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Canadian Wine blog

Writing on Canadian Wine by the MWC team Kurtis Kolt (BC), Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson (MB) Jake Skakun (ON), Michelle Bouffard (QB) and various national guest contributors.

My Wine Canada

Your favourite Canadian wine right to your door.

Wine Club Feature - TH Wines

From start to finish, Tyler Harlton’s hand-crafted wines are made with care and attention to detail. It’s fitting, then, that a pair of hands is featured so prominently on the labels of TH Wines. With total production sitting at around 1,800 cases, each of TH Wines’ reds and whites (and their rosé) get plenty of attention from Harlton and his team at their modest Summerland facility. (How modest? The “cellar” at TH Wines is Harlton’s garage.) Harlton sources select parcels of fruit from throughout the Okanagan Valley for TH Wines — sometimes in quantities so small there’s not enough to make a standalone wine, but rather the grapes are employed as part of a carefully crafted blend.

It’s not often such a small-lot production is available beyond the cellar door. But it just so happens that TH Wines is the featured winery in this month’s My Wine Canada wine club selection. Act now (specifically, before midnight on June 15) and you can get these killer Okanagan Valley wines delivered to your door!

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Published on June 13, 2017 by Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson
Free Shipping from Black Widow Winery

Located on the picturesque Naramata Bench, Black Widow Winery, led by Dick and Shona Lancaster, has carefully crafted a winery focused on small-production whites, reds, rosés and sparkling wines. These are primarily made as single-vineyard offerings from their own property or three nearby Naramata vineyards. Over the last 17 years they’ve been joined by family and close friends in gradually creating a boutique winery, tasting room and patio that strives whenever possible to make wines that emphasize sustainable production and organic practices.

The result is wines that consistently fare well in competitions and with critics, but that remain completely accessible to the average palate. These are must-taste Naramata wines that emphasize quality. Act now and get FREE SHIPPING on Black Widow Winery wines when you buy six bottles or more!

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Published on May 16, 2017 by Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson
Bordertown Vineyards, MWC Wine Club, and a Revelation in NYC

The BC wine industry is growing so fast, it's getting harder to keep up with new wineries appearing on the scene. When we used to count the wineries in dozens instead of hundreds (we’re pretty much at the 300 mark), the learning curve was a gentle slope. But now, this writer has to put in extra effort just to keep a basic handle on what’s going on! This matter came to the surface about a month ago, when I had the opportunity to travel to New York City, with the B.C. Wine Institute and a handful of B.C. wineries -including Bordertown Vineyards & Estate Winery, this month's featured vineyard for the wine club. One of their wines unexpectedly became a star of the evening.

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Published on May 11, 2017 by Kurtis Kolt
Celebrate Mother's Day with Top Picks from 13th Street Winery

Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and the best possible gift you could give is time. The scarf, sweater or piece of jewelry might end up forgotten, but the laughs and stories shared over a few glasses of wine will be in your mom’s memories forever. 13th Street is one of my long-standing favourite wineries in Ontario. This week if you order 6 bottles or more from 13th Street Winery, you get FREE SHIPPING. Why not order a case for mom? Here are three of my top wine picks, and a delicious homemade meal that you can make with each one. It's a fabulous recipe for time spent together. Santé Maman!

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Published on May 10, 2017 by Michelle Bouffard
RECIPE - Homemade Wine Ice Cream for Mother's Day!

Today, we have UK photographer and foodie Veronica Shah sharing a special ice cream recipe that you can make yourself – oh, and it’s made from wine. This is a recipe that is sure to impress any wine-loving Mom!

This ice cream is simple to prepare and can be made in the comfort of your own home, without using an ice cream maker. It’s the perfect treat for celebrating Mother’s Day! All you need is a good wine (today we're sampling some gems from Sperling Vineyard - offering you free shipping all week long), some basic ingredients that you can find at your local grocery store, and a few common kitchen utensils.

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Published on May 4, 2017 by Jackie McLachlan
Free Shipping from Sperling Vineyards

Here in Vancouver, we’ve just gone through one of the rainiest, coldest and even snowiest winters on record. While I realize I’m not going to get much sympathy from those living in the rest of Canada, that certainly doesn’t diminish my eagerness for sunnier days and warmer temperatures. Consequently, I’m feeling a little more seasonal when it comes to what I’m drinking, and am fine to take a little sabbatical from rugged red wines that comforted throughout those abundant dark and rainy days. Is it possible that the Okanagan Valley’s Sperling Vineyards have read the minds of us who are so done with winter, by dangling the carrot of FREE SHIPPING when ordering six or more of their wines this week, so we can enjoy their lifted and bright wines that will suit our spring and summer well? With Mother's Day approaching, this is the perfect opportunity to give Mom her favourite wine and get free shipping!

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Published on May 2, 2017 by Kurtis Kolt
Top Wine Picks! Annapolis Highland Vineyards

Nova Scotia continues to be Canada’s hidden gem when it comes to wine. Producers in the Annapolis Valley and beyond are making reds, whites, rosés, bubblies, dessert wines and fruit-based bevvies that bring a unique sense of place.

Among the province’s best producers is Annapolis Highland Vineyards. Using grapes that are both estate-grown and sourced from throughout the region, they’re creating some of Nova Scotia’s most compelling and food-friendly wines.

See below for thoughts on their delicious wines and the food pairings that immediately popped to mind when enjoying a glass. (Sunny backyards, relaxation and enjoying with friends are also a must.)

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Published on April 25, 2017 by Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson
Top Wine Picks! Moraine Estate Winery

After honing her skills in her native New Zealand, Moraine Estate Winery's winemaker Jacqueline Kemp (‘Jacq’ to those around her) had worked vintages in Western Australia and a little place in France called ‘Burgundy,’ before eventually settling in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. While working with various wineries, she was raising her young boys in her Naramata home, and had always kept an eye on what looked to be an ideal vineyard property down Naramata Road, perched just above Lake Okanagan.

When area newcomers Oleg and Svetlana Aristarkhov eventually purchased the property, even though it wasn’t Kemp signing on the dotted line, serendipity struck and she took the role of winemaker, enjoying the opportunity to get her hands in the soil after all.

The hot days and cool evenings treat the grapes well, preserving their natural acidity, while the clay soils built from glacial deposit lend fresh minerality and provide solid structure for the wines.

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Published on April 18, 2017 by Kurtis Kolt