The Friday Files: News & Notes From Canada’s Wine Scene

The hot, dry summer has resulted in a number of fires throughout B.C., including one burning near West Kelowna that, at the time of writing this, remained uncontained. The area is home to wineries such as Volcanic Hills, Quails’ Gate, Mission Hill, Mt. Boucherie, Kalala and more.

Over at Gismondi on Wine, Victoria writer Treve Ring digs into some Pinot Noir in anticipation of the International Pinot Noir Celebration in the Willamette Valley. She tastes through a pile of Pinot, including ones from MWC partners Unsworth Vineyards, Haywire and Le Vieux Pin.

And speaking of Anthony Gismondi, at The Vancouver Sun he talks about how non-agricultural events in the Okanagan Valley are causing issues with viticultural neighbours.

There are some big changes afoot at Ontario’s lauded Lailey Vineyards, as the winery was recently sold and winemaker Derek Barnett found himself without a job. Rick VanSickle has the details.

More interprovincial barriers on the movement of wine (and spirits) appear to be falling, with B.C. and Saskatchewan hammering out a deal last week, says The Province.

At last weekend’s International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration (i4c), the second annual Canadian Wine Industry Awards were announced. Congrats to Newman Smith of Strewn Winery for winning the Award of Distinction, and to Vancouver’s John Schreiner for taking home the Wine Industry Champion Award. More here.

Hey, Interstellar Rodeo goes down this weekend in Edmonton. Check out the wine pairings Gurvinder Bhatia chose to go with the artists. And on the ISR front, Sinead O’Connor has pulled out of all summer dates, leaving organizers of Interstellar Rodeo’s Winnipeg iteration looking for a new Friday night headliner.