhittall.com

Thanks again for listening!

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

There are a lot of people in this episode! It was a beautiful day at the District Wine Village in Oliver as the Okanagan Wine Festival Society launched a new event - Winterfest. Thank you to Kimberley Hundertmark for inviting me to to this great event. 

In this episode, you will hear from:

• Heather Courtney from General Manager of O'Rourke Peak Cellars and Chair of the Okanagan Wine Festivals Society 
• Barbara Hall at Upper Case Winery
• Suk and Neetu from Eau Vivre
• Michal Mosny from Winemakers Cut
• Daphne Scromeda from JoiRyde Winery
• Kayla Bourdignon from UncorkBC and the creator of the annual BC Wine Passport
• We’ll also check in on Nk’Mip Cellars and a new winery at the Wine Village – Foolish Wines.

Singer Mandy Cole also makes an appearance from the stage at the centre of the village.   

Welcome to the Sipsters Podcast!

Thank you for listening to the Sipster's Podcast. Find us online at sipsters.ca. 

Support the show

Purchase copies of “The Sipsters Pocket Guides” here!

Support Sipsters by subscribing!

Contact me at [email protected]!

Read Sipster's ICONS (Because sometimes more IS more.)

Find me online at sipsters.ca or lukewhittall.com

Thanks again for listening!

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

This week's episode is a flashback to an event that happened almost 10 years ago! At the time, the Oyster Festival in Osoyoos was the unofficial start to the summer wine season and it was always a ton of fun. Join me for this time capsule flashback (courtesy of my old podcast, Wine Country BC) to one of the Okanagan's great food and wine events. 

Welcome to the Sipsters Podcast!

Thank you for listening to the Sipster's Podcast. Find us online at sipsters.ca. 

Support the show

Purchase copies of “The Sipsters Pocket Guides” here!

Support Sipsters by subscribing!

Contact me at [email protected]!

Read Sipster's ICONS (Because sometimes more IS more.)

Find me online at sipsters.ca or lukewhittall.com

Thanks again for listening!

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

Kimberly Hundertmark and I talk about the Winter Wine Festival and the future of festivals here in the Okanagan. She is General Manager of the Okanagan Wine Festival Society and one half of the Hundertmark wine power couple, along with her husband Jeff, who is the director of wine making at Mount Boucherie Estate Winery in West Kelowna. Want to know what people from Ontario really thinks about wine in BC? What's going to happen to the Lt. Governor's awards in the fall? You'll find answers to those burning questions and more in this episode! Don't let the suspense consume you - click the play button now!

Welcome to the Sipsters Podcast!

Thank you for listening to the Sipster's Podcast. Find us online at sipsters.ca. 

Support the show

Purchase copies of “The Sipsters Pocket Guides” here!

Support Sipsters by subscribing!

Contact me at [email protected]!

Read Sipster's ICONS (Because sometimes more IS more.)

Find me online at sipsters.ca or lukewhittall.com

Thanks again for listening!

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

It's my birthday this week and for my birthday, I am releasing this podcast featuring Michael J McCoy, the great wine shop host and wine book connoisseur. Michael compiles a guide, called the "Quick Reference Guide to Wine Knowledge Resources". If you have taken a wine course at Okanagan College, you may have received a previous version of this guide. The current edition is 4 pages and it is filled with a list of wine books, listed in categories and loaded with resources for wine newbies, Sipsters, and the most oenologically learned. No matter how complex the wine or the resource, Michael has a way of communicating it to you in a way that you will understand. 

If you would like a copy of this guide, please email me at [email protected] and I will send you the PDF.  

Welcome to the Sipsters Podcast!

Thank you for listening to the Sipster's Podcast. Find us online at sipsters.ca. 

Support the show

Purchase copies of “The Sipsters Pocket Guides” here!

Support Sipsters by subscribing!

Contact me at [email protected]!

Read Sipster's ICONS (Because sometimes more IS more.)

Find me online at sipsters.ca or lukewhittall.com

Thanks again for listening!

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

Part 2 of my conversation with the Joanne DiGeso of Sommwine.com 

Welcome to the Sipsters Podcast!

Thank you for listening to the Sipster's Podcast. Find us online at sipsters.ca. 

Support the show

Purchase copies of “The Sipsters Pocket Guides” here!

Support Sipsters by subscribing!

Contact me at [email protected]!

Read Sipster's ICONS (Because sometimes more IS more.)

Find me online at sipsters.ca or lukewhittall.com

Thanks again for listening!

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

Joanne DiGeso from Sommwine in Whistler, British Columbia can take an already-fun topic - wine - and make it even more! She's a total blast to chat with, which is why this is the first 2-part Sipster's Wine Podcast ever. She's also a return guest from way back in the Wine Country BC days, which you can hear here! (See what I did there?)

Welcome to the Sipsters Podcast!

Thank you for listening to the Sipster's Podcast. Find us online at sipsters.ca. 

Support the show

Purchase copies of “The Sipsters Pocket Guides” here!

Support Sipsters by subscribing!

Contact me at [email protected]!

Read Sipster's ICONS (Because sometimes more IS more.)

Find me online at sipsters.ca or lukewhittall.com

Thanks again for listening!